Reddit mentions of Introduction to Electrodynamics (4th Edition)

That is advanced physics for you. If it were easy, there would be as many people in physics lectures as something like business administration. Most topics won't stick the first, second, or even third time around.

As for electromagnetics, I could recommend: https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-4th-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562

Feel free to get an older addition.

Old retired guy here......

On my bucket list, I thought I'd take a shot at learning some physics from the bottom up. Here are some observations from someone who tried to learn it without any worries about needing it for a major or trying to get into grad school.

First, elementary physics labs stink. Sometimes you get stuck with a bad lab partner. Other times the equipment is in really bad shape and simply will not work so that the experiment will do what it is supposed to do. If you get a lab assistant who does not know what he/she is doing - and there are quite a few of those - you can forget about a decent lab experience.

Second, intermediate physics labs can be great. I was teamed with an undergraduate I still refer to as Mr. GoldenHands. He could make any piece of lab equipment do what he wanted it to do and what it was supposed to do. I would do calculations and draw graphs while he got the data out with only a little help from me. Furthermore, the lab assistant we had was actually a full professor of physics who was an experienced experimentalist. What my partner did not know about the equipment, he did. Great course.

Physics exams are unnecessarily hard. In a Mathematics exam, students are usually asked about material they have some shot at solving. They will be asked for definitions or statements of theorems that they have seen. They will be asked to answer questions about material they already have seen. In a physics exam, you will get a question completely out of left field that seems to have no relation to anything you have studied previously. No wonder average grades on exams sometimes in the thirties or forties.

Physics professors in undergraduate classes frequently have curricular tunnel vision. "This is the mechanics book. I will go through the book chapter by chapter frequently skipping chapters I do not like. If somebody ask me a question I can not answer such as 'What is the difference between the Lagrangian and Newtonian formulations of mechanics and why is one preferable to the other?' I will brush it off."
(I actually asked this question and got brushed off.) Don't do that!

SLOW DOWN!!!! Physicists seem to be very interested in moving through a course at a breakneck pace that does not allow for any time for internalizing a subject. I'll give an example. Look at Introduction to Electrodynamics by David Griffiths. On page ix of the third edition, Griffith's says that the book can be covered "comfortably in two semesters." A little later, he talks about one semester courses finishing chapter seven. OK. I took a one semester course from that book. The professor skipped chapter one - it was only mathematics, so that was ok by me - and then went like a house-afire and ended the first semester at the end of chapter 10. He did not make any attempt to make the material intuitive. (I had a terrible time with current density.) He just motored through it symbol by symbol and expected everybody to understand. We didn't. (I am going to take another course in electrodynamics at another university some day just so I can understand Maxwell's equations. For me there is nothing riding on this except intellectual curiosity. For other undergraduates, the type of course I just described was a killer.)

I'll stop now but I am sure there are other who could chime in with other problems.

Bottom Line: I like physics and I intend to learn more, but physics teaching should change.

I'd like to give you my two cents as well on how to proceed here. If nothing else, this will be a second opinion. If I could redo my physics education, this is how I'd want it done.

If you are truly wanting to learn these fields in depth I cannot stress how important it is to actually work problems out of these books, not just read them. There is a certain understanding that comes from struggling with problems that you just can't get by reading the material. On that note, I would recommend getting the Schaum's outline to whatever subject you are studying if you can find one. They are great books with hundreds of solved problems and sample problems for you to try with the answers in the back. When you get to the point you can't find Schaums anymore, I would recommend getting as many solutions manuals as possible. The problems will get very tough, and it's nice to verify that you did the problem correctly or are on the right track, or even just look over solutions to problems you decide not to try.

Basics

I second Stewart's Calculus cover to cover (except the final chapter on differential equations) and Halliday, Resnick and Walker's Fundamentals of Physics. Not all sections from HRW are necessary, but be sure you have the fundamentals of mechanics, electromagnetism, optics, and thermal physics down at the level of HRW.

