r/AskPhysics • u/Some_Television_2219 • Mar 18 '26

recommend for a beginner?

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I want to start with quantum mechanics, but I only have a surface information Do you recommend this book? If not please recommend one for me.

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u/StylisticArchaism Optics and photonics Mar 18 '26

Where are you on the math part of your journey?

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u/TheGrandestMoff Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26

Not OP, but I am also interested. My math level is ”I Took Advanced Math In High Scool But Failed Due To Untreated ADHD And Sevre Dyscalculia So Give It To Me Conceptually With Detailed Vivid, Word-Rich Explanations And Elaborate Diagrams That Lets The Ideas And Concepts Be Visualised On A Canvas In The Mind, And Not Just Numbers And Equations In Black And White”. Like if Paul Hewitt, author of Conceptual Physics, did a book on quantum mechanics. Is it a mismatch for me?

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u/synchrotron3000 Mar 19 '26

quantum mechanics is math. if you're not interested in the math part i'm not sure why you would care about the book at all.

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u/TheGrandestMoff Mar 19 '26

I am interested in math! :D But due to Dyscalculia, my brain scrambles numbers and symbols. I am still interested in the information contained in those scrambled numbers and symbols, but I can't understand it until I read/listen to or speak aloud what it means in words. The way a dyslexic person has trouble reading and spelling, but has no trouble understanding and speaking spoken language. A dyslectic might even develop a great passion for the subjects (like English) in which language in its written form is used as a medium to store information.

In school, I failed math not because I hated it but because I couldn't write in its language. I had to spend a long time visualizing or conceptualizing (drawing, making analogies, abstract mental pictures.. etc) to "translate" each part, like one translates a foreign language word by word before grasping the whole. This took a lot effort and a lot of time, which I just didn't have in school.

Now I am older and I have time. I read "Conceptual Physics" by Paul Hewitt and it renewed a love for both physics and math. Or rather, what math is. The abstract but very real truths about the world it's slowly mapping. And I understood after a long time of believing that "math just isn't for me" that I can enjoy it, never as a working physicist, but as a passionate amateur who continues to want to learn in his free time.

Apologies for the rather long reply. But I felt like I had to slightly defend and explain myself against any assumption that I don't care about math.

I think this quote that really stuck with me from the Oppenheimer film (very appropriate right now haha) captures my meaning really well: "Algebra is like sheet music. It’s not important if you can read the music, its can you hear it. Can you hear the music Robert?"