Customer Reviews

Physics: Principles with Applications (5th Edition)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This book is maddening. Hundreds of physics problems, and no manual to show you how their solutions are derived. You can't learn physics unless you go over the solutions to problems -- so you can't learn physics with this book alone. You need 1.)a professor with the solutions manual 2.) the solutions manual (which a lowly student is not allowed to have) -- or 3.) a different book (my recommendation). I'm preparing on my own for the MCAT, and this book is driving me crazy. I'm able to get my hands on College Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Biology texts, all with detailed answers to their problems. Trying to answer a problem, failing, reviewing the answer, coming back to it later and trying again -- that's how you learn. Reading five pages of text, one or two worked-out examples, and then tackling 30 problems of varying degrees of difficulty with no assistance from the text (or the absolutely useless student manual, what a waste of money) -- is no way to learn physics. If the authors published a student solutions manual with worked-out problems, this would be a good text. I wish the authors could read some of the comments on this site and realize WORKED-OUT PROBLEMS FOR STUDENTS OF PHYSICS ARE ESSENTIAL TO LEARNING PHYSICS. Perhaps in a classroom setting, with a good teacher, this is a helpful text. Trying to use it on your own as a resource for MCAT preparation, or any other solitary learning, however, is a complete waste of time. DON'T BUY IT.

The author starts chapters by giving simple (maybe too simple) introductions. Then he starts jumping from one aspect of the subject discussed to another, feels like a bad novel in a way. Then there's the humour, and lets not forget the colorful drawings, and the pictures, and all the tables. Then, a couple of simple examples that, in no way, go in depth or cover the scope of the subject discussed. Then, BOOM! Five or six pages of problems that you're supposed to somehow solve with the little understanding you are left with after going through the nursery rhymes and eye candy.

WARNING: Unless you have a great instructor, you will suffer, and I mean suffer trying to pass a physics course using this text.

I used this book in my AP Physics B course in grade 12. The book, if you read JUST the text and examples, is not difficult at all. The examples are very straightforward, and the text is coherent. There are a few errors I have found, but in mathematics/physics books, this is a frequent thing. But the weakness in this book is the Problems--WAY WAY WAY too hard for an intro Physics class. Now I have a strong algebra and calculus/trig basis, and even for me this book is very diffucult. Too much time is spent rambling on about useless topics, and more time should be devoted to crafting a stronger exposition--explain the solutions to more of the problems. The only thing that saved us is the fact that we had the INSTRUCTOR'S SOLUTIONS MANUAL, by Irvin A Miller to guide us through these gruesome questions. Mr Giancoli, if you are reading this--you wrote a very good textbook. But in order to do problems, one must SEE visually how it is done out and be able to clearly follow the exposition. We are grateful to Mr Miller, the author of the solutions manual, for enabling us to get through the book. With the answer book to guide us, we all got 4's and a few 5's on the AP exam. The kids the year before who used just the Giancoli text got all 3's or less (most got 2's). A word of advise--get the answer book if you are studying this text. Without it the book is useless in understanding how to do the problems. ...

Even though this textbook is now in its 5th edition, most users of the book will find it sorely lacking in many respects. First, the writing style is dry and sleep inducing. The sign of superior textbooks is that they anticpate the reader's questions and answers them right on the spot with a diagram or more explanations. Books that have this clairvoyant insight are the ones that are true gems. This book does not do that all. The author makes no attempt to infuse personality or interest into the material. It would have been more interesting if the author had inserted personal comments such as how to remember a formula(mnemonics), words of encouragement, cartoons, comics, MORE analogies, anything to diversify the presenation and keep me interested. Instead, he piles fact upon fact upon fact. Gee how captivating? Instead of lecturing to the reader, how about engaging the reader in dialogue? Reading you book is a relationship that's going to last a whole school year..why not make it fun? Second, I found the derivations of formulas to be very difficult to follow at times. I think it's because of the eye-straining font and the fact that the text is all in black print. Equations in the text shouldn't be boldened even blacker but set off in a different color and derived in one space instead of having words placed between them. Third, I got the impression that the author was writing the book more for physics professors than for novice students. In the front cover, the author brags about how over 150 college professors have thoroughly reviewed the book over the span of the five editions. Well, that's nice but it would have been way more beneficial if 150 *beginning* students had reviewed it instead of teachers. What's the point of giving a book for review to someone who has had already mastered the subject? Those who have mastery over a subject cannot remember the difficulties and frustrations when they were first learning the material. In fact, in his introduction, the author write a long intro on how teachers should use the book; excuse me, but your book is not written for teachers, but for students. The book is for FIRST time students, not teachers. Well since teachers determine which textbooks to adopt, the author had no choice but to cater to their demands. WRONG!! Fourth, the author leaves the reader hanging by not including the answers to the conceptual questions. I think even more important than solving numerical problems is understanding the conceptual questions. well it would have been nice to include the damn answers. Fifth, the text has this elitist attitude that seems to engulf it. For example, he suggests that the hardest problems, those he rated level III, should be "reserved for only the best students." Such a distinction does not serve to encourage hard work. I thought to myself, "Man I must be a bad student because I can't answer most of the level III problems. I've read the chapter several times, worked the beginning level I and II problems but I just can't answer these level III ones..ok the author wins..you've stumped me..there does that make you happy now?" His attitude should be more encouraging. Offer us hints or ideas instead of forcing us to reinvent the wheel. I know you don't want to spoon feed physics, but leaving me hanging and frustrated like a battered puppy won't do the trick. Sixth, the author offers *no* guidance as to which of the end of chapter problems should be mastered. Instead, he just throws a whole bunch of problems--in fact over 100 questions per chapter. Now these aren't easy questions. Most questions take about 2 to 3 minutes to answer. I want to know of these hundred of problems which I should concentrate my time to do my best on tests. Most students are using the book to prepare for AP exams and mcats. The author gloats that there are 3100 questions. Realistically, should I struggle through 3100 questions to get the essence of physics? Give me a break. Realize who your audience is for the book. Teachers will find it useful; your audience, the students, will not. In conclusion, I found this book to be boring, unhelpful, and tedious. The book basically hits you unmercifully over with facts until you doze off into sleep or throw the book against the wall in frustration. Physics teachers will enjoy reading this book; the rest of us will find it more useful to stay far, far away. And you know what, that's a shame because physics is interesting but this book does no justice to such a wonderful subject.