Once you're done with this move on to studying differential equations. Many physics theorems are stated in terms of differential equations so really getting the hang of these is key to moving on. Differential equations are often taught as two separate classes, one covering ordinary differential equations and one covering partial differential equations. In my opinion, a good introductory textbook to ODEs is one by Morris Tenenbaum and Harry Pollard. That said, there is another book by V. I. Arnold that I would recommend you get as well. The Arnold book may be a bit more mathematical than you are looking for, but it was written as an introductory text to ODEs and you will have a deeper understanding of ODEs after reading it than your typical introductory textbook. This deeper understanding will be useful if you delve into the nitty-gritty parts of classical mechanics. For partial differential equations I recommend the book by Haberman. It will give you a good understanding of different methods you can use to solve PDEs, and is very much geared towards problem-solving.

From there, I would get a decent book on Linear Algebra. I used the one by Leon. I can't guarantee that it's the best book out there, but I think it will get the job done.

This should cover most of the mathematical training you need to move onto the intermediate level physics textbooks. There will be some things that are missing, but those are usually covered explicitly in the intermediate texts that use them (i.e. the Delta function). Still, if you're looking for a good mathematical reference, my recommendation is Lua. It may be a good idea to go over some basic complex analysis from this book, though it is not necessary to move on.

Intermediate

At this stage you need to do intermediate level classical mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, and thermal physics at the very least. For electromagnetism, Griffiths hands down. In my opinion, the best pedagogical book for intermediate classical mechanics is Fowles and Cassidy. Once you've read these two books you will have a much deeper understanding of the stuff you learned in HRW. When you're going through the mechanics book pay particular attention to generalized coordinates and Lagrangians. Those become pretty central later on. There is also a very old book by Robert Becker that I think is great. It's problems are tough, and it goes into concepts that aren't typically covered much in depth in other intermediate mechanics books such as statics. I don't think you'll find a torrent for this, but it is 5 bucks on Amazon. That said, I don't think Becker is necessary. For quantum, I cannot recommend Zettili highly enough. Get this book. Tons of worked out examples. In my opinion, Zettili is the best quantum book out there at this level. Finally for thermal physics I would use Mandl. This book is merely sufficient, but I don't know of a book that I liked better.

This is the bare minimum. However, if you find a particular subject interesting, delve into it at this point. If you want to learn Solid State physics there's Kittel. Want to do more Optics? How about Hecht. General relativity? Even that should be accessible with Schutz. Play around here before moving on. A lot of very fascinating things should be accessible to you, at least to a degree, at this point.

Advanced

Before moving on to physics, it is once again time to take up the mathematics. Pick up Arfken and Weber. It covers a great many topics. However, at times it is not the best pedagogical book so you may need some supplemental material on whatever it is you are studying. I would at least read the sections on coordinate transformations, vector analysis, tensors, complex analysis, Green's functions, and the various special functions. Some of this may be a bit of a review, but there are some things Arfken and Weber go into that I didn't see during my undergraduate education even with the topics that I was reviewing. Hell, it may be a good idea to go through the differential equations material in there as well. Again, you may need some supplemental material while doing this. For special functions, a great little book to go along with this is Lebedev.

Beyond this, I think every physicist at the bare minimum needs to take graduate level quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, electromagnetism, and statistical mechanics. For quantum, I recommend Cohen-Tannoudji. This is a great book. It's easy to understand, has many supplemental sections to help further your understanding, is pretty comprehensive, and has more worked examples than a vast majority of graduate text-books. That said, the problems in this book are LONG. Not horrendously hard, mind you, but they do take a long time.

Unfortunately, Cohen-Tannoudji is the only great graduate-level text I can think of. The textbooks in other subjects just don't measure up in my opinion. When you take Classical mechanics I would get Goldstein as a reference but a better book in my opinion is Jose/Saletan as it takes a geometrical approach to the subject from the very beginning. At some point I also think it's worth going through Arnold's treatise on Classical. It's very mathematical and very difficult, but I think once you make it through you will have as deep an understanding as you could hope for in the subject.

