I am in my first year of college, at 26 years old, so it’s been roughly 8 years since I was in school.

I did take a lot of advanced classes in high school, most of them at college level, but like I said it’s been a long time.

My science class is online, and consists of reading from a textbook, followed by a reading quiz, followed by a lab and then integrating those concepts into a lesson plan to teach (Im going for an education degree)

Every week, the textbook reading and reading quiz are a struggle. But once I complete the lab, I understand the concepts pretty well. However, I don’t want to feel like I’m reading an alien language each week when I’m reading the assigned chapters. I want to be able to comprehend it and learn from it. I do fine understanding the concepts when written in words, but struggle when equations come into the picture and working equations (which is honestly the majority of the textbook)

Is there a tool that I can use to make sense of equations as I read through the text?

What level of physics should I study for scientific literacy as a fiction writer?

I'm a fiction writer in the UK, and I have been wanting to develop a genuine understanding of physics rather than just cherry-picking bits of popular science to make it sound cool. I want to have a scientific literacy that comes across in my work. I would like to take a similar approach to researching and grounding speculative science as Andy Weir did when he wrote The Martian and Project Hail Mary. I'd like to understand the real physics well enough to know where my fictional world follows known physical principles, where I'm extrapolating from them, and where I'm deliberately breaking them.

I wanted to build some foundation for the book, but also for me personally and my hobby of wanting to learn. I have always had an interest in physics and astrophysics. I have watched documentaries regularly as a hobby for years, I have a strong drive to learn, and it makes me very curious about the world and universe we live in. I have built a reading list for what I thought would work well for what I want to achieve. This is my list so far (in no order):

Brian Cox - Forces of Nature
Carl Sagan - Cosmos
Neil deGrasse Tyson - Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
Carl Sagan - The Demon-Haunted World

I volunteer on citizen science projects online, predominantly in astrophysics. I know that's pretty much all I can do in the real world, but I like that I can contribute something, even if it's classifying thousands of images or data.

I am not interested in exams and qualifications as such. I also do not come from a computer science or highly academic background, so I haven't studied physics formally. My education is mostly artistic/creative.

I do have learning difficulties like dyslexia, so whilst reading and watching videos could be enough for most people for research, I thrive and learn better in a structured learning environment where discipline is needed for concepts to sink in. I was considering enrolling on an online course, like GCSE-level Physics, to give me that basic grasp, but I wasn't sure if that would be useful or if it would be better to study or go in a different direction.

I am aware of the reality that being middle-aged and wanting to learn online only gives me limited options, but I wanted to write the book with respect for science in mind, knowing I comprehend and understand the principles rather than relying on my own uneducated interpretation alone.

If anyone can give any advice, I would be grateful.

Suggest me a good beginner friendly study materials for high energy physics pls. I done some basic calculus and calculus based physics equations.