Physics for mathematicians

What Hacker News says

1. aesthesiaJun 2026
   Michael Spivak's Physics for Mathematicians has a lot of arguments like the one in the top answer here, answering questions about why the math of classical mechanics is the way it is.
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2. rckFeb 2024
   Spivak (of differential geometry fame) wrote a book with this precise title:

   https://archive.org/details/physics-for-mathematicians-mecha...

   It's a very interesting take on classical mechanics.

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3. nicfFeb 2024
   I own a copy of that book, and I also highly recommend it! (The full title is "Physics for Mathematicians: Mechanics I", but sadly we're now never going to get a "Mechanics II".) It has a different goal than my notes --- he's more interested in building up classical mechanics very, very carefully from first principles --- but it's a fun journey if you have the time to spend on it.
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4. raattgiftFeb 2024
   "We are still doing Special Relativity here. Flat spacetime, no gravity."

   This is a superb bit of pedagogy, despite the medium, thus the submission here. It does essentially require you understand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_notation and/or basis-independent abstract index notation, however. The "Physics for Mathematicians" work discussed on HN recently at <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39305931> has an excellent crash course at <https://nicf.net/articles/general-relativity/#abstract-index...>.

   It's important to note the poll/quiz question's requirement that "the distance between the rockets in the initial rest frame remains constant", which is reflected in the Minkowski spacetime diagrams in the thread. The author's treatment does not fix other distances.

   This is discussed at greater length and in a variety of different ways (all with the same outcome) at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell%27s_spaceship_paradox

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5. sveronaJan 2023
   Physics for Mathematicians by Spivak is basically the Principia updated to modern prose and rigor.
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6. jasomillJun 2022
   When reading Feynman, don't miss the fact that the original audio recordings are now freely available [1], which, even speaking as someone with a strong preference for reading vs. listening or watching instructive material, shouldn't be missed. Feynman's sheer enthusiasm for the material is hard to get across in print.

   In the spirit of SICP, I also like Spivak's less conventional Physics for Mathematicians [2], but, as the title suggests, this assumes more, or at least different, mathematical prerequisites than most introductory mechanics texts. "Strong undergraduate maths background — at least one course each in linear algebra and differential equations, say, or equivalent self-study — with a bit of motivated extracurricular work in differential geometry" sounds about right, but here I'm basically just describing my own background when approaching the book, so YMMV.

   [1] https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/flptapes.html

   [2] https://archive.org/details/physics-for-mathematicians-mecha...

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