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Tuesday, Jun 30
Description
This is a handbook containing all the advice and recommendations about learning physics I wished someone had told me when I was younger. It is neither a career guide nor a comprehensive textbook. What’s inside?Understand why self-learning is an effective strategy. Learn why most university students never develop a deep understanding and what alternatives are possible.Grasp the internal structure of physics. Learn how the fundamental theories of physics are connected and why physics works at all.Develop an understanding of the landscape. Read bird's eye overviews that give a first taste of what the various theories of physics are all about.Everything you need to get started. Read detailed reading and learning recommendations that allow you to carve out a personal learning path. Read more
Publisher : No-Nonsense Books
Publication date : January 31, 2020
Language : English
Print length : 251 pages
ISBN-10 : 3948763003
ISBN-13 : 08
Item Weight : 13.1 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.57 x 9 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #458,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #149 in Science for Kids #2,768 in Physics (Books)
#149 in Science for Kids:
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Kindle
This is a great book. I repeat, this is a GREAT BOOK! I wish I had encountered this book or one like it 30 years ago. I had always thought that self-learning was deficient when compared to classroom instruction; however, the author makes the point that there are some definite advantages to self-learning. So the first great thing about this book is its inspirational quality, instilling in the reader the idea that the reader is smart enough to do this, and that with the proper approach, self learning can take place at an impressive speed. The second great thing is his his idea that it's best to start with an overview book, and then progress to more specific and technical books once you have an idea about what's really going on in this subject. The author breaks physics down in to several sub-areas. For each area, he recommends one or more general overview books, and also lists some books that go more deeply into that area. I was happy to see that I already owned many of these books; I just haven't taken the right approach in the past to using those books for self-learning. He also has an interesting discussion explaining the difference between a widely taught textbook, and a book that is effective for self-learning. That brings me to the third great thing. The book contains some strategies and tactics for effective self-learning. I don't have a catchy name for his recommended approach, but it reminds me of water flowing downhill. If you put an obstacle in the way of flowing water, the water doesn't just stop in front of the obstacle. It flows around the obstacle; it finds another path. In this way, there's no need to be frustrated if you can't understand something you read in a book. It may be that you just need it explained in a different way, so switch to another book that until you find the explanation that makes sense to you. Based on this book, I'm going to restart my quest for deeper understanding of physics.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2020 by David N. Olson
Format: Kindle
In my view, the premise of the book is “The era of the autodidact hast just begun as a result of the limitless possibilities of the internet.” (Section 3.2) Which I cannot agree more. I think the book is suitable for those who want to go beyond the level of “The Theoretical Minimum” series by Susskind and the “No Nonsense” series by the author and feel confident enough to to tackle undergraduate/graduate textbooks, whether on self-study or at school. The advice offered in the book is sound to me from my experience as a former Ph.D. student in Economics: 1. Build core knowledge with student friendly books (the author provides very detailed recommendations of books and journal articles); 2. Get a firm grasp on the first principles with flow charts or other learning aids; 3. Get the big picture from the historical and philosophical perspective (but need to be wary of cognitive biases); 4. Learn how to learn (the “Ultra-Learning” method). Other pluses: a. Chapter-end questions which readers can use to check their own understanding of the subjects; b. The author’s own learning journey from frustration to the completion of the Ph.D. degree. There are some things which I hope the book would include: 1. Some good summary books of the undergraduate curriculum which could save one’s study time substantially, such as _ Physics: A Student Companion_ and _ Review of Undergraduate Physics_; 2. Although I agree with the author that Math should be learned on need basis, I think one could still benefit from studying some of the Math books tailored for undergraduate Physics majors by the top universities which provide a systematic treatment of Math; 3. Tip on how to keep abreast with the current development of a field as much as possible as a passionate layman. In conclusion, this book is a valuable companion for anyone who is ready to embark on the pursuit of knowledge for the joy of it.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2020 by James Lai
Format: Paperback
Give my story here, might be quite irrelevant. I'm working as a graduate research assistant in the material science department for more than 3 years now. I started to read physics textbooks/research because of my own research. Oftentimes I found physics book confusing, and I can hardly learn any physical theory effectively. As a guy who needs to publish at least one paper a year, my frustrating self-learning process creates tensions, sometimes friction between me and my advisor. Politely speaking, I know the physical details in my paper is not as clear as it should be, but I literally don't have effective way to use my limited time to learn physical theories. My advisor doesn't understand my concerns and asked me why am I not on board. But all I did for the last three years is trying to get on board and embark on more meaningful research, rather than get all the seemingly correct results and argue with reviewers of my papers. The day before I bought this book I was talking to a recently-graduated Ph.D. friend about quitting my program. The