Undergrad Physics Textbooks vs. Grad Physics Textbooks

[@Mayank-mf7xr]

and here we are , who are blown away by Griffith's introduction to electrodynamics at undergrad level .

[@RB-no6wm]

Its really awesome... I m blown away. But i dont find it that hard as is mentioned in the video.

[@BarriosGroupie]

Griffiths loves electrodynamics, he's written many papers on it. That's why his book is the best out there.

[@abhinandanmehra7765]

We are noobs

[@Mayank-mf7xr]

@@RB-no6wm It really isn't very hard. And is very self-study-friendly. I will have to admit, it can be overwhelming to people not ready for it.

[@CARLOSSAA-y6f]

Mine were the following: CM by Marion followed by José-Saletan. EM by Wangsness followed by Jackson. QM by Liboff followed by Shankar. SM by Schroeder followed by Solano

[@brandonberisford]

Glad to find another physics student channel :)

[@sedeanimugamez5418]

I just bought the introduction to quantum mechanics book!!!! Good to know it was used in an official undergraduate course(I did get the latest edition though)

[@jameskirk5778]

Taylor CM is the best book ever. I also have a great book on CM with Matlab and this means I have a lab. I can see projectiles and double pendulum. One of the best lines from Griffiths EM books is when he says 'all the cards are now on the table and it is time to deal' when he starts electrodynamics. Great video Kyle.

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

I love that line too! Thanks for watching!

[@quahntasy]

This came in my recommended!

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

Quahntasy - Animating Universe Hope you enjoyed it! :)

[@madisonchan8952]

thanks for the book list! I just got the quantum mechanics by Griffiths

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

Madison Chan No problem! Have fun with quantum :)

[@Arthur-xe3pu]

Concepts in thermal physics by Blundell is nice, he has a pretty neat way of explaining things.

[@abhinandanmehra7765]

Yup try Zeemansky also

[@Roxell21]

Classical Electrodynamics by Jackson is pretty insane to understand clearly but yes it's the conclusion book of ED. Start with EM by Purcell/Griffiths and finish with Jackson! Thanks so much for this important video on undergrad and graduate level of physics textbook! :) Stay blessed always!

[@Z-Diode]

Yes, Jackson is master class, once and for all. 👍

[@ronaldjorgensen6839]

thank you each time for your persistence

[@muqeetfazal6209]

THE video I needed

[@ragibshahriar187]

Amazing video! I am going for applied physics PhD next fall. I hope your contents will be helpful!

[@mannydossantos9603]

Thanks for the book list. It was very informative and helpful.

[@smartdoctorphysicist3095]

Thank you very much.

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

You’re welcome!

[@mehmetalivat]

My prefer q.m books; 1) q.m concepts and application Zettili. 2) introductory q.m Liboff 3) q.m Merzbacher

[@kruthikaamar3244]

It was very helpful! Thank you very much.

[@bastianfrom77]

Goldstein is a classic and I think it is still quite comprehensible. It covers a lot of material and i do not find it too try. Compared to Landau (which is worth reading) it is quite on the entrance level. A nice book because of a lot of solved problems are the books from Greiner (15 vol cource of which 2 are mechanics and 1 is special relativity) which are also available in English. Jackson is a good book for reference but nearly unreadable for newbies to the subject. A nice introduction to "classical" Thermodynamics (without statistical mechanics) is by Fermi, which is a little, quite affordable book in reprint. Sakurai is a fantastic book - as a primer you there is a nice 2 vol book by Cohen-Tanoudji. The reference standard in QM is of course the 2 vol cours by Messiah.

[@CrazyShores]

Thanks great video!

[@Z-Diode]

Springer Graduate Texts, Cambridge University Press, Oxford Press, de Gruyter - and some old books from Mir Publications is my main first choice for graduated math & physics books.

[@chawnneal3103]

Thanks for the video, you got a new subscriber today! Can you do a video on your math books for physics?

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

I would love to but they’re all in my office at school that I’m not supposed to go to because of the pandemic ;(

[@BarriosGroupie]

Classical electrodynamics is hard. Griffiths's book isn't a page turner, but something to be mastered gradually over the years.

[@plutoniumisotope205]

Try purcell

[@BarriosGroupie]

@@plutoniumisotope205 Purcell is very good and got updated by Morin a few years ago. But I'd still recommend Griffiths's book to learn from in 2021 which you can't go wrong by; or better still to use both Purcell and Griffiths.

[@plutoniumisotope205]

@@BarriosGroupie yeah i use both them

[@PHYSICS369]

Nice one Brother...