In this book, author covers too many applications in each subject and do not have enough room to explain them in details and thus lost most of beginners. Sure, for teachers, the book looks good because they know subjects so well. However,I think the applications to science and medicine are very interesting and fairly easy ( it depends on who the readers are). I am neither a teacher nor a student. The reason I ran into this book because my daugher took physics in high school using this book so I read it and helped out. Interestingly, My phone did ring quite often at night because many of her friends need to know homeworks' solution. Again, these phone rings support my statement "good for teachers, bad for students(beginners)" In all, the mechanics part ( chap 1 to 9) seems to be good. Fluid and heat and themodynamics are OK. Waves and electricity parts are lousy. I need to consult Halliday text book. Optics is good, but not enough support for problems solving.

By the way, the study guide to go with this book written by Joseph Boyle is useless.

I am a high school physics teacher with 20 years of experience. In this time span I have read and taught from over a dozen physics texts. Giancoli's text is the best written and most comprehensive textbook that I have encountered! I just wish I would have had such an interesting and well developed text to read when I was a student in introductory physics. I have used the text in standard physics courses, IBSL & IBHL courses and my students generally remark favorably about the style and level of difficulty of the text. Giancoli has tried to make the book assessible to less capable science students while retaining a challenging and comprehensive style for serious science students. His text, however, should not be used as an ancillary source for students struggling with physics.

This algebra-based physics text is one to avoid if you are interested in actually learning the material and getting a good grade in your general physics course. First of all, the explanations are convoluted and the example problems over simplistic. You spend a lot of time reading the text, trying to comprehend what Giancoli is trying to say, thinking you understand because your grasp of the example problems seems strong... then you get to the problems at the end of the chapter. These problems are SO much more difficult than anything in the chapter, with no two problems the same, you'd swear there was some sort of printing error and these problems were supposed to be for a later chapter. So you try to trudge your way through the problems, only to get stuck. You need some help, some feedback, a way to check your work, but alas, NO SOLUTIONS MANUAL exists!! So you save your half-completed problems for class, where the professor takes the entire period attempting to make up for the lack of solutions manual by breaking down each and every problem from the beginning. But there is no time to really focus on the finer points, because we must rush through all the problems! And the students are unable to fully participate with intelligent questions because they are so busy trying to master the fundamentals in class at warp speed!! If you still don't get it after class, then you're SCREWED!!! Pass on this this book if you are a student who wants to pass a general physics course, or if you are a teacher who wants your students to learn and appreciate the study of physics.

I used this book for an introductory physics course for two semesters. Students were very dissatisfied with the book. They claimed, explanations were not clear, there were no two similar problems at the end of the chapters, to practice solving problems with similar concepts.

I found some of the problems too difficult for this level course. Many texts have summary of the formulas at the end of the chapters, this one does not.This year we changed the text book for the incoming freshmen,however kept it for physics II to save money for the students who already had Giancoli.For the first time in my 21 years of teaching career, once the students saw the new book we adopted for the course, they wanted ...to buy the Wilson and Buffa's College Physics. When they did this, I realized the intensity of their frustrations.

I used this book for my AP physics course. The idea of physics is to learn how to problem solve. This book would show you a few problems in the chapter and then dump a massive amount of problems on you at the end of the chapter with the answers for only the odd numbered problems, but those didn't have explanations! How can this book be helpful if there are no solutions. I wouldn't recommend this book.

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I recently purchased Giancoli's Text and "Study Guide" (which is a waste of money) thinking that the study guide would include in-depth solutions. Not only did the study guide NOT contain any solutions (typically a "study guide" purchased in addition to a science text contains in-depth solutions), but there are NO in-depth solution guides available. Without consistent and reliable feedback, you cannot truly assess your learning. Therefore, steer clear of this text.