Best products from r/geophysics

It's no problem :) In all honestly, I'm laying in bed recovering from gallbladder removal surgery so I'm super bored and have a ton of time. It's actually kind of keeping me entertained.

Don't worry too much about your background. Your GPA isn't really bad and as long as you have some research you're well ahead of most other students who are applying. Geophysics programs will love that you have coding experience and they do prefer students with physics/math backgrounds over geology students so your background will serve you well in the application process. What languages do you know? Also, if you do well on your GRE (they mostly care about your quantitative score) you'll definitely be golden. I honestly didn't want to go to those schools, but I listened to other people tell me what to want and regretted it. I wouldn't have done well in those schools and I knew it--I'm not a competitive person and I do poorly in stressful environments. It's good that you know what you want out of a program and what you're saying is exactly what, in my opinion, should be valued. Although, just as a word of caution, if you want to go into academia the school you go to will matter. I think breadth of research in the department is also important. Some departments, especially in the earth sciences, are too industry focused and I didn't want that. Definitely talk to the grad students in the program--they're the BEST resource for finding out if you'll be happy there.

I went into geophysics because I wanted a field that was more applied than astrophysics and more stable than paloeontology (which was originally what I wanted to do). I wanted to be able to say that my work could make some small difference in people's lives. So, as for what I want to do when I get out--I want to work in environmental geophysics. I want to use computer modeling and exploration geophysics techniques to develop better solutions for finding groundwater and preserving groundwater quality. I really think that this is going to be a huge issue we face in the future, especially in developing countries and I see an opportunity to help improve the quality of people's lives. I could also see myself working on CO2 sequestration techniques and coming up with better waste-water disposal methods within the energy industry. Contrary to popular belief "fracking" does not cause earthquakes or pollute water supplies--it's waste water removal after "fracking" and other exploration techniques that is doing that. So, I could easily see myself working on developing better methods to dispose of and monitor waste water injection (hopefully also using computer models). (BTW: this is similar to what I put in personal statements if you're looking for inspiration).

The MS degree made a lot more sense for me given these goals. Money isn't too big for me, either, but I do know a lot of people stress this difference between the MS and PhD in the geosciences. If you love research and academia then the PhD is the way to go, but you have to have the dedication and drive. If you're worried about the job market, think very carefully about the PhD and academia. Post docs and academic appointments are difficult to get unless you graduate from those top schools or worked under an adviser who is very well respected and well-known in their field. And research grants are more and more difficult to come by unless you can get those appointments at top schools. That's just the harsh reality. If you want to work in industry (O&G, mining, or environmental), then you're probably wasting your time with a PhD. And, if you have no idea yet--which is perfectly fine--then the MS is the safer option in my opinion and you won't tick off your research adviser by dropping to a lower-level degree (advisers put a lot more time and money into PhD students).

As far as texts go this one is a really great intro textbook in the field. It's expensive, but you might be able to get it from a school library or find it on the internet. The first book that I read on the topic was [this one] (http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Physics-Cambridge-Atmospheric-Science/dp/0521457149) and it's a really good introduction to the subject as a whole. Another good textbook is [this one] (http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Space-Plasma-Physics-Baumjohann/dp/186094079X), but it focuses a lot on magnetospheric physics and less on the ionosphere. Those are some of the ones that I used. I also used a textbook that my research adviser let me borrow that was specifically on magnetohydrodynamics and modeling, but I can't remember the exact title. I learned most of what I know from reading research journals and scientific papers because textbooks are really expensive and you can access research papers for free or email professors and ask for papers they can send you.

I don't know what's going on in this thread. One poster is giving you useless advice about just "trying hard and keeping at it" (as if that's at the root of this issue), one poster saw an opportunity to vent about his personal frustrations and project them onto you (your supervisors are tools, they only care about promotions!), and yet another one decided to pitch in with a useless comment about some random exam they have tomorrow.

So let me give you a level-headed comment that might actually prove useful to you.

