Best ways to self-educate?

[hexapus]

Beautiful guys...absolutely great. This is EXACTLY the kind of guidance I was looking for. I'm gonna dig in, and hopefully I can catch up before the revolution passes me by.

Thanks again, everyone who replied.

[D Tibbets]

The Askmar site has most of EMC2, Bussard papers. Read through them. You don't have to be a math wiz with advanced calculus, quantum mechanics, etc to understand the significance of many of the equations. If you understand proportions, you can go a long way. Just keep in mind these simpler representations are less precise, and do not dig as deep into cause and effect as advanced math approaches. After all, Newton physics is adequate for most purposes, even though it often does not always describe what is going on precisely.
If you can find a introductory Plasma Physics/ Nuclear Fusion book, you may benefit. Especially in the earlier portions of the book you may find useful descriptions of various processes, before the book dives into increasingly obtuse math.

One book I found (free at that time, alas it was a temporary promotional offer) was:

http://fire.pppl.gov/fpa09_MIT_Porkolab.pdf



Doing Google searches on topics may bring up excerpts from texts. These teasers often consist of a few dozen pages that may stop just as it approaches what you want, but it is free. If you need a basic Physics textbook, a used bookstore may help. Also, there are several free, but old Introductory Physics Textbooks available online.

One such excerpt / chapter is:

http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-856264-0.pdf

If you wish a good online course on electricity, etc see this link. The math can get involved, though he keeps it as simple as possible. Don't get bogged down trying to follow all the math, just appreciate the conclusions and the process to get there.

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-02 ... ring-2002/

Dan Tibbets

[Helius]

I've found khan academy very useful, even as a review. I've been going the calculus module, and now that i'm taking my differential equations course i'm using it to augment the lectures, as it has a robust section on that too.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Absolutely. This is only the beginning. This clearly indicates what the future of education *should* be.

[Professor Science]

Absolutely. This is only the beginning. This clearly indicates what the future of education *should* be.

I would like to emphasize that I use it to augment, I think engaging faculty is a valuable resource. One of the perks of the physics department as university of Iowa.

[kunkmiester]

Thing with me is I learn by doing. My ideal course would be six hours of combined lecture and lab, with more lab than lecture, two or three times a week. Just a full day of doing nothing but figuring stuff out, and no homework--not many people have to take work home with them. It would also be preferred if the work was based on the real world(stuff like PID loops you would actually end up doing) and be combined physics and math. If someone can point me to a school, I'll go to Timbuktu if needed. I'd love to get it done. Right now I'm looking at an AS just so I can work, and getting the BA at my leisure so I don't go crazy.

[Professor Science]

It would also be preferred if the work was based on the real world(stuff like PID loops you would actually end up doing)

That sentiment has gotten me a pondering. The definition of "real world applicability" is somewhat transient, isn't it? many engineering practices done in the 920's, 960's and 980's aren't still being used in 010, so maybe it makes more sense for educations to be based on physics that has been really quite good aproximations for reality for over a century. I mean, it would be an untenable approach to education to teach you how to solve every problem, but it would be comparatively trivial to train you in employing some generalized problem solving algorithm. Just some ruminating.

[kunkmiester]

Well, something like a PID loop I'd prefer over the falling ladder or such for frequent practice. There are a number of hypothetical things people put in the books that don't really get used in real life I'd imagine, like the falling ladder, the shadow of a guy and a wall, stuff like that. I'd prefer the PID loop which I'll actually be using, and other physics problems that are actually applied.

Older problems I don't think are such a problem, but I know I'd be a bit more motivated if I actually think, "I'll actually use this particular thing in the future." I doubt I'll ever have to figure out the rates the ends of a ladder move at when it slides down a wall, but I'll probably be dealing with PID loops if I do anything involving running electric motors. This is another reason to combine it with physics, it lets introduce the math through the physics, making it more real than a bunch of problems at the end of the chapter.

[GIThruster]

For simple utility, it's very hard to beat the economy of Community College courses. They're cheap. They're transferable. You'll actually have a teacher whom you hope you can ask questions of. And to be blunt: if you really love this stuff and want to learn all you can of the math and science, why NOT earn the college credits? If you take everything you want at community college and need more, you can then get into the upper division coursework you would otherwise not have access to.

There are lots of us who worked our way through college and know from experience, the sheepskins are worth the extra dollars to turn
"informal" education into "formal" education.

[Professor Science]

my mom was the primary academic adviser for the bio-chemistry department at University of Iowa. She saw a lot of graduates from community colleges. It's not impossible to become competent at those institutions, but you really have to work at it, you gotta want it.