central piece of advice my friend gave me was: just say you're sorry and stick to what your advisor told you to do. Does that mean I have to follow the lead from a faculty member whose Ph.D. training is centered around a topic totally irrelevant to what I am doing? He doesn't even have the patience of letting me finish my research ideas these days. I feel hopeless after that talk. Got the book yesterday and finish it today, just wanna give myself another thrust to get motivated (i.e. trying to find the meaning of my life). And Jakob did a great job of explaining how a layman could study physical theory more effectively by using a top-bottom method along with good sources. Some of the advice he gives is already my daily practice which means I am not as hopeless as I thought I was. I'm a big fan of his no-nonsense series, and now this book will definitely secure a permanent position on my bookshelf. I don't give 5-star because it lacks book recommendations on stat mech, which is most relevant to my research. And I probably should start writing blogs for things I newly learned too... Anyway, thank Jakob for reviving a walking-dead Ph.D. candidate.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2020 by Lonitch
Format: Paperback
If you search for "teach yourself physics" guides, you'll mostly come across long lists of dry, dense textbooks accompanied by such encouragements as "you must know all of *this* before you can know any of *that*". One gets the impression that physics is some kind of trial by exhaustion. Yet, as Schwichtenberg points out, physicists such as Einstein and Feynman have always strived for simple and approachable explanations. Why then, are these guides so dauntingly monolithic? My impression is that Schwichtenberg believes this is (partially) a downstream effect of expediency within the university system (aren't so many things?) and my own experiences resonate with this. So what does Schwichtenberg offer instead? What he gives you is an incredibly rich tapestry of resources, tools, advice, guidance, and - most importantly - a map and broad overview. Crucially, the overview provides a large number of launching points for deep exploration. This book will undoubtably make a great travel companion and I hope to return to it for many years. PS: On a side note, I think books like this are going to become more common. When so much is being written, knowing what is actually *worth reading* becomes more and more important. And I'm not convinced that AI algorithms recommendation algorithms are particularly great at this.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2022 by Andrew Ashton
Format: Paperback
Es buen libro, especialmente para autodidactas. Pero creo que no es un libro para leer de corrido, terminarlo y ya, sino que es más una guía para estar revisando constantemente, especialmente cuando se empiece a estudiar cada uno de los temas de física que se tratan en el libro. Esos temas son cortos, pero tienen los puntos claves, que uno puede leer al iniciar el tema, y también durante el estudio, para no perderse. Recomienda buenos libros, incluyendo los de él, especialmente los de la serie No-nonsense, pero es honesto al hablar del tema, y es lo primero que menciona y advierte, que este libro no es para promocionar sus otros libros. Creo que lo dice al inicio como disclaimer y luego lo menciona otras veces, aunque admite pues que tiene el derecho y son opciones. Creo que un buen orden para leerlo es primero el inicio hasta la parte 2, y luego la parte 4 en adelante, ya que son temas más generales y transversales. Y finalmente leer los demás temas relacionados con física. Aunque como dije, es un libro como para estar mirando constantemente, a medida que se va estudiando; como dice el libro: "a travel companion". Pero pues esto es un gusto personal. Se puede leer como sea.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2025 by Edwin Cardona
Format: Kindle
I am a life long learner of science, philiosophy and language and Jakob has articulated what works for me. I’ve always been interested in theoretical physics but the bottom up approch doesn’t work for me. The top down approach is what works for me in every subject and thank you Jakob for providing a roadmap for how to do that in physics. The reviewer that gave this book one star apparently didn’t read the description of the book very well. He is mostly criticizing the book for not teaching him physics when this book is clearly primarily about how to teach yourself physics with only a “bird’s eye view” of physics itself. I agree that Jakob could have been more concise in places and could have benefited from better proof reading but he has delivered on the substance of his objective. Jakob has other books on the physics itself, which I have sampled and I think they are very good as well in implementing the roadmap he lays out in this book.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2023 by Randy Buchanan
Format: Kindle
I've heard good things about his other books, but on a safe felt like this could just be a blog post
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2025 by DOTX
Format: Kindle
A book that leads me to many other good books is a valuable book to me, partially because it is a source of inspiration and partially because it saves me time. This book really does have a travel guide feel, which I don’t think I’ve encountered much with books about subjects like science. I read this book pretty quickly and felt like I had traveled all over the place and have plans to return to a lot of interesting places. It is a good place for starting (or continuing) a physics journey. I like the honestly of the author. I like people who write candidly about subjects and their own knowledge of them. The author is very relatable, and it is easy to feel his passion about physics and for it to be contagious. Most discussions about physics are either too impersonal and not approachable, or they are flashy and shallow. This book is actually different from what I expected, and the sections are pretty short, but I think it works. I’ll come back to this book periodically through my physics journey to see what I missed on the first read. I didn’t understand most of the questions suggested for each subject, so I think I’ll get more out of it once I’ve read some other things.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2021 by D. Kidd