What’s the “theoretical minimum” for thinking intelligently about modern physics? Here’s your chance to find out. Below, you will find three courses (the first of eventually six) presented by Leonard Susskind, a Stanford physicist who helped conceptualize string theory and has waged a long-running “Black Hole War” with Stephen Hawking (see his new book on that subject here). Freely available on iTunes and YouTube (see below), these video lectures trace the beginnings of modern theoretical physics, taking you from Isaac Newton (or Newtonian Mechanics) to Albert Einstein’s work on the general and special theories of relativity. Notably, these courses were originally presented within Stanford’s Continuing Studies program, which means that the content was pitched to an audience much like you — that is, smart people who don’t necessarily have an extensive knowledge of physics. Watch the video below — the first lecture that kicks off the series of courses — and you will see what I mean.
Finally, in case you’re wondering, the next three courses (covering quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, cosmology, black holes, and more) will be presented this coming academic year and, once taped, we will give you a heads up. Sign up for our RSS Feed and you will be sure to get an update. Also see our collection of Free Online Courses for many more courses along these lines.
Modern Physics: The Theoretical Minimum
- Classical Mechanics (Fall 2007) iTunes YouTube
- Quantum Mechanics (Winter 2008) iTunes YouTube
- Special Relativity (Spring 2008) iTunes YouTube
- Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity (Fall 2009) iTunes YouTube
- Cosmology iTunes – YouTube
- Statistical Mechanics iTunes YouTube
Bonus Material
In 2006-2007, Susskind taped a separate series of lectures on Quantum Mechanics. You can download them as free video lectures as well:
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[...] atentos a este espacio: ocurrirán grandes cambios muy pronto, basados en contenidos abiertos como éstos. (Bueno, yo encuentro que el “¿Cual es el mínimo teórico para pensar inteligentemente [...]
[...] to Einstein to Black Holes. So far, we’ve made five of the six courses available online (get them here), which amounts to 100 hours of free classroom footage. Hard to beat. (And, in case you’re [...]
[...] Newton to Einstein to Black Holes. So far, we’ve made five of the six courses available online (get them here), which amounts to 100 hours of free classroom footage. Hard to beat. (And, in case you’re [...]
how do i download these videos from youtube
[...] Leonard Susskind is an excellent lecturer and his free video lectures on everything from Hamiltonian mechanics to special relativity to quantum mechanics are some of the [...]
Prof. Susskind is an amazing lecturer. No wonder he won JJ Sakurai prize. I am not an native English speaker, but the way he speak is easy to be understood. Many thanks Professor.
[...] Statistical Mechanics, has now been posted on YouTube, and you can also find it on iTunes in video. If you click through to this page, you will find every course in the series. Six courses. Roughly 120 hours of video. A comprehensive tour of modern physics. All in video. All [...]
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Can I get these lectures on dvd?
[...] on line Physics Lectures were done at Stanford. This one is done by Leonard Susskind and available here. I have not previewed this second offering but I certainly plan to do it as time permits. It is a [...]
[...] and knowing you, you want to go deeper. So here you: Leonard Susskind, a world famous physicist, offered a series of six courses for Stanford Continuing Studiess, which traced the arc of modern physics. It goes from Newton to Black Holes. Naturally a tour of [...]