What are some hard STEM topics to learn as a hobby?

[Geek Nasty]

Dont know if you have to take it but applied probability was by far the hardest class i had. Basically the math behind statistics.

 

[King]

Tbh honest just pickup a raspberry pi or Arduino and start doing projects from there. You’ll learn electrical engineering, and coding all in one. From there, you can go further by buying different modules and attachments to get into signal/image processing, controls, robotics, networking etc.

You really dont need to start with the mathematical/physics basics unless you feel like deep diving into a specific topic

That’s definitely something I wanna get into down the line.

But I personally feel like I should have a strong grasp of the core modules first. And then that’s when I should start doing projects.

Don’t wanna get into a situation where I’m just really good at following instructions, instead of being able to understand the underlying concepts, allowing me to make my own projects and build off current ones.

 

[L&HH]

Statics, structural analysis, thermodynamics, concrete/steel design, fluid mechanics

Fluids was one of my hardest classes. Thermo wasn't too bad, I took that during the winter so it was hella condensed and had to learn everything in like 3 weeks.

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

Organic Chemistry

Orgo is the shyt


Won't be too much learning it without access to a lab though



And OP would definitely need supervision to keep him from blowing shyt up.

Had a lab session get cancelled because the lab session before me accidentally make a Lil bit of tnt and blow his hood


We were nitrating toluene and his lab skills were wack

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

Physics 2
Digital logic design

Get yourself a bread board circuit kit

 

[Bunchy Carter]

I can’t actually learn that properly without access to labs tho

Book recommendations?

I use to be a formulation chemist and you can learn it some what properly without access to a lab, but you have to understand there is paper chemisty and lab chemistry. Everything that looks good on paper, may not work well in the lab, but you do need access to analytical instruments, but you can learn how to operate various instruments on youtube ie. GC/MS, LC, ICP-MS and so forth

These are my O-Chem books for my lab and lecture and they were good books. The books broke down things very well and the the lecture book, in chapter one gives your a quick brush up on some g-chem you probably forgot. But truthfully my O-Chem teacher was excellent, brother knew this like the back of his hand; I still keep in contact with him 7 years later.

This is a good website, I used this a lot back when I was in college; it practically has every reaction there. The website even have a list of Oxidizing and Reducing Agents, it has everything: Organic Chemistry Portal

This guy freelanceteach makes good videos and breaks stuff real good:

 

[Kooley_High]

That’s definitely something I wanna get into down the line.

But I personally feel like I should have a strong grasp of the core modules first. And then that’s when I should start doing projects.

Don’t wanna get into a situation where I’m just really good at following instructions, instead of being able to understand the underlying concepts, allowing me to make my own projects and build off current ones.

I understand. I took physics 1 and 2 then a circuits 1 class and feel comfortable with a raspberry pi. A lot of it is learn as you go.

But keep in mind that its a hobby not a degree. You might be served better going to a community college or university if you feel the need to have an very in depth understanding of core principles.

Not trying to be rude btw. I appreciate your interest in the field

 

[Conan]

Thinking of maybe adding one of these after I’m finished with multivariate calculus - book recommendations?

So I like to view Real Analysis as a rigorous, lawyer like study of calculus starting from first principles (the real line). Using properties of natural numbers, rational numbers and real numbers, sets get defined that functions can be built on. Then you can use said functions to define integrals. Then said intervals can be used to define derivatives. Then the concept can be generalized from the real line to an area, to a volume, to Rn... And it goes from there into some weird shyt...

Now you have to learn how to read and write rigorous proofs first. For that I would recommend Journey into Mathematics: An Introduction to Proofs.

Next, I would suggest a book on Discrete Mathematics. Your understanding of sets, relations, logic (understanding proofs of induction, contradiction, etc) is fundamental to any good work in Real Analysis. Try Discrete Mathematics with Applications.

Now you're ready to study beginning Real Analysis. Eases you into a rigorous treatment of the real line. Limits. Continuity, derivatives, integrals, convergence... Remember all those epsilon-delta definitions you skipped over in beginning Calc? That's gonna be your bnb for a good 4 months. Textbook: Basic Real Analysis.

Alright, you've made it past this point (congratulations, you know more math than most engineering majors). Now you're ready for a deeper repeat of the previous book. Now you're speaking about measure spaces, Lebesgue integrals, sigma algebras... This is absolute prereq material for PhD programs in Math, Statistics, Econ, many Engineering lanes... There are many recommendations out there... I like Real Analysis by Hayden.

If you get past this point you don't need my advice anymore. You'll know what part of math you want to head into next. Functional Analysis, Complex Analysis, theory of ODEs/PDEs, Ergodic Theory, Harmonic Functions...

Happy digging!