Self-learning?

[His Divine Shadow]

Maybe this is the improper forum to ask this but I have been curious to learn more about the basics of physics, chemistry and mathematics. I don't really want to return to school though, so I am wondering if there are any good books for beginners that one can use it to study the concepts at home? Maybe if I get a good grounding in the concepts from this maybe I might extend to night courses. Mainly I just want to expand my general knowledge and excersize my brain.

[PeZook]

Maybe this is the improper forum to ask this but I have been curious to learn more about the basics of physics, chemistry and mathematics. I don't really want to return to school though, so I am wondering if there are any good books for beginners that one can use it to study the concepts at home? Maybe if I get a good grounding in the concepts from this maybe I might extend to night courses. Mainly I just want to expand my general knowledge and excersize my brain.

Textbooks are always a good bet. For mathematics, get a textbook and a problem book, and learn to solve the problems. You won't learn much of the advanced stuff without an actual teacher, but for basics - it's awesome.

Same for chemistry and physics: you can't really go wrong with textbooks.

[His Divine Shadow]

Yeah I was considering text books, anyone have any recommendations or isbn numbers? Maybe one could find used ones online (Amazon, eBay et al.).

[Alferd Packer]

Yeah I was considering text books, anyone have any recommendations or isbn numbers? Maybe one could find used ones online (Amazon, eBay et al.).

Try hitting up a university bookstore right after the semester (or trimester, or whatever) ends. They might have a glut of books that are now out of date and would be willing to sell for a song.

[Gerald Tarrant]

Let me just chime in with this book, for the chemistry[from Amazon] Genie in the Bottle I'm just a lay person when it comes to chemistry but this satisfied many questions I had about every day chemistry, obviously it doesn't fill the role of a text book, but it did help satisfy my curiousity.

[Wing Commander MAD]

I would also recommend trying to pic up a solutions manual, preferably instructor's which has solutions to all problems (student versions usually only have odd numbered). I for one can tell you there have been a number of times, where I had no idea how to even start solving the problem going off the information given and had to ask another person or the instructor for some assistance. Mind your the solutions given are not the only way to solve a problem (or the best), but in general it at least can give you an idea how that type of problem should be approached. Finally, try to do some research on any texts if possible as some are laden with typos, wrong numbers, ommitted information etc. that can be a real pain. I know the introductory physics text by Tipler and Mosca that I used had a number of typos, and some outright ommissions of relevant information that rendered certain homework assignments invalid once the prof realized the problem (usually by a student getting stuck on it), although this may have been remedied in subsequent versions. I would also try to recommend getting the the text and workbooks from the same author/set, otherwise you may end up with problems from workbooks that expect you to know something that may not have been covered yet in your text. (Along with the Tipler text, I used Knight's Workbook and some problems seemed more confusing than they should have been than if I had the Knight text).

Actually Gerald Terrant brings up an interesting issue, you may want to try to see if you can look at introductory college level texts before you buy to see if its right for you. I don't really know your educational background or learning abilities, but you may want to consider books aimed toward laymen over actual texts depending on your abilities (especially if you don't have lots of time to devote to your studies).

[madd0ct0r]

Agreed, multiple textooks can be of great benefit.

Pop science books are also good. They do tend to leave you feeling you've understood things when you know you actually don't; but as guidebooks to the landscape they can point out intresting diversions that textbooks may not cover.

Always remember it's lies to children.

[TheLostVikings]

Just wanted to add that if you are stuck on a physics problem you can always enter the whole shebang into wolfram alpha, and it will usually give you not only the correct answer, but in many cases actually show you how to solve said problem.

It's also a nice refrence for all kinds of stuff.

[Korvan]

It's definitely out of date, but Isaac Asimov wrote a physics textbook that is as enjoyable to read as any of his fictional works.