<p>I’ve worked through Mr. Lewin’s 8.01, 8.02, and 8.03… the books for some were out of print though, so I did the problem sets for 8.012 and 8.022. I haven’t been able to get around to MIT OCW 8.033, so I can’t comment on that. If you want to work the 8.012 psets, look into getting Kleppner & Kolenkow. The K&K book is pretty decent, but I would recommend buying it used. My friends helped me with the $160, and I feel very guilty, as the book isn’t too useful for anything other than providing great problems to solve. Definitely get it used. For the 8.022 psets, find a friend who has finished freshmen physics E&M at any college. Almost all upper-level physics classes use Purcell’s E&M, I’ve found. Be prepared to get beaten with the unit system.</p>
<p>As for MU vs MIT OCW… With Walter Lewin, you’re actually in an MIT class, seeing exactly what the students see. The demos are great, and it’s a lot more “Here’s how to do the physics” based. Mr. Lewin assumes you go into the class knowing nothing of physics, but does expect you to know basic calculus. If you’re starting off in physics, it’s a wonderful resource (especially his E&M stuff).</p>
<p>With Dr. Goodstein, you encounter more of the history and philosophy of science. Granted, it’s not exactly math-light, it may just be that they assumed whoever was watching MU was already decently grounded in mathematics (which is quite likely, given that it was a Caltech production). It’s important to remember that Mechanical Universe was designed for a TV production, and while you are in the class with Caltech students, the series frequently runs off on tangents related to the original lesson. You’ll encounter a lot less interesting problems to solve, but a lot of conceptual stuff. The benefit here is that you get to more easily follow how the original solver of a problem came about solving it.</p>
<p>In both cases, you get great senses of humor, which I believe is fundamental to learning physics. :).</p>
<p>All in all, I liked both, but I wouldn’t spend 450 USD on Mechanical Universe. I’m lucky that my parents taped it for me, so I have most (sadly, not all) of the episodes. Lewin is a great resource, even if 8.01 and 8.02 are a bit “light,” you can always work the 8.012 and 8.022 psets from this year or the OCW year, which provide much more of a challenge.</p>
<p>So if you ask me, spend the $80 to buy K&K used, maybe another $80 for the Purcell book used or get it from a friend, and do the OCW. MU is great, but it’s not great enough for me to justify telling anyone to drop $450 for it. I believe the series is more meant for schools to purchase, anyway. I would highly recommend getting your high school science department to consider using the MU series.</p>