Customer Reviews

University Physics with Modern Physics with Mastering Physics (11th Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This series of textbooks on college freshman physics is simply the best I have found in print, even if it is not the most widely used. It has clear explanations of all concepts, plenty of instructive diagrams, and most of all many interesting solved problems and examples. I am by no means saying that this is an easy book, you will need to read it carefully and work through the examples. However, unlike with other physics textbooks, all of the information is there if you are willing to put forth the required time and effort. Make sure you've had the first two semesters of calculus first though, or there are parts of this book that will not make sense to you. If you are interested in having a good textbook and reference for both college physics and modern physics, it is the best choice you could make. If you are only interested in the classical physics part, I suggest you buy the 10th edition and save yourself a lot of money. The 10th edition has just a very abbreviated section on modern physics. This book is of great use for engineers, because not only will it get you through your freshman physics sequence smoothly, it is a great reference with lots of examples that you will need when you take statics, dynamics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and your sophomore level courses on electric circuits and EM. I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I do that here:
Mechanics.
1. Units, Physical Quantities, and Vectors.
2. Motion Along a Straight Line.
3. Motion in Two or Three Dimensions.
4. Newton's Laws of Motion.
5. Applying Newton's Laws.
6. Work and Kinetic Energy.
7. Potential Energy and Energy Conservation.
8. Momentum, Impulse, and Collisions.
9. Rotation of Rigid Bodies.
10. Dynamics of Rotational Motion.
11. Equilibrium and Elasticity.
12. Gravitation.
13. Periodic Motion.
14. Fluid Mechanics.
Waves/Acoustics.
15. Mechanical Waves.
16. Sound and Hearing.
Thermodynamics.
17. Temperature and Heat.
18. Thermal Properties of Matter.
19. The First Law of Thermodynamics.
20. The Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Electromagnetism.
21. Electric Charge and Electric Field.
22. Gauss's Law.
23. Electric Potential.
24. Capacitance and Dielectrics.
25. Current, Resistance, and Electromotive Force.
26. Direct-Current Circuits.
27. Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces.
28. Sources of Magnetic Field.
29. Electromagnetic Induction.
30. Inductance.
31. Alternating Current.
32. Electromagnetic Waves.
Optics.
33. The Nature and Propagation of Light.
34. Geometric Optics and Optical Instruments.
35. Interference.
36. Diffraction.
Modern Physics.
37. Relativity.
38. Quantum Physics I: Photons, Electrons, and Atoms.
39. Quantum Physics II: The Wave Nature of Particles.
40. Quantum Physics III: Quantum Mechanics.
41. Atomic Structure.
42. Molecules and Condensed Matter.
43. Nuclear Physics.
44. Particle Physics and Cosmology.

I liked this book a lot. It has a lot of information, presented very clearly, about topics in physics that are often not studied in undergrad programs like fluid dynamics, physics of sound waves and musical instruments and thermodynamics. The illustrations are stunning!! One can really understand a lot of physics by reading this book - from mechanics to electromagentism, waves and modern physics.

I do think that the book is somewhat superficial in all the above topics. It uses only modest math, and so does not reach the complexity level of the Berkely physics course series (which I am familar with). As I said, the strengths of the book are its breadth and simple explanations of the less complicated topics.

If one wishes a more in depth understanding of physics, it is easy to move from this text to more advanced texts on mechanics, magnetism or quantum mechanics (assuming appropriate knowledge of math). I would still recommend starting with this book in order to get a clear and broad view of physics while enjoying the process.

It is annoying that this book has an outrageous price. It is not so different from the 10th edition, and so you can get a new or used 10th edition copy for a fraction of the price $150 (I got a new 10th edition hardcover (with modern physics) under $40).

