Learning & Studying Astrophysics -

[Nom de ploom]

Just thought I'd gauge opinion it will be my choice in the end but I've thought about studying astrophysics in an effort to learn something new.

I've looked on the physics forums and in general the advice seems to be "forget it" unless you have a maths degree - would anyone offer a different view?

I like to think I'm reasonably intelligent, a levels (including advanced statistics, admittedly 20 years ago), degree and professional finance qualification but am I too late to start learning calculus, transformations, differentiation, advanced geometry etc?

pipedream, idiocy or SMART target?

anyone looking for a study partner? or should I stick to guitar

[Hoofy]

Nom de ploom said:

am I too late to start learning calculus, transformations, differentiation, advanced geometry etc?

You can probably find that stuff online without too much trouble (if you do have too much trouble then the answer is probably yes).

Have a look through it - if you have a mental breakdown after 5 minutes or start playing with your phone, the answer again is yes.

Did you enjoy maths at A-level or did you hate it? Because it's gonna be more of the same and a lot more. Again if you hated it, the answer is yes.

[Toaster]

Nom de ploom said:

Just thought I'd gauge opinion it will be my choice in the end but I've thought about studying astrophysics in an effort to learn something new.

I've looked on the physics forums and in general the advice seems to be "forget it" unless you have a maths degree - would anyone offer a different view?

I like to think I'm reasonably intelligent, a levels (including advanced statistics, admittedly 20 years ago), degree and professional finance qualification but am I too late to start learning calculus, transformations, differentiation, advanced geometry etc?

pipedream, idiocy or SMART target?

anyone looking for a study partner? or should I stick to guitar

From my personal experience your never to old to learn and if your interested you will find a way even if you struggle a little, I was with a group of postgrad students and we were all struggling with some complex equations so I arranged a room coffee and buns, we had a go at peer learning we went from 32% marks to over 75 % in exam everyone passed.

So why not start here with Understand how maths, such as differentiation and integration, is applied in everyday life with this free online calculus course. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/real-world-cal... Best of luck and try and find 'others' to work through problems it isn't cheating its how we learn.

Here is a video about the course https://view.vzaar.com/2633166/video

If you find you get on with this then take the next step

I am one of those who left school without qualifications, what I learnt since school is that if your interested you will learn just perceiver at it

Edited by Toaster on Tuesday 8th September 15:31

[Fugazi]

Nom de ploom said:

Just thought I'd gauge opinion it will be my choice in the end but I've thought about studying astrophysics in an effort to learn something new.

I've looked on the physics forums and in general the advice seems to be "forget it" unless you have a maths degree - would anyone offer a different view?

I like to think I'm reasonably intelligent, a levels (including advanced statistics, admittedly 20 years ago), degree and professional finance qualification but am I too late to start learning calculus, transformations, differentiation, advanced geometry etc?

pipedream, idiocy or SMART target?

anyone looking for a study partner? or should I stick to guitar

There's only one way to find out! Seeing as you seem to have competency in mathematics so I don't you'd have a problem learning calculus. There are plenty of Youtube video tutorials, websites and books out there these days to guide you through, some universities even put their entire course material online. But like Hoofy said, just be aware that understanding the mathematics at this level can be frustrating and often abstract in nature, good fun though.

[don4l]

There are lots of areas that do not require advanced mathematics.

Here is a page that explains how the heavier elements, and it is not a difficult read. http://aether.lbl.gov/www/tour/elements/stellar/st...

If you are interested in the subject, then go for it.

[Nom de ploom]

thanks all for the replies...i'll look up those links for starters...

cheers,

[don4l]

Here is a link to an easy to read book about astrophysics. There are s
ome complicated mathematical equations - but not many.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0763708100/ref=mp_...

Edited by don4l on Tuesday 8th September 22:04

[Toltec]

I only studied it for one year as it was dropped as an option for the second year. It was the most interesting part of the degree so to say I was a rather upset is an understatement.

Spherical trigonometry is fun, triangles with internal angles totalling 270 degrees or should I say 3/2 Pi radians?

[Zad]

University level education has come on a long way in the last few years. For instance, go here https://www.edx.org/ and search for physics, mathematics or calculus courses.

It isn't just some free course from the International University of Some Back Street in Dewsbury, but providers like MIT, Harvard, Cornell etc. Some of them have exams and verified qualifications, but all the ones I looked at can just be done "passively" by watching the videos and doing what you want.

[deadtom]

How much detail do you want to go into?

A lot of it is extremely 'dry' and not very interesting once you start to get down to the nitty gritty of it.

source: I did my degree in astrophysics, graduated this summer.

disclaimer: I am awful at maths and struggled through all 4 years (foundation year + the usual 3) of my degree, so my views may not be the best to go by

[skeeterm5]

Do you need to be good at maths? Not if you just want read about the ideas and get a better understanding than your average layman. There are plenty of books written to make the subject accessible to all, some better than others, and you could do a lot worse than start with Hawking Brief History of Time, this tries hard to avoid maths.

If how ever you want to truly understand the deeper concepts and what it really implies then yes, unfortunately, you do need a reasonably good understanding of mathematical concepts; some of which are quite abstract. But if you can work with this you can better understand the ramifications of some of the concepts and you will end up simply bowled over by it all.

Source: I did my degree in Astrophysics and Cosmology

S

[jmorgan]

Stumbled across iTunes U learning a few months ago. Loads of stuff on there, quick look see this morning and there is a course from Yale (open yale). Introduction from Oxford university and a fe more. FOC.


Edit. This is all for interest obviously. Not thought about this subject so will be pursuing the introduction out of personal interest.

[RobM77]

I have a degree in Physics with Astrophysics. I see no problem at all in your ambitions, but if you want to study Astrophysics fully (i.e. to degree level), then unless you have degree level maths you'll need to spend at least as much time studying post-A Level maths as you do the Astrophysics, but that's no problem really, it's just going to take you longer! If you only have GCSE Maths, then it'll just take longer still. Try to ignore the nay-sayers.

That said, there's a huge amount of conceptual Astrophysics that you can get your teeth into without touching the maths and it will fascinate you. Doing the maths as well though will give you a very satisfying and deeper understanding.