How to Become a Theoretical Physicist

This is an article for anyone who is thrilled by the challenges posed

by real science, and who are determined to use their brains to
discover new things about the physical world.

Steps

Make sure you are serious about learning the subject.

Take every opportunity to learn more about physics and
science in general.
If you are in high school or earlier, take all the science classes
you can get. It is likely that your high school classes will
approach physics largely from a Newtonian perspective, but
this is an important foundation for what you will learn later on.
If you are at the university level, enroll in university classes in
your chosen field.
Explore physics on your own, too. There are many popular
science books exploring topics in modern and classical physics
in varying levels of detail.

Read up on the history of physics and other sciences.

Understand how new discoveries come about and how they
often challenge societal and even scholarly assumptions about
the workings of the universe.
Study as much math as you can. While mathematics isn't
physics, it is the language used in physics.

Use the Internet as a resource, but be careful of what you

find there. Always ask yourself who's making a claim and how
they arrived at their results.
For experimental results, examine the methods carefully for
possible errors or biases. For theoretical results, check whether
they tend to match the experimental results and look for
exceptions to the rule.

Try alternative approaches whenever possible. You will gain a

better understanding of why physicists that came before did
things the way they did, and in turn, you will better understand
Physics itself.

Buy Physics textbooks and do the exercises. Doing them

will increase your understanding of the subject.
Try to get to the point where you discover the numerous
misprints, tiny mistakes, and more important errors these
books make, then imagine how you would improve them.
If you get good at spotting errors or writing texts, consider
writing for a collaborative online textbook project. There are
several out there, and writing for them can help both you
and the readers become better physicists and scientists.

Explore and study related subjects, too. Much of theoretical

physics today explores phenomena at the atomic and subatomic level and at an astronomical scale, so a grasp of
astronomy and chemistry will give you a better understanding of
the subject. Not everything has to be done in this order, but this
approximately indicates which ones come first.

Languages
Primary Mathematics
Classical Mechanics
Optics
Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics
Electronics
Electromagnetism
Quantum Mechanics (broad subject with several subdisciplines)
Quantum Topology
Atoms and Molecules
Solid State Physics
Nuclear Physics
Plasma Physics
Advanced Mathematics
Special Relativity
Advanced Quantum Mechanics
Phenomenology
General Relativity
Quantum Field Theory
Super string Theory

Get a university education in Theoretical Physics. Most

research in Physics is done at a university level, in particular at
universities known for the subject. Work towards a degree from
one of those schools.

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Tips
Consider purchasing Stephen Hawking's' "A Brief History of
Time" or "The Grand Design" for a low-down of the subject.
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Read Richard Feynman every time you feel like dropping out. He
knows "The pleasure of finding things out."
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Buy theoretical physics books on Amazon or elsewhere.

If you wait for a new version of a textbook to come out, the
older versions drop in price to about two dollars.
However, this also means that you could be studying incorrect
information. Usually this isn't a problem, but some new
discoveries disprove what is stated in previous textbooks.
Recommended authors for books incorporating theoretical
physics: Brian Greene, Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, Michio
Kaku.
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Recommended further reading:

The Archimedeans webpage has a lot of lecture notes on
Physics and Mathematics.
David Tong's (DAMTP) lectures in classical mechanics
Bo Thide's (Uppsala) lectures in electromagnetic theory.
Angel Uranga's lectures in String Theory._
Michael Fowler's (Virginia) lectures in Quantum Mechanics
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Question folk knowledge and even results from other physicists.

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Never give up.If you are not getting the language of physics,use
as much resources as possible.
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Know a good tip? Add it.

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Warnings
Be prepared to modify or discard a theory entirely based on
experimental results or observations of the physical universe.
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Physics is intellectually challenging and physicists are still

struggling to understand certain phenomena. Take this as a
challenge and see where it leads you.
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Related wikiHows

How to Understand Classical Physics

How to Demonstrate Charles's Law

How to Demonstrate Archimedes' Principle

How to Derive Addition of Velocities in Special Relativity

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