Reading before class is important. Since we have an "active learning" classroom, you are expected to be exposed to the material before class!
Reading Assignments for Physics 1655
Check this page for each week's reading assignment. Please read each week's material before class on Monday. Usually, there is a short “Reading Quiz” posted on Canvas under the “Quizzes” tab. These are due by 1 pm before the lecture.
Links to the books here. The online version is available for free through the UVa Library system.
PDFs of the main books are also linked under Canvas resources.
| Day 0 | June 17 | Read this short Linux beginners guide. No Quiz. |
| Day 2 | June 18 | Emacs, ways to run Python: Sundnes Ch.1 and Ch.2 (Don't forget Quiz1!) |
| Day 4 | June 20 | Sundnes Review Ch.2 and read Ch 3. Complete the 4 topics in the 'Python fundamentals' section of this tutorial: https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/variables-constants-literals. Also, complete the 5 topics in the 'Python Flow Control' section: https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/if-elif-else. Note, you don't need to install any software! Ignore that part. Note that this is 9 short tutorial pages. You can find some information about how to use the tutorials here. Basically, you should login to Rivanna (Desktop or Jupyter) and try out the Python commands being discussed in the tutorial. (Don't forget Quiz2!) |
Day 6 | June 24 | Sundnes. Ch. 5, Read 6.1 For Numpy Ref VandePlas Ch. 2;; Complete the 'Python Data Types' section (6 short pages) https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/numbers Complete the 'Python Files' section (5 short pages) https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/file-operation. (Don't forget Quiz3!) |
| Day 8 | June 26 | Sundnes functions Ch.4 Sundnes: classes Ch.8; (some of this is review - just skim that part if you want). Complete the 'Python Functions' section (5 short pages) https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/function |
| Day 10 | June 28 | Wood Ch. 10 Sundnes: 6.2 --> 6.5. Wood Ch. 11 Review the Poisson Distribution and the Gaussian ("Normal") Distribution. Don't forget Reading Quiz 5! |
| Day 12 | July 1 | Wood Ch. 11. - Focus on fitting. No quiz! |
| Day 14 | July 8 | For Pandas reference see VandePlas Ch. 3 (read introduction and skim). For plotting with Pandas see VandePlas Ch. 4. For Machine Learning reference see VandePlas Ch. 5. These chapters are long - they are for reference. Read the introductions and skim to see what is available in Pandas and learn about machine learning tools. Last reading quiz! |