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

An excellent readable account of all that a student of physics would expect from Leonard Susskind, an eminent physicist. The author explains and gives credit of the title of his book to the famous Russian physicist, Lev Landau. Theoretical Minimum "in Russia meant everything a student needed to know to work under Landau himself". The mathematical content gradually becomes demanding and assumes a level that is beyond the first year undergraduate level. Susskind, however, is most adept at explaining new mathematical concepts, and deals with partial derivatives and axiomatic treatment of mechanics which would greatly benefit a second year university student of single honours in physics. Susskind finally introduces Lagrangian and Hamilton's Principle of Least Action, and demonstrates how Newton's Laws of Motion could be derived from concepts of energy and action, and explains how the Law of Conservation of Energy could be derived from the Lagrangian of a system. In the final chapters of the book, Susskind introduces Poisson Brackets and prepares ground for his next book, Quantum Mechanics - The Theoretical Minimum.

I have read, or tried to read, many physics books at all levels. This is simply the best. It is a distillation of Prof. Susskind's lectures on YouTube, which are equally superb. It is aimed at the serious amateur physicist who can cope with a little math but maybe struggles over giant leaps of intellect. It starts at the very beginning and works methodically through the ideas of phase-space and the Lagrangian/Hamiltonian concepts of energy, conservation laws, symmetry and equations of motion. It finishes with an exploration of the Electric and Magnetic fields from the point of view of the Action principle. Actually, it's a bit of a cliff-hanger. The book is basically classical physics and doesn't cover Quantum Mechanics or Relativity, String theory, Black holes, 'Branes, Entanglement and all the other juicy bits we've heard off but don't quite understand. I know the author posted more lectures on all these topics and there's a hint in the preface that this is Volume 1 of several to come. Personally, I can't wait.

This is listed as 1 of a 5 book The Theoretical Minimum series which I purchased as a whole. In fact there are only 4 distinct books: this one (What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics) and the book Classical Mechanics are actually ALTERNATIVE TITLES OF THE SAME BOOK! The actual content of this and the other books in the series is fine. It's just the misleading description of there being 5 books that is objectionable.

This is a book that will appeal to anyone who has never studied physics beyond GCSE. The text is refreshingly clear and takes the reader on trip through the basics of classical mechanics in a very readable style. Susskind tackles the mathematics of calculus in a practical way cutting out the rigour and unecessary baggage found in more formal texts. Having covered Newtonian mechanics he very quickly introduces the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian view, with just enough math to grasp the essentials. The overall aim is to provide the reader with insight to his other book, Quantum Mechanics a Theoretical Minimum. If you have a passing interest in the subject and do not want to plough through a two year math course then this book fulfills the purpose. Examples and exercises are provided throughout which can be tackled by anyone with basic high school math skills.

Having an undergraduate background in maths from 45 years ago I was very pleased with the way the book reminded me and updated my understanding of the subject but, and it's a big but, the formulae have been reproduced at such a small size that for example the dot representing a time derivative is a single pixel. This and all the formulae cannot be easily read except in a very good light or by using the back light at maximum. (To forestall some obvious remarks, my eyesight is quite a lot better than standard and has been recently tested.) Some of the material requires concentration and puzzling over exactly which symbol has been used is a considerable distraction. Enlarging the font makes no difference, presumably because the formulae have been reproduced as images. I have not found any which could not have been reproduced at twice the size without upsetting the page layout. This is such a problem that I was tempted to assign two stars.

The book is written together with the famous Leonard Susskind. After having been disappointed about the incomprehensible Roger Penrose's Road to reality, I finally found the ideal startpoint for understanding physics. This book is well written and goes to the right level you need to progress to further subjects. The only negative point is that the website that is build around the book does not address the solution of all exercises.

As a non-physicist, non-mathematician with a strong interest in both disciplines, I have tried to get to grips with quantum mechanics for years. I can get my head around the subject qualitatively, but have come to the realization that I am lacking the math to understand it quantitatively, so at the ripe old age of 69 I decided to try to get into the required math. This book is a godsend - it starts at a level I am familiar with from my college years, and goes on to explain the fundamentals of classical mechanics in a way that I was never taught, at a level within my capabilities. The videos of Susskind's accompanying lectures on YouTube are great. I am looking forward to reading the Quantum Mechanics version of the book with great eagerness.

Best book on physics insights.

