Teaching Myself A Physics Degree

I have come up with a slightly bonkers plan (partially inspired by this article). So here’s a blog post explaining what I’m doing and why I’m doing.

Motivation

Having just finished high school, I was faced with the dilemma, of what to do next: university or the world of work. I was fortunate enough to be offered a position as a Software Engineer at an awesome company and I’m having a blast. However, there is part of me that misses the mathematics and physics that made up most of the last two years. So both to satisfy my curiosity and to decide if I might want to do a physics degree in the future, I have decided to attempt to teach myself the contents of an undergraduate physics degree.

The Plan

My plan is heavily based on Susan Fowler’s incredible article but I will make a few modifications. Firstly, to dip my toe in the water I am going to start with Leonard Susskind’s series The Theoretical Minimum for two primary reasons: I already own three of the books which I haven’t read yet; and I believe doing so will give me a very high-level overview of the subject which hopefully will give me an insight in whether I want to continue with my plan. Assuming I decide to continue with my plan, I will be following reasonably closely with Susan’s plan, however, at the time of writing, I am planning to use Mathematical Methods For Physics And Engineering as my main textbook for the mathematical component of the course - for the simple reason I already possess it. I may also skip some of the early content depending on how familiar with it from my A-Levels.

How can you help?

I would welcome any feedback on my idea, particularly from anyone with Physics or Mathematics background who has any ideas for resources or just general tips or advice.