Six not-so-easy pieces

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1. bradlyJan 2025
   I appreciate you taking the time to help people understand higher level concepts.

   From a different perspective... I have no traditional background in mathematics or physics. I do not understand the first line of the pdf you posted nor do I understand the process for obtaining the context to understand it.

   But I have intellectual curiosity. So the best path forward for me understanding is a path that can maintain that curiosity while making progress on understanding. I can reread the The Six (Not So ) Easy Pieces and not understand any of it and still find value in it. I can play with Arnold's cat and, slowly, through no scientific rigor other than the curiosity of the naked ape, I can experience these concepts that have traditionally been behind gates of context I do not possess keys to.

   http://gerdbreitenbach.de/arnold_cat/cat.html

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2. pdonisOct 2022
   > Curious what your thoughts are on exposing more people to theoretical physics sans popsci buzzword articles?

   It's a great thing to try to do; I try to do it myself as a contributor to Physics Forums [1], for example.

   I'm not sure how much good books like The Trouble With Physics actually do as far as exposing more people to physics sans popsci, because, while they might point out issues with how speculative research in physics is done, they don't actually teach any physics.

   I personally would recommend Feynman's books for the layman, such as QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter or The Character of Physical Law, or Six Easy Pieces (followed by Six Not So Easy Pieces), as ways for people to get at least some exposure to physics without popsci buzzwords. IMO even those books are limited, because you can't really understand physics without actually doing the math and solving some actual problems. But they're still way better than popsci articles (or, for that matter, popsci books like those of Brian Greene or Michio Kaku).

   [1] https://www.physicsforums.com

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3. MaroJun 2018
   Surely you're joking: not a physics book, it's about Feynman's life, it's a way to get you inspired and into the mindset.

   Feynman Lectures on Physics: freshman level course that Feynman taught at MIT. Lots of material, will last you year(s).

   Six easy pieces: 6 easy lectures from Feynman.

   Six not so easy pieces: 6 not-so-easy lectures from Feynman.

   Feynman lectures on computation.

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4. virgil_disgr4ceJun 2016
   OP, we're in the same boat. I also am in a deep, deep QM hole, and just finished reading Six Easy Pieces, Six Not-So-Easy Pieces, and QED (HIGHLY recommended), and have been trying to work through several quantum physics textbooks. It's astonishing to me how few high-quality visualizations there are: smatterings of videos on youtube (which you can't always guarantee are trustworthy).

   I've been dreaming of a WebGL-based 'quantum lab' to revolutionize this. Would anyone be interested in helping attack this problem with me?

   Lastly, I'll add in my recommendation since I don't see it here yet: Falstad's terrific simulators, with a whole section just for QM. (Note: java applets. SIIIGGHHHHH) http://www.falstad.com/mathphysics.html

   Note—all of Falstad's stuff is open source, and I've been dying to port a few to webgl as a way to get started. Anyone with an interest in this would be a very welcome help!

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5. JachAug 2011
   Yes, one of my favorite Feynman lectures I was going to comment on, it re-appears in written form in the symmetry chapter in "Six Not-So-Easy Pieces". (Originally from his massive Feynman Lectures on Physics.)

   He starts from after you've described the basic exterior human anatomy, which is mostly symmetrical, then he starts with the interior and tells the alien to 'put the heart on the left'. But the alien doesn't understand the direction. So Feynman says:

   "Listen, build yourself a magnet, and put the coils in, and put the current on, and then take some cobalt and lower the temperature. Arrange the experiment so the electrons go from the foot to the head, then the direction in which the current goes through the coils is the direction that goes in on what we call the right and comes out on the left."

   For anyone who doesn't get the wrong hand joke, the physical reason to watch out is: "matter to the right is symmetrical with antimatter to the left."

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6. urs2102Oct 2015
   I've always written essays on ideas, but it wasn't until when I wanted to start publishing my writing on a blog that I found this idea true. Often times flowery language can sacrifice the clarity of your prose for attempting to appear more thoughtful than you are.

   It's a lot like the Richard Feynman idea that if you can't distill something to a freshman lecture, you don't really understand it.[1]

   [1]: Feynman, Six Not-So-Easy-Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-Time

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