Customer Reviews

Physics

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I used this book for my first class in college physics. The book is a decent text for learning physics, but I think that several improvements could be made.

This book is Volume 1 of a two volume set. It includes topics about kinematics, Newton's Laws, Energy, Waves and Sound, Fluids, and Thermodynamics, among other topics. To tell the truth, I don't really see the point of splitting the book up into two volumes since most people will take both classes anyway.

First, the good aspects of the book. This text is intended for an algebra-based (no calculus) college physics course. I does do a good job of limiting the mathematical details and instead presenting the underlying physical concept that is to be understood. There are also numerous illustrated examples and practice problems that are very helpful.

Next, the bad aspects of the book. If you are like me and go to a large state university, then it is quite likely that your professor will be a physicist that may be more interested in his or her research than your class. Since real physics majors do not take this class, your professor may not enjoy teaching it. But even if you have the best professor in the world, it is likely that many of the problems in this book are a bit more simplistic than ones that your professor will give on an exam. The book does include simple problems, but does not illustrate how to work out more difficult ones. If you are considering buying the study guide/answer book, don't. It is terrible. It only shows how to do about ten out of the fifty+ questions per chapter. I've had biology answer key books that included more problems.

Basically, this book is not bad for the basic principles but not very good for more advanced ones. How well the course goes depends on the instructor. I'd recommend taking physics first in high school if you are planning on taking it in college because this book is intended for one semester and it covers 18 chapters. It wouldn't hurt to have some prior knowledge of the subject.

I first had physics in college twenty years ago. I was studying (at that time) astronomy and mathematics, so the first college-level physics class I took fully incorporated calculus and advanced mathematics. It was not until recently, as I took a position as tutor at a local community college, that I discovered a rigourous introductory physics text that did not involve calculus (only one semester of calculus is offered at the college, and usually taken concurrently with or after physics).

Walker's text, second edition, is the text we currently use. We offer one semester of physics, so we only get half-way through the text, which seems designed for a two-semester sequence. As the main focus of the college is technical, so the sections on mechanics, thermal physics and electromagnetism are the most essential sections for our degree programmes.

While this text does not assume calculus, it does assume basic trigonometry and analytic geometry. Dealing with angles and graphing are important skills to know here; dealing with vectors is introduced very early in the text, and continues to be very important throughout.

The book is well organised, with chapter summaries, problem-solving techniques summarised at the end of chapter, high concept questions, drawings, photographs, and real-world applications that relate the theory back to actual experience. From the light refraction in raindrops to the workings of the Global Positioning System, students will learn more about the interactions of the world from this text.

The examples follow a format that shows not only the worked solutions, but also the strategies employed to get to the solutions. Problems are pictured (after all, physics deals with real, substantial things), and conceptual considerations are explained (physics is largely story problems that need to be set up properly, after all). The insights and further considerations from the solutions are explored, and other practice problems are suggested (physics is always about going on to the next problem). The examples follow different categories - there are active examples, conceptual checkpoints, and real-world physics exercises.

The book is divided into five primary sections: Mechanics; Thermal Physics; Electromagnetism; Light and Optics; and Modern Physics. Mechanics largely deals with motion, introducing near the end ideas of gravity, sound, fluids and energy. This leads into Thermal Physics, the study of heat, temperature, and the laws of thermodynamics. Electromagnetism looks at electric force, charge, current, potential/potential energy, magnetism and flux. Light and Optics continues this with electromagnetic waves, proceeding to optical instruments and issues of interference and diffraction. The final section on Modern Physics deals with `fun stuff' like relativity, quantum physics, atomic and nuclear physics and radiation.

Like most texts, it comes with various supplements for students and teachers, computer-based and web-based. There are pocket companions and workbooks with solutions that can also be obtained, related to the text.

This is a good text for classroom study, and also a text for independent study. Some of the exercises are difficult to work through, but there are literally dozens (sometimes hundreds) after each chapter, so there is plenty on which to practice, and all the odd-numbered exercises have answers supplied.

