How to advance Physics?

Question

I am currently in high school and I am an avid lover of Maths and Physics, I am currently doing my GCSE's and (without sounding arrogant) I don't really enjoy how basic our Physics is, I used to have this problem with Maths too until I picked up a (text)book on Linear Algebra (Linear Algebra: A Modern Introduction) which I'm enjoying very much. The issue is, I don't really know where to start: I am reading books on Physics like "QED by Richard Feynman" which I am really enjoying but I don't feel it's enough. I want to advance my Physics and I want to start applying Maths to Physics (why I posted on Maths.Exchange), I want to be able to pick up more challenging books on this topic and fully understand them. Yet I also really enjoy the "Physics-Physics side of Physics", I find it very interesting and I am wondering: how can I learn more about Physics (both Mathematically and Theoretically). Through experience I have seemed to grow a higher appreciation for learning stuff through books rather than online, so are there any recommendations of books I can pick up? (I mean as in textbooks, or something which I can study from rather than normal books- those which I am already reading). I know Physics is a very vague name for all the fascinating branches there are, but I would be content with anything - personally, I am really into Astrophysics, but I find everything interesting.

Nevertheless, thank you.

Answer 1

I think the advice you will find here may be too situation independent for you as contributors here are from many different places(for those reading, GCSE is equivalent to precalc). Undergraduate textbooks are great, but you will have plenty of time to work through them at university. Shoot for the hoops first by doing well in the exams and getting into a good university.

I would recommend you start looking at A level maths/physics/further maths stuff. Not only will it be fun, you'll be ahead next year too. The Edexcel textbooks are great. Further mechanics modules FM1 and FM2 are more or less exactly what you are looking for.

Answer 2

For studying astrophysics, I would recommend using the textbook "Relativity: Special, General, and Cosmological" by Wolfgang Rindler to learn more about relativity and "Black Holes, White Dwarfs, and Neutron Stars" by Shapiro and Teukolsky to learn more about the current understanding of some of the most interesting stellar objects. However, a warning: both of these are more graduate level textbooks than for the undergraduate.