I am supposed to solve the electrodynamics problems as a part of the assignment given in JNP. I have not solved the basic problems in my head related to math tools and even not yet completely studied the theory part (as on 03 December 2015), but I need to submit the assignment early, then what to do?
I started thinking and then came across two ways of learning things, one of them is "top to bottom" way of learning and the other is "bottom to top" way of learning. Bottom to top way of learning is the classic way in which one approaches to understand the theory/concept by starting from the origin of the theory i.e from its elemental form, to its final form; for example learning the vector concept from the historical intellectual point of view is the bottom to top approach. Top to bottom way of learning is the way in which one approaches the theory to solve a particular problem, and then learning the required "top" parts of the theory down to its elemental form; for example seeing a particular numerical problem (for me now it is a problem from Griffiths "Introduction to Electrodynamics" book) and scanning for the required parts of theory required to kill the problem, and then understanding the parts in the better i.e in the elemental way.
Learning the concept in an historical way has been my favourite and it represents the "bottom to top" way, where you can see in "slow motion" how great men create great things in simple way, which to us later might seem to be a monster. I enjoy this journey from bottom to top allot, as it allows me to meet the person who created the theory and even to get some of their secret skills! On the other hand, top to bottom way of learning is also interesting where one is going to study what is required to solve a problem, but might miss some of the thrilling parts of the whole story.
We should know when to use either of the ways of learning. One way might not suit in the situation where the other might suit, or a situation might require both the mixture approach. So, be flexible. Now for my assignment I am using "top to bottom" approach. If anyone has anything to add, please do it, we shall try to create a better view as always!
I started thinking and then came across two ways of learning things, one of them is "top to bottom" way of learning and the other is "bottom to top" way of learning. Bottom to top way of learning is the classic way in which one approaches to understand the theory/concept by starting from the origin of the theory i.e from its elemental form, to its final form; for example learning the vector concept from the historical intellectual point of view is the bottom to top approach. Top to bottom way of learning is the way in which one approaches the theory to solve a particular problem, and then learning the required "top" parts of the theory down to its elemental form; for example seeing a particular numerical problem (for me now it is a problem from Griffiths "Introduction to Electrodynamics" book) and scanning for the required parts of theory required to kill the problem, and then understanding the parts in the better i.e in the elemental way.
Learning the concept in an historical way has been my favourite and it represents the "bottom to top" way, where you can see in "slow motion" how great men create great things in simple way, which to us later might seem to be a monster. I enjoy this journey from bottom to top allot, as it allows me to meet the person who created the theory and even to get some of their secret skills! On the other hand, top to bottom way of learning is also interesting where one is going to study what is required to solve a problem, but might miss some of the thrilling parts of the whole story.
We should know when to use either of the ways of learning. One way might not suit in the situation where the other might suit, or a situation might require both the mixture approach. So, be flexible. Now for my assignment I am using "top to bottom" approach. If anyone has anything to add, please do it, we shall try to create a better view as always!
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