Teach Yourself Physics by Jakob Schwichtenberg

The most accurate description of this book I can come up with matches that which the author includes, "a travel companion." To the right is a mind map I created after completing the book, which is my preferred method of note-taking. Let me take you downstream from the big title bubble to each small bubble lying below within my mind map.

Why Should You Teach Yourself Physics?: Schwichtenberg asks this question three times within this section, emphasizing a different word each time. He explains that physics is one of the most exciting adventures and you should create your own, personal framework to follow. Thus answering why physics, why yourself, and why you.

Overview: Schwichtenberg includes this section as a brief introduction to the third section, introducing the cube of physics and expanding on it. He explains that no one theory in physics explains all, so the theory needed to solve a given problem depends on the system at hand. Each theory is fine-tuned for its respective system. If you'd like to know more, I would recommend looking at the cube of physics that Jakob mentions, it is a widely used visual representation of the content presented in this section. Now let's dive into those individual theories.

Subject Guides: This section is the real meat of the book, giving an overview of all of physics. Schwichtenberg splits physics into seven parts - classical mechanics, electrodynamics, special relativity, quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, special relativity, and statistical mechanics and general relativity. For all parts, he tells you why you should learn it, provides a bird's eye view, explains how to understand the subject, illustrates a map of the subject, and explains how to level up with avenues of deeper concepts. The wonderful thing about his approach is that he recommends multiple books at each turn. Furthermore, he suggests one book per theory as the best for general understanding. I love this because it provides the path by which one can teach themselves physics. I have already read the general book recommended for an understanding of electrodynamics, A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations by Daniel A. Fleisch, and it was because of its recommendation in this book. This section was the one that made the read worthwhile, but the two sections remaining proved there was still knowledge ready for harvest.

Further and Meta Subjects: Within this section, Schwichtenberg widens the scope from learning physics to learning in general. He explains how to learn and think while avoiding logical fallacies and explains some psychology and sociology to help the reader better understand the way people function. Lastly, he hones back in for his opinion on the place mathematics and history hold for one teaching themself physics. The mathematics section was the most impactful to me, helping me develop a "just in time" mindset as opposed to a "just in case" mindset. To dive deeper into these concepts, a "just in case" approach to mathematics means following the endless rabbit hole of mathematics and hoping you will end up using it all, just for you to revisit the subject once you must use it. A better alternative, as Schwichtenberg makes clear, is learning mathematical methods as they show up in the physics concepts you are learning. This approach to mathematics will be something I will implement in my physics journey.

Advice and Principles: This final section is full of some last pieces of advice, ones that didn't have a place in the previous sections. Schwichtenberg advises having a learning plan, explains the importance of testing knowledge through solving problems and various forms of testing, and finally, assures us that teaching yourself physics is a long endeavor, but worth every minute. I particularly liked the inclusion of testing as a method of learning because that is something I am changing my perspective on. I used to see tests as an evaluation tool, but instead, it is a tool for learning and committing things to memory.

I recommend checking out the book if you haven't already, I hope you enjoyed!