Thursday 29 November 2012

The Gerard t'Hooft Theoretical Physicist Guide

There's a guide on the internet for how to become a good theoretical physicist without going to university. It's written by a rather famous physicist which, to me, says it's a pretty valid source. The author is Gerard 't Hooft, who won the 1999 Nobel prize in physics for his work as a theoretical physicist. It outlines some of the main subjects that will lead you to being a good theoretical physicist, along with some resources. Unfortunately a fair few of the links are (were) dead, but it really doesn't affect the good content.

How to Become a GOOD Theoretical Physicist

An Agenda

The good content is primarily the "course agenda":
  • Primary Mathematics 
  • Classical Mechanics 
  • Optics 
  • Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics 
  • Electronics 
  • Electromagnetism 
  • Computational Physics 
  • Quantum Mechanics 
  • Atoms and Molecules 
  • Solid State Physics 
  • Nuclear Physics 
  • Plasma physics 
  • Advanced Mathematics 
  • Special Relativity 
  • Advanced Quantum Mechanics 
  • Phenomenology 
  • General Relativity 
  • Quantum Field Theory 
  • Superstring Theory

That Bit at the End...

This is essentially a physics tour de force, but fortunately, this is ideal. To not take advice from a physics Nobel prize winner, surely must be a really bad idea. But it was the 1965 winner, Richard Feynman, who said that the Nobel prize was the scientists' equivalent of epaulets and uniform. 

An UPDATE

Today, a year and a half after this was posted, I checked back on this website only to find it had been updated! So sometime between 2012 and 2014, t'Hooft has made the website really nice. In fact... I'm a little bit jealous... By the way, the link to the site is under the image :D.

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Tuesday 27 November 2012

Lists and Levels (Skull, Bones and Jaw)


Saying "curriculum" sounds rather dry. Unfortunately, to learn new physics, or even to revise old physics, a system is needed to bring sense to the chaos.To avoid the dryness of the word curriculum, the MMXI Academy will be calling it a simple "list" instead.

Each of the levels - Skull, Bones and Jaw - will have lists, perhaps more that one if necessary.

Based upon where you are as a physicist, you will be wanting to look at resources that are suited to your needs. 

Check out the following levels:

  • Skull 

This is the starting place, where your physics-mind is born. Think GCSE or A-level (High School).

  • Bones 

Here things heat-up fast, perfect for avoiding huge tuition fees or to accompany university study. Think university undergraduate.

  • Jaw

The finishing line. At this point you will essentially be a researcher. Think postgraduate and PhD.
Posts will be labelled with the appropriate level(s), such as "Bones", so can be filtered with the search option!




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Let the fans begin

Learn physics for free. Be a curious mind or a researcher, it should be accessible to everyone everywhere, for free.
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