The textbook Introduction to Electrodynamics is a fantastic book. We used it for a couple of our E&M courses. See if you can find a pdf online of it somewhere and have a look through it. The previous edition (3rd) is also fantastic, if you can find it online as a pdf or on the cheap somewhere.

Understanding vector fields very well was key, in my experience.

This should keep you busy, but I can suggest books in other areas if you want.

Math books:
Algebra: http://www.amazon.com/Algebra-I-M-Gelfand/dp/0817636773/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251516690&sr=8
Calc: http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-4th-Michael-Spivak/dp/0914098918/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356152827&sr=1-1&keywords=spivak+calculus
Calc: http://www.amazon.com/Linear-Algebra-Dover-Books-Mathematics/dp/048663518X
Linear algebra: http://www.amazon.com/Linear-Algebra-Modern-Introduction-CD-ROM/dp/0534998453/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255703167&sr=8-4
Linear algebra: http://www.amazon.com/Linear-Algebra-Dover-Mathematics-ebook/dp/B00A73IXRC/ref=zg_bs_158739011_2

Beginning physics:
http://www.amazon.com/Feynman-Lectures-Physics-boxed-set/dp/0465023827

Advanced stuff, if you make it through the beginning books:
E&M: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-Edition-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375653392&sr=8-1&keywords=griffiths+electrodynamics
Mechanics: http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Dynamics-Particles-Systems-Thornton/dp/0534408966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375653415&sr=8-1&keywords=marion+thornton
Quantum: http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Quantum-Mechanics-2nd-Edition/dp/0306447908/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375653438&sr=8-1&keywords=shankar

Cosmology -- these are both low level and low math, and you can probably handle them now:
http://www.amazon.com/Spacetime-Physics-Edwin-F-Taylor/dp/0716723271
http://www.amazon.com/The-First-Three-Minutes-Universe/dp/0465024378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356155850&sr=8-1&keywords=the+first+three+minutes

John Taylor's Classical Mechanics and David Griffith's Introduction to Electrodynamics might be more your speed. They've been the texts for my Classical Mechanics and E&M courses.

Maybe try applied math programs. Some of them seem to have astrophysics faculty https://www.princeton.edu/gradschool/about/catalog/fields/applied_mathematics/. You'll probably have an easier time getting in with your background and can take the math GREs. In a physics BS you would at least have the knowledge of these books:

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Mechanics-John-R-Taylor/dp/189138922X,

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-4th-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396384599&sr=1-1&keywords=griffiths,

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Quantum-Mechanics-David-Griffiths/dp/0131118927/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396384599&sr=1-2&keywords=griffiths,

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Thermal-Physics-Daniel-Schroeder/dp/0201380277/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396384625&sr=1-1&keywords=schroeder+statistical+physics.

The more you know from those books, the better. Although an applied math program, probably wouldn't expect you to have read all of them. Also try x-posting to /r/askacademia. I'm sure someone there could be more helpful.

I highly recommend David Griffith's Introduction to Electrodynamics. It is a classic undergraduate text in electrodynamics. His style is a bit wordy, but I feel it complements all of the mathematics well. It begins with a good overview of vector calculus which is necessary to do college level E&M, so the text is manageable even if you haven't been exposed to calc 3 yet.

I recommend Griffiths' Introduction to Electrodynamics.

You will find it difficult to escape vector calculus in understanding electromagnetics, but Griffiths begins with a quite clear refresher of what you need to know. He continues into electrostatics and magnetostatics, then to electrodynamics, EM waves and radiation, and finishes with relativistic electrodynamics. He also has an informal, conversational style. The text suffers a bit from putting necessary concepts in the exercises, some of which can be quite difficult.