[@kylesingh7439]

Hi Kyle, I am taking classical mechanics as an undergrad and we are using Taylor, how much math did you need to know for the course. I am taking calc 3 next semester, and I want to make sure I can keep up. I go to Columbia, where did you go for undergrad and grad school? Thanks for all the help!! -Kyle

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

Hi Kyle, Sorry for the delay, haven't been on KZbin as much as I would like this semester. For Taylor, the math that we needed to know for this course was vector calculus, elementary differential equations, and some linear algebra. New stuff in Taylor's class for me at the time was finding normal modes for oscillatory systems, which relies a lot on linear algebra and differential equations and writing down Lagrangians and Hamiltonians and solving the equations of motion from them which requires a knowledge of differential equations. Also, being comfortable working in cylindrical and spherical polar coordinate systems helps a lot as well! I went to the University of California, Merced for undergraduate where I majored in physics and minored in applied math, and I'm now doing astrophysics at the University of California, Irvine. Thank you for the comment! - Kyle

[@maalikserebryakov]

@@KyleKabasares_PhD and you didn’t need calculus of variations?

[@chrisallen9509]

@@maalikserebryakov Nah you definitely do, there's an entire chapter on it though and he probably lumped that in with differential equations

[@harbhajangaga3106]

Did you also solve russian problem books like irodov/krotov?

[@dagkouta986]

wait what, Jackson is graduate level? Damn we had to read it as undergrads...

[@nathandaniel5451]

Sounds like you got whiplashed by your professor. Damn, your professor is evil.

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

Your professor must have thought very highly of you guys, as Jackson is the standard E&M textbook at the graduate level in the US.

[@JeanYvesB9]

Jackson Electrodynamics is the standard textbook for undergrad Electromagnetism in Argentina. Everyone uses it in 3rd year

[@nathandaniel5451]

@@JeanYvesB9 Then you guys must be beasts.

[@JeanYvesB9]

@@nathandaniel5451 We usually have an "Introduction to Electromagnetism" class on first or second year, in which we use a more introductory book, like Resnick-Halladay or even some sections of Griffiths (no diff. eq. solving though). The advanced Electromagnetism course (in which we use Jackson's book) is usually regarded as the most difficult course in undergrad Physics. Also, our undergrad Physics program is not really just undergrad. It's actually a direct path to a Master's degree, skipping the BSc. We call it "Licenciatura". It's two years of introductory Physics (1 course in Newtonian Mechanics, one course in Electromagnetism/Optics, one course in Fluid Dynamics/Thermodynamics/Gravitation/Theory of Elasticity, one course in Special Relativity/Quantum Mechanics/Nuclear Physics, one course in Chemistry, four courses in Experimental Physics (one each semester) with the corresponding experiments to complement the theory courses, and mathematical analysis and algebra courses up to Complex Variable calculus), two years of advanced physics topics (a course in Electromagnetism (with a corresponding experimental course), a course in analytical Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Mechanics, two courses in Quantum Mechanics (non relativistic and relativistic, with parallel experimental courses), one course in Statistical Mechanics, one course in Differential Equations and eight elective courses), and a final year to do original research and write a thesis. All students in my university also usually take a course in Lineal Algebra and a course in advanced Thermodynamics as "mandatory electives". And all universities in Argentina are pretty similar in how their Physics program is organized.

[@JeanYvesB9]

In Argentina we have really advanced undergrad programs, since our standard undergraduate studies are 5 or 6 years long. It's a path straight to a M.Sc., which we call 'Licenciatura', or Licentiate. As far as books go, we used mainly Resnick's Physics Vol II (for optics and some introductory topics) and Griffiths' Electrodynamics (without going into PDEs) on our introductory E&M course, at the same time we were taking Multi-variable Mathematical Analysis (our first introduction to Vector Calculus). Two semesters after, we use Jackson for our main Electromagnetism subject (at the same time that we take our first course in differential equations). For classical mechanics, we use mainly Landau's Mechanics Vol 1, and Goldstein. And for our introductory Quantum Mechanics class in second year we had to read Eisberg's Modern Physics and Griffiths' Quantum Mechanics.

[@thimkful]

Good job! Had you no use for a math methods/foundations for physics book such as Riley, Hobsen & Bence?

[@CO8848_2]

Griffith QM book is not good, although it does give you an easy entry into wave mechanics. The best part is it's description of Bell's theorem. Sakurai, boy, that's just awesome. I didn't understand QM (meaning actually understand the physics, not just manipulating equations) until I thought hard about it and went through Sakurai a couple of times.

[@1eV]

So, you're saying that now you understand QM?

[@temperedwell6295]

If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't undetstamd quantum mechanics -- Richard Feynman.

[@physicsboy3108]

The Mathematical formulation of Griffith electrodynamics is almost Vector calculus, Tensor calculus and pdes!

[@shivnathsharma4360]

Fundamentals of physics by halliday resnick walker vs Sears and zemansky University physics ????

