26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not Very Helpful, January 30, 2004
This review is from: Physics (Cliffs Quick Review) (Paperback)
To help everyone who may be confused about what physics book they should buy let me ask you a few questions.
A. Are you thinking of buying this book to get a full, in-depth understanding of something your book may have puzzled you about?
B. Are you thinking of buying this book to refresh your memory on definitions and basic math equations?
C. And most importantly: Are you buying this book to get ahead in an introductory physics course?
If you answered yes to either A and C, I would advise you to not buy this book for many reasons, but for brevity's sake I will only entertain you with a few important ones. Firstly, this book is meant (though the cover is misleading) for those who are either taking Calculus-based physics and need a quick review on some equations and principles, or for those who are deep into their first college physics course and need a reference book. Everything in this book is condensed to a point that will make unfamiliar information seem impossible to understand. There are very few examples of mathematical problems worked out, and though the book does have a plentiful amount of pictures to illustrate many concepts such as polarization of light, the law of conservation of energy, etc. there isn't much explination of the picture itself. Just about every aspect of this book is written as a conundrum, and in my opinion the author probably assumed the reader would be able to fly right through it, which in my case wasn't what happened.
Secondly, I found the amount of practice problems at the end of every chapter to be a joke considering the amount of material that was covered in each of the 6 chapters. (Classical Mechanics, Waves and Sound, Thermodynamics, Electricity and Magnetism, Light, and Modern Physics). For example, the chapter on classical mechanics covers everything from motion in one and two dimensions to fluid mechanics - subjects that may take up 7 to 8 chapters in a text depending on the book itself. Given this, it is justifiable to say that 5 practice problems at the end of each chapter is hardly enough to help anyone get a full review. Suffice to say there are 30 "final exam" questions at the end of the book but once again, these questions are hardly enough to cover the wide range of material you'll encounter in your physics course regardless of its level of difficulty.
Despite all these shortcomings, the text is good for a quick review of concepts for those in higher level physics. The equations and definitions combined are enough to aid students with study materials and can be put on note cards. I should side with the book in that it is a review book and should not be thought of as a crutch for anyone struggling. Nevertheless, the fact that the book is to the point is what earned the 3-star rating, and I'd have to say that ultimately the book is decent for what it was and the price was very reasonable considering its length of 184 pages.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not good to study for General Chemistry Praxis test, February 21, 2005
This review is from: Physics (Cliffs Quick Review) (Paperback)
I was going to use this to study for the General Teacher Praxis tests, but it does not cover the depth needed. The book might be good for someone who has recently taken a chemistry class, to fill in some blanks. But is not a good overall general class prep.
I did find "Basic Physics : A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides)" to be just what I was looking for.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Does more harm than good, July 28, 2008
This review is from: Physics (Cliffs Quick Review) (Paperback)
I picked up this one when I needed refresher for a tutoring job that I took on recently. I have an advanced degree in physics and have been a teaching assistant at the university level for this type of physics, so I do qualify to review this book.
One of the major reason why I tried Cliff's Quick Review was that I had a very good experience with a couple of their high school math review books, namely geometry and pre-calculus. I was expecting to give me very quick overviews of what I remember learning but have since forgotten about the details. They did not disappoint.
The physics version, however, is an entirely different story. While it does give you a very superficial refresher of equations and concepts on most topics, the discussions are not very thorough and often erroneous. In fact, I became angry reading the authors' very half-baked discussions and descriptions. The diagrams, which to my mind are very important to visually understand physics, are not very meticulously drawn and sometimes wrong. Especially horrendous is the chapters on modern physics (nuclear physics, special relativity, etc.). At times I do not think that the authors even understand about what they are writing. For example, to understand special relativity, it is crucial that one properly identifies which are the observed and the rest-frame quantities, but the authors do not elaborate the point and just write down equations. It is a good thing few high school instructors emphasize those topics that students do not have to learn from the chapters from this book.
Overall, it is very clear that this book lacked proper editing by capable hands. One of those books that should not be recommended.
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