Dr. Rob Scott
Self Study Resources in Math and Physics
P Before printing, think about the environment
If you're reading the books below, you may find my rough notes helpful. They provide an annotation to the text, and solutions to many of the problems.
Boas, M. L., 1983: Mathematical methods in the physical sciences . John Wiley and Sons, 793 pp.
A classic in elementary methods for physics and other sciences, my notes are mostly just solutions to the problems. I worked through Chapter 9 on Calculus of Veraitons in detail, and some of Chapter 1 on infinite series.
Schutz, B., 2009: A first course in General Relativity . Cambridge University Press. 393 + XV pp.
This short text provides a more gentle introduction to GR than the classic Gravitation by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler. The latter assumes you know Special Relativity, and introduces the math in a way that I find awkward. While Schutz's text is almost always clear, I find he occationally makes leaps or assumptions which are not mentioned at all. I've attempted to fill-in these gaps. My notes cover Chapters 1 and 2 only, but check back for updates. April 2010. I've included solutions to almost all of the problems at the end of the chapters. Starting in Chapter 2, I've also introduced my own problems to supplement those provided by Schutz. These are specifically designed to lead the student through some thought processes that I felt Schutz expected us to jump though without explanation or guide. And of course I provide the complete solutions.