Beginner books on physics and math?

[Patrunjel]

I finally managed to see two constallations, mars and jupiter in real life, and learned almost half (36 and counting ) of the constellations.

Now I'm kind of curious about physics and math (the areas related to astronomy). The problem is that untill now (3rd year in high school) I never had too much interest for physics (and now I hate that I didn't...), and I would really like to try and go from the basics up, and up, and even upper, so that I can satisfy my general curiosity, and also my to be able to explain the stuff I see when I look up.

Also, math seems interesting, because it's quite used as a framework for physics, and as an actual tool (I think it's called sphere geometry, and it's used on predicting where objects will be, where they were, etc)

So, here comes the question. Can you guys please help me with a list that I can find online (or with any other useful resource) of books that I can buy and start studying both physics and math? I don't really know much of either, so I would really really appreciate if the list of books would take a bottoms-up approach, so that I know where to start (and so that I will know that I will understand what I will be reading there)

Thanks

[Bizibilder]

I would concentrate on your high school Math. This will give you the grounding that you will need to study at the next levels. The sort of stuff you mention is university level - so you will need to get the groundwork done first.

I'm not trying to put you off - its just that I think you will get frustrated trying to "run before you can walk". You may be able to find an Astronomy course aimed at high school pupils that will enable you to learn some astronomical theory - maybe a science tescher can guide you in the right direction.

[Patrunjel]

Thanks for your answer

I am not from the US, we don't have courses, just mandatory tings you have to know (so our educational system sucks...)

I understand that I have to take it gradually. Classic mechanics sounds perfect, but I don't know how to approach it. I mean ok, I google classic mechanics, find a decent book and study. And then what? What will I study after I finish that certain book? Let's say that then I find thermodynamics interesting. Fine, how can I be sure that I will not get stuck at the middle of the book, because I don't have the math prerequisites?

This is what concerns me. I basically I just need to know what books you started with, and what you did after that, and so on.Then I will have an already proved way of dealing with physics (and math), so I will know that I will, at least, make some progress.

[x6gas]

I'd suggest that you buy a decent high-school general physics text-book; second hand will be fine as nothing much that they teach at this level has changed since the 19th century. This should cover the basics of things like statics, basic optics etc., etc and will be a good primer.

However, there is lots of basic astronomy that you can learn without much of a background in physics or maths and if you are interested in, say, celestial mechanics you can always read up to the point you are comfortable with and then go back and study the maths you need for a more in-depth view.

Also, there are loads of general ('popular') science books that are written without any maths at all that you can nonetheless use to learn general principles. As an example there is a great book by Ian Sample (science journalist at the Guardian) called Massive which is about gravity (a VERY difficult subject as it turns out). This is a highly complex, mathematical topic but as far as I recall there isn't a single equation in the book.

HTH, Ian