[@EnlightenedSavage]

Resnick is my preference. Tipler is second.

[@erbazkhan266]

Could you make a video about course structure (physics) that you took each year as an undergrad along with recommended textbooks?

[@pauliexcluded1]

John David Jackson was a SOB....but we all love and respect him.

[@narata1541]

Oh wow! I clicked on this video because I recognize that Thermal Physics book from around a decade ago. The class had a cool name (well, cool for me anyways): Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory.

[@RyanK-100]

The hubris of physics faculty is astounding. "The best book ever" or "the text is very clear" is only true for those who already know the material. This from faculty who attended Ivy League graduate schools but now teach at state schools. They ain't as bright as they want you to think. Or they would obviously choose texts that are best for the learner, not the professor.

[@asadbabilbabil7791]

Very good

[@litokalbaryo1853]

So which book should I study Vector Calculus on before proceeding with Introduction to Electrodynamics by Griffiths?

[@CrazyShores]

The one by Susan Colley is the best

[@Prodbybah]

PLEASE SUGGEST FOR PHYSICS OLYMPIAD FOR HIGH SCHOOL PLES SIR EM PURCELL?AND MORIN

[@BhavyaLapasiya]

This is why we used to hate goldstein as it was way higher and we didn't get the steps 😅

[@DonTheGoaniamtor2023retired]

Good channel.

[@y0n1n1x]

Rip focus yet great vid

[@nikaidoushinku6841]

useful thank you

[@aminsalehi290]

Where did you go to grad school?

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

I'm at University of California, Irvine currently!

[@yyzzyyzz-dl1ds]

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Протоколы сионских мудрецов) or The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion

[@vinyltherapy9410]

Shankar is the best for QM

[@adityas6841]

What about optics?

[@plutoniumisotope205]

Ajay ghatak

[@yogeshchauhan74]

Send pdf please.

[@Galois2005]

are you, somehow filipino?

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

@@Galois2005 yes but why somehow

[@abdusabdud8218]

To hum kaya kare

[@plutoniumisotope205]

Binod

[@FanTaaGoesHD]

Anyone got a good postgrad textbook for String theory or QFT, Thanks

[@reenaray3885]

I am not sure but I heard that Polchinski is geart.

[@ddasdibakardas]

Physics by Resnick Halliday N Crane

[@sweatytoothedmadmen]

lol the griffiths electrodynamics was sho sho good at the beginning i scored full in quizzes and midterms and then chilled out after chapter 4 soo fucked the endsems so gretly ended up with a B+ instead of a A+. sem 2 horrors lesgo.

[@Upgradezz]

Man Griffiths is easy wrt to this goldboy

[@akr357-o5u]

Vector Calculus is taught in 1st year undergrad program. You are in graduate level, still you don't know vector calculus !!! Oh my god !

[@nathandaniel5451]

What? When does he say he doesn't know vector calculus. How would he have gone through electrodynamics? Also, when do physics majors usually learn about things like greens functions? More specifically, what class. (I'm a self-taught boi and I want to be sure I can cover the math for graduate level physics)

[@akr357-o5u]

@@nathandaniel5451, He doesn't say directly that he doesn't know vector calculus. But He said, ''Grifith's Electrodynamics is hard.'' How can anyone find that book hard until he doesn't know vector calculus.

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

Hi Adwit, most students at my college didn’t take Vector Calc until their 2nd year of college (I took it my first year). However, I really had a terrible vector calc professor, so it really didn’t make a lot of sense at the time. After that, it was two years later that I took Griffiths’ E&M, and I didn’t have a lot of classes covering or using vector calc. heavily in the interim, so yes, Griffiths’ was hard for me the first time. Now, as a grad student, I’m fine with vector calc and E&M, (I passed my comprehensive exams), but I have to say I wasn’t alone in finding Griffiths’ E&M course difficult. In fact, there’s physics education research showing students having a hard time reconciling vector calc in E&M: arxiv.org/abs/1502.02830 Hope this clarifies things for you :)

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

I took a class that used his textbook, but our professor spared us by writing his own problems for us to solve, though some of them were taken from Jackson. Overall, that alone made the class less stressful than if we just did Jackson problems 100% of the time. @@nathandaniel5451

[@PDVarts]

Do NOT try to be entertaining. People watch these videos for useful information, not gags. There's plenty of stuff about celebrities' gluteal muscles for that. Just don't sound monotonous and you'll be fine.

[@agrajyadav2951]

Oh man can't wait to pass high school and finally study physics

[@traudlgoring]

Well, in Soviet Russia we have a completely different set of books, and structure and order of teaching these physics, I cannot express with words how thankful I am for sharing your process in learning in an American system. God bless Russia and USA