A brief history of time and elegant universe

So I just finished reading through a brief history of time, and i'm about half way through elegant universe, this stuff is great. Thank God theres no actual mathematics in the books, I have a hard enough time with newtonian physics stuff.... i couldn't imagine trying to understand the mathematics for quantum physics or relativity. Anyone else into this stuff?

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Chi Lin Chuan Fa Organization
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I'm a bit of a Stephen Hawkings fan. It is very hard going though! Have to read everything about 5 times!

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Faith itself, compelled by the Holy Spirit, possesses an inner dynamism that necessitates deeper understanding. ~Thomas Weinandy O.F.M.

“	Originally Posted By: FightingFat I'm a bit of a Stephen Hawkings fan. It is very hard going though! Have to read everything about 5 times!	”

oh come on...

my son has been reading SH books since he was 6 (in English...)
so how hard can it be???

I believe that with an open mind and some creative thinking you would be able to absorb it all very quickly
at the end of the day his writing isn't that deep or analytical

and it surely beats Dr. Seuss as a bedtime story

Chief108

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“	Question Authority. Question Society. Question Reality. Question Yourself. Question your conclusions, your judgments, your answers. Question this. If you question everything thoroughly enough, the truth will eventually hit you upside the head and you will know. But here’s a warning: It won’t be what you imagined. It won’t be even close.	”

all hail Martyr Fakka

“	Originally Posted By: chief108 oh come on... my son has been reading SH books since he was 6 (in English...) so how hard can it be??? I believe that with an open mind and some creative thinking you would be able to absorb it all very quickly at the end of the day his writing isn't that deep or analytical and it surely beats Dr. Seuss as a bedtime story Chief108	”

Not to sound like an A-hole (for a change!), but I didn't find it all that tough to read either. And I'm sure as hell not as smart as Mr. Chief's son.

Guess it's just stoopid ol' me then.

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Faith itself, compelled by the Holy Spirit, possesses an inner dynamism that necessitates deeper understanding. ~Thomas Weinandy O.F.M.

lol, well i read through it once, and it seemed to make sense, but then again.... wait until someone actually presents you with equations or problems to solve.... then you're screwed. Lol it always seems like that for me for alot of my classes.

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Chi Lin Chuan Fa Organization
www.chi-lin.org

“	Originally Posted By: Unkotare Not to sound like an A-hole (for a change!), but I didn't find it all that tough to read either. And I'm sure as hell not as smart as Mr. Chief's son.	”

the thing I fear most is that when I come home he says something like: "you're just in time to see my nuclear fusion experiment"

for a long time he'd been talking about building a Floyd (this sounds most like what he used)
he needed old computers, copper wire and lotsa other stuff
a Floyd could transmit electricity and data at the same time trough the air so he could give the poor kids in Africa computers as well...
he drew some plans and to me it looked a lot like a Tesla generator

and that is one thing I didn't have any info on...
so where did he ever pick up that kinda info??

smart kids are weird....

Chief108

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“	Question Authority. Question Society. Question Reality. Question Yourself. Question your conclusions, your judgments, your answers. Question this. If you question everything thoroughly enough, the truth will eventually hit you upside the head and you will know. But here’s a warning: It won’t be what you imagined. It won’t be even close.	”

all hail Martyr Fakka

Im *very* into that sort of stuff and double majored in Physics as an undergraduate.

I also have to say, its not difficult reading (and understanding the math is infinitely more important in my mind, than reading about a concept at a high level). Ive been reading about cosmic strings, warped spacetime, relativity, etc since before I can remember. In 8th grade, for speech class I gave a 45 minute informative speech on Black holes and warped spacetime; everyoen thought I was crazy lol. The difficult part is learning the intricacies of something like the wave equation, or getting to the bottom of Maxwells equations or some of the more complex partial differential equations in a quantum mechanics textbook.

If you want a good book with some eeasy math in it (*EASY* math, like Schwartchild radii kinda easy), then there is a book from the early 90s called "Black Holes" which discusses much of what Hawkwing talks about but in more depth. Beyond that, Id say you should buy a textbook for an undergraduate Astronomy class. Once you can handle that math (trust me, its easy), move up to an astrophysics textbook. After that, youll be ready to look at elementary modern physics, and THAT is where the world starts to open up =)

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

“	Originally Posted By: PlumDragon Im *very* into that sort of stuff and double majored in Physics as an undergraduate. I also have to say, its not difficult reading (and understanding the math is infinitely more important in my mind, than reading about a concept at a high level). Ive been reading about cosmic strings, warped spacetime, relativity, etc since before I can remember. In 8th grade, for speech class I gave a 45 minute informative speech on Black holes and warped spacetime; everyoen thought I was crazy lol. The difficult part is learning the intricacies of something like the wave equation, or getting to the bottom of Maxwells equations or some of the more complex partial differential equations in a quantum mechanics textbook. If you want a good book with some eeasy math in it (*EASY* math, like Schwartchild radii kinda easy), then there is a book from the early 90s called "Black Holes" which discusses much of what Hawkwing talks about but in more depth. Beyond that, Id say you should buy a textbook for an undergraduate Astronomy class. Once you can handle that math (trust me, its easy), move up to an astrophysics textbook. After that, youll be ready to look at elementary modern physics, and THAT is where the world starts to open up =)	”

you double majored in physics, is that sort of like double mint gum? Let me guess you are going for a phd in physics.

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“	Originally Posted By: chief108 the thing I fear most is that when I come home he says something like: "you're just in time to see my nuclear fusion experiment" for a long time he'd been talking about building a Floyd (this sounds most like what he used) he needed old computers, copper wire and lotsa other stuff a Floyd could transmit electricity and data at the same time trough the air so he could give the poor kids in Africa computers as well... he drew some plans and to me it looked a lot like a Tesla generator and that is one thing I didn't have any info on... so where did he ever pick up that kinda info?? smart kids are weird.... Chief108	”

the same place you pick info on MA, the internet.

__________________
"Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal"

"Do not wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day."

- Albert Camus

“	Originally Posted By: FightingFat Guess it's just stoopid ol' me then.	”

nah physics is not hard it just requires a different mind set, also knowing the greek alphabet would be useful.

__________________
"Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal"

"Do not wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day."

- Albert Camus

“	Originally Posted By: dman you double majored in physics, is that sort of like double mint gum? Let me guess you are going for a phd in physics.	”

Doubled in Physics and Computer Engineering.
Masters is in Electrical Engineering and my PhD work--starting Jan 06--will be in Aerospace Engineering

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."