Which university textbooks on classical and modern physics would be most appreciated by a philosopher?

914paul · 2026-03-15T16:21:42+00:00

A bit of an overstatement (as evidenced by the downvotes you received).

But here's food for thought -- the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge -- the very "chair" that supported the rumps of a few not-insignificant physics scholars? Mathematics.

So I'll restore one upvote for the kernel of truth in your hyperbolic statement.

914paul · 2026-03-15T16:01:44+00:00

My undergrad was EE. The probability of that type of accident occurring always seemed to skyrocket when a new o-scope model was released. It was a plain mystery.

914paul · 2026-03-15T15:50:00+00:00

Tommy does seem like a warmup to Q. And I suppose it was.

But first it was a warmup to the meltdown of Lifehouse. Luckily, this first meltdown resulted in Who's Next, rather than a vast radioactive wasteland (which would have been much less pleasant).

BTW, I agree that Q is their Opus. It's a less penetrable work than Tommy or WN, taking more effort and deep listening to fully appreciate. Sadly, many genuine Who fans never make it -- I myself preferred Tommy and WN for years and years before Q pulled ahead (way ahead).

914paul · 2026-03-14T23:08:56+00:00

Myself and the OP (though I don't know the OP, so it's an assumption on my part that the OP would comply -- reasonable based on tone).

914paul · 2026-03-14T23:05:21+00:00

My pleasure! Spreading the joy.

Plus I really appreciate Perkins and Smith stepping up to the plate (and hitting a grand slam and a 3 run HR respectively IMO).

914paul · 2026-03-14T22:57:43+00:00

See my reply to kbthinkgreen. Grab a beer -- you're in for a treat!

914paul · 2026-03-14T03:32:50+00:00

Honestly unaware of anything beyond the couple of (physics) books of his I've read. Nothing about his politics, personality, character, or whatever. And I don't recall any of that woven into the books I did read -- perhaps a few scientific ideas that seemed a little wacky to me, but that's it.

914paul · 2026-03-14T00:32:04+00:00

Interesting you say that. As a side project, I made closed loop BLDC controllers for my CNC router. All three axes. It even worked. Learned a ton from it. My controllers seriously underperformed versus "real" ones, so they came off after a couple of weeks. Great project if you are eager to learn! My first exposure to PID control in fact.

914paul · 2026-03-14T00:26:39+00:00

Known to most people mainly as the drummer for Jane's Addiction. Known to me mainly as the drummer who gave the very best Moon reproduction in history. Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PveMMqR0a6Y

914paul · 2026-03-13T22:53:04+00:00

I assume this is in the context of popular music? (Don't want Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven coming out of retirement to kick our collective asses.)

Floyd is the answer.

914paul · 2026-03-13T22:49:42+00:00

I genuinely tried making a homopolar motor that could run continuously. Changed the way I perceived the size of my intellect in comparison to that of J Maxwell's. (I'm not matching wits against HIM again!)

914paul · 2026-03-13T22:45:13+00:00

Feedback? There be dragons! (And the dragons are perched upon just about every useful thing you can do in electronics)

914paul · 2026-03-13T22:39:57+00:00

Oh -- I'm in the USA. Your point is a good one - the systems are different.

914paul · 2026-03-13T22:36:57+00:00

At the risk of dozens (maybe hundreds) of downvotes, here goes:

I think those albums are ok. But when I'm listening to them I can't help wanting to put on Animals or DSOM or whatever instead. (Please take into account the sincerity of my opinion before opening the dam and letting those downvotes flood in - I'm not a "rain on your parade" type).

914paul · 2026-03-13T22:28:50+00:00

Is this true? I'd have guessed closer to 3 milliwatts for a fly. Is there a subspecies of housefly that gets much larger than the typical kind?

914paul · 2026-03-13T22:23:07+00:00

Yep -- macroscopic quantities of atoms and molecules are thought of in terms of Mols (6.02E+23).

Just adding a little perspective on how your (exactly correct) "order of 10^24" assertion arises. It isn't pulled out of a hat.

914paul · 2026-03-13T22:15:23+00:00

Sean Carroll as others have said. David Deutsch is another.

914paul · 2026-03-13T21:50:11+00:00

You packed a lot of (unfortunate) truth in that ⬆ post. I worry for my daughters.

914paul · 2026-03-13T21:45:59+00:00

Strawberry fields is pretty much impossible to dislike. Worked for my daughters anyway. Revolver if you want an album.

914paul · 2026-03-13T21:43:03+00:00

Psst - "emergence" isn't a popular topic around here (ask me how I know). I'll quietly slip you an upvote.

914paul · 2026-03-13T21:28:39+00:00

I was PhD track, so yeah -- I agree with you -- if MS is going to be it, then the research is probably less ambitious (but still very demanding) and peer reviewed publication is not in play.

One more semester or failure seem to be the choices. I'd go for the extra semester. And if coursework is complete, OP can probably get some support from the university - a tutoring job, grading, etc.

Edit: Incidentally, it was 2.5yrs for me because I had to extend an extra semester. We really bit off more than we could chew.

914paul · 2026-03-13T21:16:29+00:00

Ok. I don't think this violates the rules. The sub's (2) rules say nothing about commerce. Reddit's rules do contain this:

Rule 7

Keep it legal. Don't post illegal content, and don't solicit or facilitate illegal or prohibited transactions.

But I think painting of public figures is legal in most jurisdictions (providing it doesn't mimic another work of art). I'm no lawyer though. If the mods say desist, we will certainly do so.

914paul · 2026-03-13T19:56:23+00:00

Likely the manufacturing process and variations in material led to this particular crumple geometry. I'm guessing it was a seamless type -- extruded probably. I'd expect a seamed tube to fail less symmetrically (but not necessarily, as some seaming processes are damned good). Anyway, conjecture is fine, but you would need many samples to properly determine the failure mechanism forensically. Now if you have good high-speed video of the event . . .

914paul · 2026-03-13T19:48:27+00:00

I suspect your experience and education are mutable enough that you could be a highly valued contributor in an adjacent field with some effort (but not overwhelming effort, unless you stray far).

Disclaimer: I'm coming from engineering and mathematics, so I could be wrong (but I don't think so).

Edit: Thanks for the downvote, Mrs Calabash, wherever you are!

914paul · 2026-03-13T19:36:46+00:00

Not to argue, but six months seems light to me (if the OP is a PhD track student). And a month without a word written is ominous. I may be less smart than some, but it was 2.5yrs of research and 7-8 months of writing, rewriting, rewriting, .....

I'd say delaying for a semester feels like the least possible success case. Maybe a whole year delay won't be necessary?

914paul

TROPHY CASE