Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
WARNING, March 29, 2001
By A Customer
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.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Less babble, more physics please..., February 12, 2004
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.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very difficult book to understand and follow., August 30, 2001
By A Customer
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. ...
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