For the past two years, Stanford has been rolling out a series of courses (collectively called Modern Physics: The Theoretical Minimum) that gives you a baseline knowledge for thinking intelligently about modern physics. The sequence, which moves from Isaac Newton, to Albert Einstein’s work on the general and special theories of relativity, to black holes and string theory, comes out of Stanford’s Continuing Studies program (my day job). And the courses are all taught by Leonard Susskind, an important physicist who has engaged in a long running "Black Hole War" with Stephen Hawking. The final course, Statistical Mechanics, has now been posted on YouTube, and you can also find it on iTunes in video. The rest of the courses can be accessed immediately below. (The courses also appear in the Physics section of our collection of Free Courses.) Six courses. Roughly 120 hours of content. A comprehensive tour of modern physics. All in video. All free. Beat that.

Modern Physics: The Theoretical Minimum

Classical Mechanics (Fall 2007) iTunes YouTube

Quantum Mechanics (Winter 2008) iTunes YouTube

Special Relativity (Spring 2008) iTunes YouTube

Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (Fall 2009) iTunes YouTube

Cosmology (Winter 2009) iTunes YouTube

Statistical Mechanics (Spring 2009) iTunes YouTube

PS If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you should consider checking out Prof. Susskind's new course. It takes a yearlong look at new revolutions in Particle Physics, and how important theories will be tested by the Large Hadron Collider in Europe. His second course in the series begins next week. Learn more here.