The Amazon reviews will say much more than I have - also look at the reviews for the 3rd edition (which I have, and which has been out for longer).

David Griffiths' textbooks on E&M and quantum mechanics were easily the best textbooks I had as an undergrad. Clear, concise, refreshingly informal, and even a dash of humor.

If you prefer books, the standard University book on the topic is David J. Griffiths "Introduction to Electrodynamics", which also takes you through vectors and vector calculus. Very readable. As it is probably one of the most widely used books it should be easy to find used for almost no money.

Griffith's EM book is one the undergrad classics. His book was designed for physics majors mainly but the basics are the same regardless of the major.
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-Edition-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562

I would say start with Griffiths Electrodynamics, and maybe a calc book, then go from there.

Hey, good luck on this! I made the opposite swap: studied physics as an undergraduate, then studied mathematics in grad school. I'm now a professor in a math department, though I still do some (mildly) physics-related work. Since nobody else has answered yet, I'll say what I can:

1. You're certainly not too old - there are plenty of stories of people getting started in research at a much later age. The most likely problem is that you'd be graduating around 30-33, then probably moving for a postdoc, then probably moving again... and throughout that, you won't be making tons of money. For some people, that isn't a problem. For many people (including me), that can be a frustrating way to live. Of course, this all depends a huge amount on your partner.
   
   
2. Research is everything! But I think you're really asking two questions: do you need research experience, and do you need physics research experience? For the first, most schools take plenty of people without undergrad research; even at top physics schools, very few people have done meaningful research before. So don't worry too much on that front. Of course, the subject does matter, and this will certainly matter for your application. For some areas of physics, you'll just be a bit behind. For other areas, you'll be a lot behind. Think about that when discussing your research in the application.
   
   
3. This is the standard electrodynamics book: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-Edition-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y
   The amazon page also suggests a quantum book and a mechanics book; those seem pretty reasonable choices as well. With respect to the math, the background for doing physics research is quite different from what most math majors get. Physicists do a lot of PDEs, ODEs, calculus of variations, and differential geometry. This is pretty serious stuff.
   
   
4. This is a pretty broad subject. What is your math background like? In any case, from a day-to-day perspective, doing mathematical physics often just means doing mathematics...
   
   
5. I have no idea what this means.
   
   
6. Are you in the US? Many schools have undergrad research programs. Many big labs also hire lab techs. This can be a good warmup, but of course requires relevant skills.
   
   
7. Maybe. Chances of getting a faculty job go down with grad school ranking, but they aren't exactly 100% even at e.g. Princeton, and aren't 0 even at the bottom. I'm a pretty cautious person myself, and probably wouldn't have gone to grad school if I knew more about the job market.
   
   
8. Sure. There are practice tests out there; you can see how you're doing. The physics GRE isn't trivial, but it isn't "hard" the same way research is hard. It is just a tricky exam. This is also probably a reasonable way to show people that you've picked up some physics; in that sense it might be more important (and useful) to you than it is to most applicants.
   

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-4th-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562

Sigh

See here (start on Pg. 9)
https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/ece303/Lectures/lecture28.pdf

Also here:
http://whites.sdsmt.edu/classes/ee382/notes/382Lecture32.pdf

If you want to google more, your keywords are "hertzian dipole field solution"

The gist of it is that for an oscillating current I(r), you immediatley know the auxiliary fields A and Phi (they follow the wave equation, with I as the source). From the auxilliary fields, you can immediately know E and H. (This is on Pg 8 of that second link). Actually just follow through those slides, you'll notice how the near-field terms you circled in red pops out from the equations.

The basic topics you should study first are calculus (single variable, multivariable, and vectorial) and linear algebra. With this foundation (which you probably already have since you are studying finance), you can go a long way in physics. The first topic everyone covers is Classical Mechanics, which deals with topics like forces, Newton's laws, potential energy, oscillations, and gravity. A good introductory reference is Halliday & Resnick. The MIT Open Course Ware class by legendary professor Walter Lewin is also worth it.

