to be and mold yourself in to a self taught physicists using the internet. As far as my math goes the highest i got with math is pre calculus am i doomed?. Another question regarding math used in physics could i skip some math and go straight to topology lol?, Or could i just skip math all together and be a theory man while the math monkeys work out my theories if i were to ever have any?.
I'm not a physicist but I can assure you that it is not possible to become even a mediocre physicist without schooling. The math used in physics goes far beyond pre calculus that at the very least you would need a personal tutor in order to learn them. I think you're also confused as to what theoretical physicists do because they use more math than experimental physicists. In fact basically all they do is use math.
If you want to get a science job then no. If you want to build.robots in your garrage then sure why not
Sure, you can do anything you put your mind to. Your mind however seems to want to take a lot of short cuts If you want to get serious about science than you have to get REALLY serious and start learning every thing you can get your hands on. It would be a LOT of HARD HARD work, probably a life time devotion to becoming a self taught physicist. Oh and yes, you'll need to know math, at least calculus. calc helps explain physics in concrete terms, nobody will listen to nonsense "theory".
Experimental physics will at the very least require up to Calculus III. Learning that on your own will take years. In addition you will need to learn about all the basic physics concepts such as gravity and magnetism including all of the constants and how and when to use them. As you can see, there is a lot of knowledge that needs to be acquired in order to become a physicists which is why there aren't that many of them. It really isn't feasible to become any kind of physicists without going to school.
Yea you're right jomo it does want to take shortcuts to a point. My math is just to far behind o well I'll just be an observer.
Yea it's just so awesome it makes it attractive to get in to when u look at the history of issac newton and just the understanding over the centuries, and how far we came in doing so.
Topology is almost entirely math. Now, there was a "theories guy" back in the 1930s called Fritz Zwicky. He was an astronomer who predicted many of the most important astronomical discoveries of the 20th century (he coined the term "supernova"), and nobody took any notice because he didn't like math and didn't support his ideas with calculations (also, he was an incredible asshole who no one liked to work with). And it's important to note that Zwicky wasn't bad at math by any realistic stretch of the imagination. He had an advanced mathematical degree and worked at CalTech on an international fellowship grant. So he could do the equations if he wanted to, but he just didn't want to.
It's possible to cover the fundamental stuff in math and physics at the undergraduate level online, but to become an expert in any area of physics and to be taken seriously, you have to go to graduate school. In fact, I think online education is going to be the future of undergraduate education and more and more schools might decide to teach their entire undergraduate courses online and have students come in and do the exams/tests. At least for the theoretical courses that require no lab component. If anything, self-teaching shows you are better equipped for graduate school in physics then students who were spoon-fed everything in school. If you're at precalculus, I suggest you start from calculus and linear algebra and work your way up from there. If you want to be an experimentalist, then you can stop at partial differential equations. On the other hand, if you want to be a theorist, you need all the math you can learn. Topology doesn't have any math prerequisites, except perhaps "mathematical maturity". If you want to go that route, then start learning analysis (proof-based calculus) rather than the non-honors calculus you see on youtube.
This. OP- why the aversion to formal schooling in physics and math? You'll most likely learn it better, and probably quicker, than on the internet. Plus you'll make connections, start working in labs, listen to live seminars from the world's greatest physicists, etc. The academic environment really does do a lot for intellectual development. Yes, it will cost money (undergrad at least), but if it's something you really want to do, then the upfront cost to doing what you love is small price to pay in comparison. I've been through A LOT of education at this point in my particular field...and I still feel like a damn amateur and I question every single day whether I am truly good enough to make it. I can't imagine though having tried to learn everything from the internet. You just can't do it honestly. At least not in my field.
Take some math classes. It's all just a puzzle with numbers, you can figure it out. Then try to use numbers to explain natural phenomenon, thus making equations, thus "doing physics" The thing about the universe I believe is that we are all observing the same thing so you're observation are just as valid as any one else's observations. Observe away, look at any thing you can, get very meticulous with patterns, you may just learn something, on your own none the less.