Re: Student books on QM/GR: suggestions please.

Arnold Neumaier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>
>Oz wrote:
>> 
>> he
>> never got the habit of simultaneously understanding, following and
>> making key notes in lectures. To this extent lectures turned out to be
>> useless to him, compared to time spent, because he still had to go and
>> find textbooks and do it all again, effectively from scratch.
>
>The remedy would be to read the textbooks *before* the lectures,
>then he has his attention free to listen and understand.

That is excellent advice. 

Unfortunately there is a propensity for lecturers to keep the content of
their lectures secret on the principle (it would appear) that if the
students knew what was in them there would be no need for them to come
to lectures.

IME the better lecturers in my day printed out little booklets
containing all the key derivations and logic, often double spaced or
with very wide margins. This was magic, considerably increasing
comprehension, allowing space for extra notes to be added and allowing a
variety of studying styles to be successfully adopted.

It's also worth noting that at some UK universities those reading
sciences, particularly in their first year, may well have some 40 hrs of
lectures and practicals (some even have saturday lectures). I'm not at
all convinced that it is good for a student to take on a workload that
involves no socialising, or that this is severely limited.

>> I have a nearly unused copy of MTW, which I am sending today, but I have
>> noted that many here prefer another book for GM. Any recommendations?
>
>I found this book sufficient for everything about gravity 
>except the quantum frontier.

Many have. Many have commented that it is hard for the neophyte to find
the pages appropriate to the level they are being taught, and consider
it better used as a reference tome.

>Why doesn't he use the books recommended by the lecturer?

He does. They are all in the library, which he spends a very great deal
of time in (so he says). They would appear to be a very long list, which
isn't that helpful, although doubtless between them they contain what is
required.

-- 
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
DEMON address no longer in use.