Physics reading List

Does anyone have or know where i could get hold of some reading lists for Physics, as I'm going to be applying for physics in the next few months.

Reply 1

john-boro

Firstly, unless you're applying to Oxford or Cambridge, you're very unlikely to experience anything approaching an interview. I got offers from St Andrews, Durham and Imp all without interview (Imperial did an 'informal' interview but it wasn't anything like really, I already had an offer basically), and as far as I know this is standard procedure for most other Unis.

Basically, I would read a few popular science books. Briane Greene is particularly good for physics. This is just so that you've got something to write on your personal statement and show interest, and also to demonstrate to yourself that physics is fascinating and that it's what you want to do at uni. Obviously, you could just reel of lists of books on your statement and people might not realise, but its better to have actually read them so you can discuss them with some kind of authority (particularly important in the unlikely event that a Uni interviews you.)

For Oxford, my interview preparation consisted of a mock with teachers at my school, doing the usual stuff about why do you want to study it etc. However, my experience (and most other people's too) was that the interview is little more than a short exam with people watching you. They just give you questions and you muddle through them and they help you - they want to know how good you are at physics, and usually very little else.

Aside from that, all that's left to say is you've got the perfect A levels with which to apply, so if you've got good predicted grades and your personal statement doesn't read "I hate physics", you should have no trouble getting offers from top places. :smile:

good luck.

john

Reply 2

CityMonkey

suneilr

Does anyone have or know where i could get hold of some reading lists for Physics, as I'm going to be applying for physics in the next few months.

To get a deep understanding of any particular topic, Feynman's lectures are all you need, though you may find it a bit too stretching. Something a bit more A-level level would be "A-level Physics" by Roger Muncaster, he explains things really well, and helped a lot in securing my offer at Cambridge. If you applied to Oxbridge, I would expect questions on gravitation (incl. orbits), mechanics and electromagnetics, as these are big topics covered in 1st year physics. An awareness of quantum physics would be a great topic to talk about in interviews, but nothing too detailed as it will be too advanced for you. Make sure you know every thing from your course, not just mathematically but in understanding. Even for Oxbridge, they won't test you on quantum tunnelling for your interview, for example. Everything will be asked will be based on A-levels and just stretching that to see if you can apply it in new situations.

If you are looking to spark an interest in physics and learn about some of the characters, start off with a few books by Feyman. "Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman" is quite good, telling tales of how he wrote ground breaking ideas on quantum mechanics on tissue papers in strip clubs! Reading a few biographies would be good, Einstein, Newton and Schrodinger all come to mind.

Read about some of the ground breaking experiments in physics and the theories behind them, e.g. Galileo's experiment on gravitaional acceleration and mass on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the failed Michelson-Morley experiment which paved the way to the theory of Special Relativity, Schrodinger's cat, JJ Thomson's discovery of the electron, the experiments on solar eclipse to confirm Einstein's Theory of General Relativity...there are loads!

Reply 3

MrGoogle

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Recommended_Physics_Reading

I found this has lots of helpful books on different areas of physics (Electromagnetism, Chaos, etc) and has useful comments to tell you about the depth, breadth, difficulty and level of required maths skill for each book.

Hope it helps!

Reply 4

username457532

I read Antimatter by Frank Close before I came to uni and found it very easy to understand but very in depth. I keep meaning to read Neutrino but I haven't got round to it yet.