Mike

Best intro to Chemistry

Reviewed: 31-12-2019

Elemental is the best intro to chemistry I have found. Unlike so many survey books and courses that dilute the concepts of chemistry with thermodynamics, material engineering or historical narratives etc. Elemental focuses on what makes chemistry foundational, the Atoms! The underlying structure of an atom and the behaviours of electrons is what is conceptually required for an intuitive understanding of chemistry, this audio book delivers this exceptional well. It uses fantastically crafted analogies, quippy anecdotes and vert subtle (yet brilliant) descriptions that make the distinctions between concepts that much more accessible, reducing cognitive load and helping category memory. I could not recommend this more highly, although the Great Courses (TTC) and MIT open learning are great if you have a background already, this course IS the background. And the description of what the Schrodinger equation is trying to say in the appendix is the cherry on top of a.. no simpler than necessary work of teaching art.

Fantastic survey of the observation problem, albeit biased.

Reviewed: 31-08-2019

Probably the best survey material and narrative on the central conceptual issues in Quantum Philosophy. I would recommend this more to people who have already had some exposure to Quantum Physics, but may be struggling to get their head around it. In this regard you are indeed in esteemed company, as this likely means you are now accurately understanding the concepts at play. This is not the calculation heavy physics that will be taught in most undergrad or surveys that you many see online, it is a historical narrative of Quantum foundations, albeit a biased on, as may indeed be the case with all retelling of histories. It is biased against the Copenhagen interpretation/s, this point is acceptable as long as you understand and categories the bias and work with it. Indeed the scientific method is about the mental separation from paradigms and narrative, and the theoretical modelling of testable/repeatable hypothesis (ie observable) To this end the Copenhagen is the most scientific sound version on all the hypotheticals as it does not necessarily appeal claims to more than what can be observed (or in this case can’t) explicitly. That said, the point of the narrative is that paradigms, however scientifically ‘sound’ are by a sort of tautological principal to be overcome and that the Copenhagen was inconsistent with itself to a grievous degree with its dogmatism. Overall a very worth listen, could not recommend it more enthusiastically, but recommend some terminology orientation and theoretical work before hand so as you can guide yourself through it all the same, as is perhaps with all narrative information.

2 people found this helpful

Great intro

Reviewed: 30-10-2018

This sets up the framework for classical physics and physics in general. 12 hours is obviously not a comprehensive study of all the areas, or even ever area in classical physics. But if you haven’t got a undergraduate degree in physics or have forgotten most of high school physics then this is an amazing place to start.

1 person found this helpful

Great intro

Reviewed: 24-10-2018

This is a great intro to the theories of particle physics, valuable addition to any framework for study of modern science