Then, you will want to learn electricity & magnetism, dealing with topics like electrostatics, magnetostatics, and Maxwell's laws. On this topic, I can recommend you Griffiths. You will do a lot of integrals and vector calculus, so be sure to master these topics, which Griffiths reviews in the first chapter anyway. Otherwise, the MIT course is legendary.

I thought of some books suggestions. If you're going all in, go to the library and find a book on vector calculus. You're going to need it if you don't already know spherical coordinates, divergence, gradient, and curl. Try this one if your library has it. Lots of good books on this though. Just look for vector calculus.

Griffiths has a good intro to E&M. I'm sure you can find an old copy on a bookshelf. Doesn't need to be the new one.

Shankar has a quantum book written for an upper level undergrad. The first chapter does an excellent job explaining the basic math behind quantum mechanics .

1st year super keen physics student here. I'm particularly passionate about plasma physics and I'm doing a research project this semester as well as an extension to my physics course in that field. I've already ordered a copy of Chen's 3rd edition, and have a hard copy of Fusion Physics as well as a library copy of Griffith's Electromagnetism (only 2nd edition though; worth getting the new one?)

Anyone have suggestions for texts/resources for physics along the same lines?

Cheers!

Le invito a que se lea este libro:
http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Protection-Iet-Power-Energy/dp/0863417442

Aunque, para entenderlo, va a tener que leerse este:
http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Electric-Circuits-Charles-Alexander/dp/0073380571

Y este:
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-4th-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562

Si le parece que la inversion de tiempo es demasiada, y si me da por un momento el beneficio de la duda, dejeme decirle que no hay rayo en el mundo que pueda causar un incendo cuando el sistema de pararrayos esta bien diseñado y el mantenimiento es adecuado.

Es lo mismo de la red electrica nacional. Un desastre producto de la falta de mantenimiento y planificacion propia de la 5ta republica.

Ningun sistema aguanta la combinacion de incapacidad mas corrupcion.


Si no me cree a mi, preguntele a un ingeniero amigo suyo. Eso si, si no es chavista es preferible. Las posibilidades de que no sea un pirata son mejores.

Intro. to electrodynamics by Griffiths has a very good chapter on vector calc
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-Edition-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562

Probably some combination of Griffiths, Jackson, and Zangwill

This? http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-4th-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417536834&sr=1-1

Serious question: what makes you say these are the "standard route"?

[Griffith on electromagnitism] (http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Electrodynamics-Edition-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407283809&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Griffith+electromagnism)

[Griffith on quantum mechanics] (http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Quantum-Mechanics-2nd-Edition/dp/0131118927/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407283809&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=Griffith+electromagnism)

[Jackson on electromagnetism] (http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Electrodynamics-Third-Edition-Jackson/dp/047130932X/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407283929&sr=8-1&keywords=jackson+electromagnetism)

[Sakurai on quantum mechanics] (http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Quantum-Mechanics-2nd-Edition/dp/0805382917/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=081X3T6SB9XHEZWNTVNB)

I find that it's easiest not to use any analogies to photons, as conservation of momentum is built into the classical theory. This is discussed concisely here.

Since you mention you studied physics for a while, might you have access to a copy of Griffiths' book on electrodynamics? He gives a fairly detailed discussion of this point in section 8.2. If you don't, Melvin Schwartz's book is a gem that you can get for $10, and he discusses this in section 5-3.

The basics are usually always covered, just no in the same depth. The course is more about building a mathematical frame work that works for E&M. Maxwells equations should be introduced and a bit of derivations. Conceptually its a tough course, but is been a few years since ive taken it. If you want to practice look up the Griffiths book on electricity and magnetism.

Amazon link:https://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Electrodynamics-4th-David-Griffiths/dp/0321856562

(Look for some free downloads)