First off, you took zero math courses during your undergrad. There's your first problem. Geophysics is what happens when the concept of an inverse problem takes on the shape of an academic discipline. It's a very mathematical and physical subject.

Ideally, you should have completed all of single- and multi-variable calculus. You should have completed a course in linear algebra. You should have completed a course on differential equations (both ordinary and partial), and you should have a solid "signals and systems" course under your belt. Additionally, it'd be very useful if you had a (mathematically-oriented) course on probability and statistics, though this isn't strictly necessary at all, the preceding courses should suffice for 95% of the stuff you need to know.

That about concludes the mathematical side of things. Now let's be real. I just listed about 2 years worth of mathematical coursework, split over at least 5 quarter or semester courses. You're not going to be able to catch up with that.

My solution: get a "Mathematical Methods for Physics/Engineering"-style textbook. There's a few on the market, such as Boas' famous book. That one doesn't start at your current level though, so I don't recommend purchasing it.

The one book that fits the bill for you, and that I'd strongly recommend you purchase is Riley, Hobson and Bence's "Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering", Cambridge University Press. Get the latest edition (the 3rd). If you're in the US, the book will set you back about $60 on Amazon, or $50 on Bookdepository. Don't buy the cheap, crappy international edition. This book is massive (1300+ pages). Skip the chapters on quantum operators, group theory and representation theory. Work through the rest. Alternatively, an equally good book, though more concise, is "Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering", the 2nd edition by Weltner, Weber and other authors (it's a Springer book). This one really builds you up from scratch, which is great for a beginner like yourself, but hardly has any exercises. If you're really, really short on time, get Weltner et al. If you think you can put in the work and time, definitely go for the Riley/Hobson/Bence book. Also, definitely think about getting a Schaum Outline on Precalculus to quickly get up to speed on some fundamentals (a physical copy will only set you back $14 on Amazon). Seriously, this might prove very useful to you. Don't get the e-book editions,though. They're badly formatted.

That's at least 1000 pages of dense mathematics. If you're confident you're determined enough to get through it, that should be a good stepping stone to start from.

Next up is the physics. Get a University Physics textbook. I'm a big fan of Young and Freedman's University Physics, though you could consider Manfield's Understanding Physics as well as it might be more accessible to you. Study through the sections on mechanics (statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials), electromagnetism and waves (especially the waves section).

At this point you should really consider getting up to speed on signals and systems. Especially seeing as you're working with stuff like SEISAN (which is basically applied signals & systems theory). The one book that stands out, big time, is Lathi's "Linear Systems and Signals, 3rd edition". This text is amazing for self-study. It's incredibly expensive though. If you can't spare the money, there's a pretty cool little book that's freely available and unlicensed, written by prof. Chi-Tsong Chen from Stony Brooks. You will find it here, titled Signals & Systems: a Fresh Look. It even has a brief section on seismometers.

From here on out, ask your supervisors etc what books they'd suggest that specifically deal with geophysics/seismic stuff. I could recommend you a few if you're still interested after reading this daunting wall of text.

Let me know!

Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, because I'm not a mathematician. If you really like maths, the things I'm recommending might be too basic for you.

Linear algebra will get you a long way. Kuldeep Singh's is the best book I've seen on linear algebra.

Signal processing is key too, and the best thing I've read is The World According to Wavelets. It's ostensibly about wavelet transforms, but it covers Fourier methods too. It's not super technical though.

These days, I'd say you could pursue anything in statistical learning, probability theory, set theory, and graph theory, and it will serve you well. As you probably know, deep learning is eating the world.

FWIW, geophysicist John Stockwell (Colorado Schoool of Mines) said this on a Quora thread:

> It depends on what you want to do. If you want to be a mathematician, then: ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, linear algebra, real and complex analysis, functional analysis, then what your research entails.

https://www.amazon.com/Geophysics-Mineral-Exploration-Geoscientist-Professor/dp/0521809517