There are a lot of bad physics textbooks out there and only a handful of great ones, and I think this book qualifies as one of the great ones.

First, the writing is very clear. Will everyone understand everything after reading a chapter once? Definitely not. Physics is hard, especially if you've been educated in typical American schools. But Walker knows what misconceptions you have and he addresses them. He gives thorough treatment to issues other texts gloss over in a sentence. Although I agree that the solved problems are typically not the hardest problems, I think that is a good thing. If you go the extra step and do the practice problems following, you'll cement the concept in your mind. He often refers you to related homework problems, too. Super helpful to test prep!!

Some really helpful things:

The solved problems take you through a specific procedure....picture, strategy, solution, insight and practice problem. Often, the numbers of related homework problems are given.

Conceptual checkpoints clear up important issues.

Odd numbered conceptual questions have answers in the back (unlike some other texts).

Lots of excellent diagrams/pictures (but as every textbook, incomplete).

Problem Solving Notes and Real World Examples in the sidebars.


What I like best about Walker is that he doesn't assume you know too much, and he repeats himself as necessary without overdoing it.

Is it perfect? No, but no text I've ever found is. If you're a serious student, you'll get a solutions guide, and perhaps even another text to supplement. Of course, a teacher or tutor who can answer your personal questions is the most efficient strategy.

In this age of technology, a CD/DVD with interactive animations should accompany this book. Maybe that will be in the 4th edition.

This book is for a non-physics major physics class, which is mostly going to be biology majors and a few others who are required to take a year of physics but don't need the calculus-based physics. The concepts of physics are explained fairly well, nothing spectacular. The problem with this textbook is the inadequate explanations of the many and varied word problems encountered in a physics class. The homework in this book is a lot more complex than the simplistic explanations given in the chapter. The hardest questions, which invariably show up on the exams, rarely have step-by-step explanations on how to solve them. Physics professors like to talk about the concepts and how important they are to learn. I agree they are important, but when was the last time you saw a physics exam that wasn't 90-100% physics PROBLEMS. I may be odd but I find the concepts of physics fairly easy to understand and almost common sense. The math problems of physics, on the other hand, are long, complex and difficult to understand. The solutions manual isn't worth the money either. If this is a required book for your physics class I would definitely supplement it with a physics book with good explanations of the problems and practice practice practice doing the problems from many different approaches.

This book gets very wordy on its introductions and then just leaps into problems without explaining or outlining the concepts that need to be learned. I am a chemistry major at Missouri State and I have come across a lot of scientific books that are difficult to understand. This one beats them all. Unless you have an instructor that is an amazing physics teacher, you will not be able to succeed in the class with this book. 'Most worthless book' award definitely goes to Walker.

As a self-taught student of physics (age 53), I find this book extremely clear, nicely illustrated, and easy to work with. The carefully explained and graded sample problems are exceedingly helpful for students who need to see how the pros solve problems before tackling any on their own. The level is reasonably sophisticated without getting into calculus--perfect for many students. Of the physics textbooks I have encountered, this is the best.

A great physics textbook. Has lots of illustrations and worked out examples. Also provides a plethora of different types of problems on the same material. Chapters are well organized and easy to read. A great text.

I tutor physics at the high school level. All of my old physics books were from college and were calculus based. I needed a reliable reference for tutoring without worrying about how to explain to the appropriate high school level without calculus. This book is perfect for the task. It has excellent examples, color to highlight pertinent points and is the appropriate level without having math be a stumbling block to learning.

This book is algebra based with no calculus in any of the equations. This is helpful because I am a student returning to school after 20 years who never took calculus and this is my first physics class. The examples in the book are clearly explained and easy to understand. My class does not require a particular book but we were advised to purchase "a" Physics book. After my lectures I do my homework with this book and it follows the same format as my professor. This book is an older addition but that didn't matter at all. I would recommend this book to anyone who is new to physics and have no calculus.

I used this book after becoming disgusted with couple of other textbooks.

In my view, the level of rigor is about the same as that of Sears, Zemansky and Young but much more readable than Sears.

This is probably the best trig based book in the market to have come out in last ten years.