This test preparation book includes four full-length exams with detailed explanations modeled after the actual GRE in Physics. Knowledge of mechanics, electromagnetism, atomic physics, physicoptics and wave phenomena, quantum mechanics, special relativity, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, laboratory methods, and advanced topics tested. Includes a general physics review of all topics tested on the exam. For physics students bound for graduate school.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not a useful book,
By A Customer
This review is from: GRE Physics (REA) - The Best Test Prep for the GRE (GRE Test Preparation) (Paperback)
I have a couple of serious criticisms for this book.First, the review is not terribly helpful. If you know *everything* in the review section, you would probably be alright for the Physics GRE. But generally people retain less than what they actually read, so it's unlikely that you'd learn it all. The review essentially consists of a series of key equations without much to help you understand the underlying physics. You'd be much better off working problems in text books and ETS practice exams, as others have suggested. Second, also as others have argued, the problems in this book are inordinately difficult. It's not that these problems are in and of themselves too difficult -- given enough time, most future physicists could work most of these problems. The issue is that by and large, these questions would *not* be asked on a GRE, simply because many of them take far too long to solve. It's difficult for me to believe that most people who did well on the GRE would be able to solve the majority of these problems in a 170 minute time frame. The problems in the ETS text are much more realistic. But as general advice to those taking the test, you should know that working problems on the test itself is a very different "game" from working general physics problems. It's a multiple choice test by construction, so of course there are techniques for getting the right answer that don't exist in real life. Therefore, taking tests that are accurate to the real thing is most helpful. In that regard, this book really comes up short. Something to also consider is that the questions in the ETS tests have been rigorously checked for clarity and correctness (they are actual former tests, after all), so it's virtually impossible that a question would contain errors. This book has maybe been looked at by a few people, but not nearly to the extent as the ETS questions. In sum: get the ETS book, and read a lot of textbooks and work the problems.
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Has nothing to do with test,
By
This review is from: GRE Physics (REA) - The Best Test Prep for the GRE (GRE Test Preparation) (Paperback)
I started reviewing for the Physics GRE 6 months before I took it and it gave me very false impressions of what the test would be like. Based on the book I studied many obscure fields of physics as well as advanced vector and tensor manipulations. But when I got the practice test ETS gives out, I realized I wasn't prepared for the test. This test, like every other ETS test ever made, tests you on subject material 2 years beneath you and separtes 990s from 700s with dirty tricks as well as problems that you basically have to had memorized coming into the test. Here are my complaints:
1. Questions did not reflect real test. 2. Practice tests requires a calculator to do, real test does not and in fact a calculator is not allowed on it. Sets bad habits. 3. Review looks like someone cut and pasted it. Explanations are poor and incomplete. 4. There were no actual test taking strategies, just the review of material and the practice tests. End result: It's not good for test, it not a good reference, I might recommend it to teachers as a source of problems, but other than that, it is worthless.
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
It's a shame it's not better,
This review is from: GRE Physics (REA) - The Best Test Prep for the GRE (GRE Test Preparation) (Paperback)
Rather than write another review here, I will instead include the letter I was compelled to write to REA when I purchased this book:
I am writing to express my deep disappointment in your Physics Subject test GRE study guide. I found its review section inconsistent and incomplete, and the sample tests utterly failed to match the tone or content of the real exam itself. As for the review section, it was disappointing enough itself. Your Temperature section spends its entirety discussing the different units used to measure the property. THIS IS NOT GRE MATERIAL. If a senior year physics student cannot change between Celsius and Kelvin in his sleep, I assure you, he has no aspirations of continuing study in the field. Frankly, he does not even have any business doing so. The rest of the Thermodynamics section suffers the same failing. The three laws of thermodynamics are the starting point for any college level thermodynamics coarse, yet they close your discussion of the topic. This book fails to purvey any of the complexities of this broad, interesting, and very difficult field. There is no mention at all of statistical physics, which is an entire branch of physics which is on the test. While this thermodynamics section was the worst part, there are many problems in the rest of the book. Optics ray traces are ambiguously and inconsistently labeled. The book does a poor job of differentiating equations that are part of a derivation from those which will be encountered on the test. There is no mention of inductance in the electromagnetism section, though I encountered this topic several times in actual tests (both practice and real). Impedance is also not mentioned in the circuits section. The quantum mechanics section is cut short with no mention of any of the kind of material that would be encountered in a second course, such as spin, angular momentum, and electron transition rules. Again, these are on the test. Further, your sample tests did not match up well with my experience of the actual content of the test. The GRE is not designed to be a test of student's algebra. Numerical values are very rarely given for the relevant properties in a question. As such, students are tested based on knowledge of equations and unit analysis kinds of rules-of-thumb. However, your sample tests included numerical substitutions in most problems, and thus tested algebra abilities heavily. Students are not allowed calculators at the test, so time spent on calculation is wasted. In fact, I found that ability to test formulaic answer choices by unit analysis was one of the best approaches to novel or difficult problems. Had I relied heavily on your book, I would not have learned this. I'm sure I could catalogue more important subjects that were missed, and find more confusing notation. Frankly, though, I do not have the time to waste with this book. Please realize that I understand that compiling the entire subject of physics in a single volume is a very difficult task. However, in order for a book to be worthwhile for GRE preparation, it must be much more complete and better organized. I consider this book a waste of my $28.95 and the valuable time I could have been studying more useful resources. I write not to ridicule or be combative. There are not many physics GRE study guides available, and a good one would be tremendously helpful to those preparing for this difficult and stressful test. The inclusion of practice tests with explained answers is a great idea. This book does have potential, but it is not a good resource as of right now. It most certainly not "The Best Test Preparation for the GRE." I suggest a full review and rewrite of this book. I trust that, with some work, the REA can put out a study guide that is truly helpful to physics students. Please consider my encouragement to do so. Thank you for your time.
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