Ausgezeichnete populär wissenschaftliche Physik Literatur, die zudem spannend geschrieben ist, gibt es zur Genüge; allerdings passen diese Bücher naturgemäß, wenn es um Details moderner physikalischer Theorie geht, bestenfalls werden Aphorismen bemüht, wie das berühmte Gummituch auf dem ein schwere Kugel ruht, um die Raum-Zeit Krümmung nach der Relativitätstheorie zu veranschaulichen. Das kann auf die Dauer unbefriedigend werden; diese Erfahrung teilen offenbar auch andere; jedenfalls gibt es da zum Beispiel das Continuing Studies Program der Stanford Universität, das interessierten Nichtakademikern die Gelegenheit bietet, spezielle Kurse zu hören, die aber durchaus akademischen Ansprüchen genügen. Diese Kurse wenden sich unter anderem an all jene, die bereits einmal ein Studium absolviert haben, dann diverse Jobs ausgeübt haben, um am Ende wieder den faustischen Drang zu verspüren, zu hören “...was die Welt im innersten zusammenhält...“. Leonard Susskind hält in diesem Rahmen seit 2011 Vorlesungen zur Theoretischen Physik und ist von diesen 'Studenten' regelrecht begeistert, denn ihr Interesse gilt nicht Kursnoten oder Prüfungszulassungen, sondern allein dem Verständnis des Themas. Auf Grund dieses Erfolgs und vieler Anfragen, die Susskind per email erreichten, hat er nun gemeinsam mit George Hrabovsky beschlossen, die Vorlesungen in Buchform zu veröffentlichen. Der Titel 'The Theoretical Minimum' hat seine eigene Geschichte, er bezieht sich auf das 10 bändige“Lehrbuch der theoretischen Physik“ von Lew D. Landau und E.M. Lifschitz; der Geschichte zufolge war Landau ein prätentiöser Physiker, der nur 'Kandidaten' in seinem Seminar zuließ, die ein gewisses 'Theoretisches Minimum' beherrschten, um festzulegen, was dieses umfassen sollte, wurde das erwähnte Lehrbuchwerk verfasst; allerdings sind diese Bände extrem anspruchsvoll, sie sind eine regelrechte Summa aller Methoden der Theoretischen Physik der 50iger Jahre. Demgegenüber ist Leonard Susskinds 'Theoretical Minimum' ein recht freundliches Werk, in dem in knapper Form das Wissen zusammengefasst wird, das notwendig ist, um modernen Physik – as is – verstehen zu können. Der vorliegende (erste) Band enthält 11 Vorlesung zur Klassischen Mechanik, es umfasst die übliche Newtonsche Mechanik, genauso wie die Lagrangesche Formulierung, der Behandlung von Erhaltungsgrößen und ihre Relation zu Symmetrien, sowie der Hamiltonischen Formulierung der analytischen Mechanik. Eingeflochten in den Text sind mathematisch 'Auffrischungen' zum Thema Vektoren, Differentiale einer und mehrerer Variablen, sowie Integrale. Das Bändchen ist wahres Vergnügen. Die Themen werden flüssige, mit der notwendigen Strenge und Korrektheit, aber ohne unnötiges formales Beiwerk, abgehandelt. Die Darstellung ist originär und atmet den Geist eines großen Physikers. Die Susskind Vorlesungen wurden auch als Videostream ([...]) aufgezeichnet, so dass man die Buch- Kapitel mit den Vorlesungen vergleichen kann, die sich gegenseitig tragen, da die Darstellung – entsprechend dem Medium – variieren und sich so gegenseitig ergänzen. Der bisherige Erfolg berechtigt zu der Hoffnung, dass auch die weitere Kurse (Quanten Mechanik, Relativitätstheorie etc.) und Buchform erscheinen werden.

Il libro è bellissimo, sia per l'approccio progressivamente più intrigante e challenging, che per i contenuti. I primi capitoli sembrano sin troppo banali. Poi però va avanti con semplicità su argomenti di fisica teorica fondamentali. Ti guida a capire che tutte le forze dalla gravitazione alle interazioni tra particelle, e qualsiasi forma di energia, anche termica o magnetica, alla fine sono descrivibili con una semplice forma in termini solo di energia cinetica e potenziale. Meccanica classica pura, ovunque. Resta fuori la meccanica quantistica, che credo sia parte di un altro libro. Io sono ingegnere meccanici e certe cose un po' le conosco, ma la fisica teorica è un'altra cosa e x me i contenuti del libro rappresentano una novità per la gran parte. Poi la fisica così spiegata con leggerezza e profondità allo stesso tempo è senz'altro intrigante

WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS THE SAME CONTENT AS Classical Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum. I bought both because I did not know that they were the same. I did a cross-check of the table of contents and when I was busy reading the book, the preface and first chapter seemed very similar. Upon further inspection, both books are the same.

Basic