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1. Sears and Zemansky's University physics : with modern physics. San Francisco : Pearson Addison Wesley, c2008 0321501217 Worth reading ___ Waste of time ___ (check one) Specific reasons why:
Now, there is one reason that I can see why one would learn Physics. That would be to understand the language of modern day scientists, mathematicians, engineers, etc. You see, the field of Physics is an established field and there are a number of things that are explained according to it’s inner workings. So, to navigate their world then you have to speak their language. Even though you might understand it another more simple way, to convey your thoughts to them then you might be required to explain your thought according to the methods of Physics. It’s like if you have a professional soccer player (Ronaldinho) and a professional Physicist who is also very good at soccer. The lesson is to teach a student how to kick a curving free kick. Ronaldinho is excellent in this regard and he teaches the student how to kick a nice curving free kick by showing him how to do it physically and instructing him that he simply needs to practice everyday to master it. On the other hand, the Physicist explains how to kick a nice curving free kick in the language of Physics. He make complex formulas and schemes about the motion of the ball and other stuff like that. The point is “most” people learn naturally by Ronaldinho’s method and “some” people will be able to learn what is being taught by the Physicist’s method. That example is what Physics is all about. You do NOT need Physics, it is simply one method of teaching to explain particular concepts/ideas. And this is the basis of why I say Physics is useless.
You don't need to read/write as you can learn from practical experience from others by verbal communication.Why study law? You just need common sense and a sense of right and wrong.Why learn maths? People constructed buildings by eye and rules of thumb before, and not too many fell down.
Physics is an alien concept to me, I don't understand it, I don't enjoy it, I don't 'get' it, and I don't like it!! []However even though my degree in life sci based I still have to learn some physics with it, there is no escape!! []
If you are interested and sufficiently motivated, then it may be satisfying to understand more of the subject but it is not essential; at least as long as someone is doing it.
@Geezer - I dont think I would label something deviating from plan as something that is nearly always the case in the realm of engineering. Now I have no experience in this arena but I would think that it is very much quite the opposite. That things deviating from plan rarely happens and when it does, the consequences are severe. i.e. recalls, huge profit losses, etc. When situations like that occur, I dont think a grounding in Physics/math comes into play. This is because Physics probably didnt cause the problem. Im not sure but I think most of the recalls didnt occur because the directions were bad rather because the directions werent followed properly. This is the same thing in making a cake. If a chef has a prized recipe that works then it works, period. If someone messes up his recipe even after they have a copy of his recipe then its not an error of the recipe, that is user error. So, I still dont see where I would need Physics. Like I said, I think Physics is for the Mozarts of the engineering profession who create cars and provide us the directions to follow to build the awesome cars that they have come up with. Much like there are great chefs who can continually formulate delicious and new recipes for everyone to enjoy and also make themselves in their own homes.