Hey, I''m pretty new to programming, and my math skills seem a little out of date..... does any one have any book recommendations or course recommendations on how to learn physics and higher math skills than mid-level algebra? Thanks in advance. -Jack Morgan Professional at Heart "You think that''s air you''re breathing?" -Morpheus

Others here may have better ideas than I do, since I don''t really use books for learning math or physics.

Have you learned anything about linear algebra, matrices and such? Knowledge of linear algebra is essential to game development these days. There are lots of good linear algebra books, and if you search the forum archives you''ll find recommendations. There are many books that put linear algebra in the context of graphics, including "Real-time Rendering" web site at www.realtimerendering.com, which is very good (but not introductory in terms of linear algebra).

I can say that in my opinion the "Physics for Game Programmers" book by David Bourg seems to be a decent (but certainly imperfect) book for learning how to program physics from the ground up. It covers the high school and 1st year college basics, but does go beyond that to discuss things useful to games (and things that might not even really be covered explicitly in any undergraduate college course). There are things in that book that are tangential----obviously the author has a fondness for certain subjects!

Beyond that book, which does have some very introductory material, check out resouces in the programming feature archives at www.gamasutra.com, and on this site. Chris Hecker has a bunch of stuff on his site at www.d6.com (go to employee pages). Also, I believe there are links to technical papers at http://www.techsem.com/vault.htm. Most of these will be for physics, but definitely give insight into the math as well.

I know that''s a hodgepodge of ideas, but hopefully it will spark some possibilities!

Graham Rhodes
Senior Scientist
Applied Research Associates, Inc.