0 The Guide to the Guide

The Philosophy Behind the Guide

This guide is for those brave souls who have a deep yearning to climb the cliff of modern physics. We intend the guide to be accessible to people at nearly any level of learning; giving a broad overview of the topics which are essential for engaging in a productive dialogue with the universe and its laws. In a typical undergraduate physics education, there is a very specific ordering in which topics are presented. Such an ordering is useful in so far as it provides students with a clear route up the cliff. Part of the art of climbing, however, is learning how to find one's own route up the cliff face, a skill not often learned in college. Indeed, finding new paths to familiar ideas is the skill which separates the good physicists from the mediocre. When extended, this skill allows one to free-climbing to new heights on the cliff face, the hallmark of an excellent physicist.

Here, we only intended to show you the cliff face while suggesting an admittedly vague path up the wall; it is nearly impossible to climb that which has not been seen. To this end, we will be following Robert Penrose's book The Road to Reality, whose chosen ordering of topics is sufficiently unorthodox as to preclude any attempts to skip the important step of learning to climb. Furthermore, it is the only book that I am aware of that contains nearly all the necessary concepts to deliver a student to the edge of that which is known. Due to the incredible breadth of subjects covered in the book, each chapter skips over a swath of ideas and does not fully expand upon the ideas presented. This collection of resources is intended to fill in these gaps and give direction to any sufficiently motivated autodidact staring longingly at the clouds. We call this method guided self-learning.