This book is the best book out there that I have seen for the beginning Physics student. It is a bit wordy as some of the reviews have said, but I think the authors have done their best to bend over backwards to explain each Physics topic in a simple, clear, and unassuming way for the neophyte. Even as reference, this textbook is invaluable, because it explains concepts down to the nitty gritty detail; unlike a book like Physics by Halliday, Resnick, and Krane which just drops you onto your head expecting you to have some understanding of the subject already. This book is unpresumptious, unpretentious, and yes for some; unsophisticated, but when you're just starting out in Physics, no one expects you to be an Einstein or Feynman right from the start.

This book is one of the best general physics texts there is. Period. The author(s) took the time to clearly explain topics and answer all those little "Wait, why did you do this?" questions that other texts leave to you to figure out. I still go back to this book instead of Hibbeler's engineering series as the concepts are explained much more clearly and the excersizes are tough to make sure you really learn the concepts. Another great feature of this book is it's easy to understand writting style. Reading the book is just like having a professer explain something to you in person, not a mathenatician reading a theorem out loud, unlike say, Hibbeler. Very good choice overall.

I have used this book in my A level (High School). I think its simply fantastic. I has detailed explainations. I don't know how could my friends who are at college level find this book unuseful.
But it demands strong mathematics, that very few people have. If you have strong maths, then you are ready to use this book. But if
you haven't this book might be the toughest for you.

This is a great book at explaining concepts for average JOES. I understood physics 1 once I read this book, instead of the assigned book (Physics for scientists and engineers by Serway).

yes, I agree that this book needs a strong understanding in math. But is a good book to understand concepts.

Now if you're interested in math then you should read "Physics for scientist and engineers" by Serway. This book is the best at deriving formulas and mathematical approach and their exercises are challenging, yet solvable. ISBN# 0495112453

The book does not go indepth into a lot of physics problems. It will solve one question on one topic and then give the student a bunch of other questions at the end of the chapter that are different and harder than the solved example problems. Everyone who has taken college physics knows that there are a lot of variations to different questions, and there are conditions and exceptions that must be taken into account before a problem is solved. If you have a crappy physics professor, like I had, this book will make physics a nightmare for you.

This book is too bulky and too wordy. The authors purport to bend over backwards to guide the student through some difficult subject matter, but they end up making it more confusing. And then there are the corny jokes. Who has time for this nonsense? Were it not for the very good illustrations, I would give this a lower rating. My advice: Go to the lecture, do the problems but don't waste time reading this textbook.

I used the ninth edition of this book (1995, an older sibling's) to study for the MCAT and found it absolutely invaluable. Virtually every problem in the book is solved, which is exactly what is needed in order to understand a concept. This book is the closest thing I have seen to an unabridged textbook, and will have detailed information on everything from kinemtics to astronaughtics. Every concept is explained in detail, with numerous solved problems and examples. Best textbook I have ever read for any subject.

In a nutshell:

All the classical newtonian physics stuff is ok. I know this sounds ridiculously vague but its only because this isn't the part that you should be concerned with.

THE MAIN CONCERN is the ambiguity of the electricity, magnetism, etc. sections. The chapters are divided into inconvenient and uncommon section divisions. Therefore, MOST of the example problems in these secitons refer you back to a problem from another chapter! Further more, the sample problems are solved in the most tedious way possible. I guess, the authors felt that their target audience was for most 8th graders who have just taken Pre-Calc. (yes, i know the title of this book is slightly misleading) Also, what is up with the 'with Modern Physics' stuff. So basically, 'connecting the dots' is an impossiblity. This book does NOT even venture into that general region of comprehensibility. They also include a lot of irrelevant small connections between concepts that you end up wasting several minutes trying to realize that it contributes nothing to the overall idea. They have dedicated the last few pages to it. (Wow, I learned A LOT from that. Note to the author: Hugh, either get rid of those pages pages because the book is heavy enough or write more than what you can find in Ask.com in 3 minutes.)

I would NOT recommend this book to anyone. I would first take a look at Principes of Physics by Serwey and Jewett.

*The problem, for these types of books, is that most people buying this book probably are required to get this book for class (e.i. Me). Therefore, the only suggestions from this entire review that maybe helpful is, get a alternative study guide for these later sections that I have mentioned.