The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics

by Leonard Susskind, George Hrabovsky

Overview

A master teacher presents the ultimate introduction to classical mechanics for people who are serious about learning physics

"Beautifully clear explanations of famously 'difficult' things," — Wall Street Journal

If you ever regretted not taking physics in college — or simply want to know how to think like a physicist — this is the book for you. In this bestselling introduction to classical mechanics, physicist Leonard Susskind and hacker-scientist George Hrabovsky offer a first course in physics and associated math for the ardent amateur. Challenging, lucid, and concise, The Theoretical Minimum provides a tool kit for amateur scientists to learn physics at their own pace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465075683
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	04/22/2014
Series:	The Theoretical Minimum
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	83,604
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Leonard Susskind is the Felix Bloch Professor in Theoretical Physics at Stanford University. He is the author of the forthcoming General Relativity: The Theoretical Minimum (with André Cabannes); Quantum Mechanics and Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory (with Art Friedman); and The Theoretical Minimum (with George Hrabovsky), among other books. He lives in Palo Alto, California.

George Hrabovsky is the president of Madison Area Science and Technology (MAST), a nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific and technological research and education. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Sean Carroll, physicist, California Institute of Technology, and author of The Particle at the End of the Universe
“What a wonderful and unique resource. For anyone who is determined to learn physics for real, looking beyond conventional popularizations, this is the ideal place to start. It gets directly to the important points, with nuggets of deep insight scattered along the way. I'm going to be recommending this book right and left.”

Editorial Reviews

"Beautifully clear explanations of famously 'difficult things.'"—John Gribbin, Wall Street Journal

"What a wonderful and unique resource. For anyone who is determined to learn physics for real, looking beyond conventional popularizations, this is the ideal place to start."—Sean Carroll, New York Times-bestselling author of Something Deeply Hidden

"A spectacular effort to make the real stuff of theoretical physics accessible to amateurs."—Tom Siegfried, Science News

"Very readable. Abstract concepts are well explained.... [The Theoretical Minimum] does provide a clear description of advanced classical physics concepts, and gives readers who want a challenge the opportunity to exercise their brain in new ways."—Lowry Kirkby, Physics World

"Readers ready to embrace their inner applied mathematics will enjoy this brisk, bare-bares introduction to classical mechanics."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Readers ready to embrace their inner applied mathematician will enjoy this brisk, bare-bones introduction to classical mechanics drawn from Stanford University’s “Continuing Studies” program. Although physicist Susskind (The Black Hole War) and science advocate Hrabovsky touch briefly on electricity and magnetism, the book is primarily about mechanics and the motion of particles. The authors open with a look at closed and open systems and the reversibility of physical laws, a concept central to the field. Next are rigorous chapters on trigonometry and vectors, and a no-nonsense intro to differential and integral calculus, and how these tools are used to calculate the motion of objects through space. Not for the faint of heart, successive chapters introduce Newton’s law of motion, the complex mathematics of “systems” of particles, phase space, conservation of momentum, and the Principle of Least Action, which allows scientists to “package” a system’s velocity, mass, direction, and forces into a single function. The authors intend this book as a toolkit for determined readers who want to teach themselves basic mechanics. Although their discussions are clear enough, even the hardiest reader will want to bring a basic calculus text along for the journey. 62 line drawings. Agent: Katinka Matson, Brockman, Inc. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

This unique guide is tailor-made for the independent learner who wants just enough math and mechanics to think like a physicist or move on to more advanced topics.

Library Journal