Fundamentals of Physics

Rating:
Summary: Irritating
Review: I am not an idiot. Far from it. However, I can't understand the glowing praise I see this book receiving. As I am currently working through this text, I may be a bit closer to home than those who have completed the task.

I am seriously less than fond of this book. There doesn't seem to be enough background in the material to handle the problems. This is most noticeable in the middle chapters. There are problems which are flat out insoluble if you utilize only the material in the book. There are problems are so far beyond the examples given in the body of the chapter as to leave you swimming for a method to solve them.

I am presently searching for secondary companion books that will present the material in such a fashion that I don't have to count on blind luck intuitive leaps of logic to solve the problems, but rather on solid problem solving methodology.


Rating:
Summary: Fundamentals of Physics
Review: Great service. Book arrived when stated. Book condition exactly as described. Would purchase again from this person. Great transaction

Rating:
Summary: Fundamentals of Physics
Review: Great service. Book arrived when stated. Book condition exactly as described. Would purchase again from this person. Great transaction

Rating:
Summary: Excellent text, poor student solutions manual
Review: I gave this book 5 stars, even though the Student Solutions Manual (sold separately) is a disappointment.
I find this text not only to be an excellent textbook for the Physics course that I take at university, but also an excellent reference book. In fact, this is the only textbook I intend to keep after this semester is over.
This book covers all major aspects of Physical Science with enough detail dedicated to every important topic. Explanations and examples are clear most of the time, however, sometimes you need to spend time to figure how things work (if you are like me, anyway).
My major is Computer Science and good knowledge of physics behind motion, light, energy and electricity is very useful both for my work and my studies. This book will stay with me for a while as a reference text.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Text and Companion CD
Review: I'm sure you can read a ton of reviews on here that will tell you the same thing. The examples are great, the text is straightforward and clear, and the exercises are adequately elaborated, so no problem really leaves you thinking "well, this just can't be right...". And in case you get stuck, you've got easily the best software companion available for any textbook ever. The CD-Physics companion can guide you through solutions for many of the exercises, either by presenting a nicely worked out solution as you would write it on a paper, by giving you hints, or by helping you solve the problem yourself with the interactive LearningWare feature. It becomes obvious that this book spends a lot of time making sure the reader can achieve an adequate understanding of the material, rather than forcing the student to memorize vague formulas which seem to have no unity. The chapters are presented in a (somewhat) reasonable order, building on concepts learned in the previous chapter in most cases. You get the full introductory college physics stuff in this book, from Newtonian mechanics to thermodynamics to electricity and electromagnetic waves. This is perfect for the student who shies from asking others for help, as either the book or the CD Physics companion will have the answers they seek. I was never particularly fond of physics and have always thought of it as the bare essentials for a computer engineer, but this book gave me a new appreciation for the physical aspects of my engineering field, especially with the very complete (from a general overview) chapters on electricity, capacitance, and inductance.

Rating:
Summary: The CD ROM will not work
Review: Obviously this is one of the best texts in physics and I was enjoying the text and the CD ROM that goes with it - - it costs extra to get it that way. Soft key takes about $40 and gives you a password so CD ROM access is possible. That is fine until you switch computers or have to go through a reformatting of the hard drive. And guess what? Soft key is no longer in business and the old password, obviously, does not work.

As for Wiley (great name for them, come to think of it) try getting them to help the poor customer who needs support. They ignore all requests for help with this problem. My emails to Wiley showed the principle of the black hole. The emails went in and nother ever emerged.

My recommendation? Stay away from this one unless the CD ROM is not an issue. Other than that the book is splendid as always. A classic, relatively speaking.

Rating:
Summary: Good foundation in classical physics
Review: The 'Halliday/Resnick' physics textbook has been used at the university introductory level for decades. This latest edition is colorful, interesting, filled with solved problems, and suitable for the interested general reader. Only a limited knowledge of calculus is assumed. The 'Extended Edition' contains chapters on quantum physics and cosmology not present in the 'Regular Edition'. The chapter on gravitation includes a brief, nonmathematical description of Einstein's general theory of relativity, including its inspiration by the principle of equivalence. Towards the end of the textbook, an entire, easy-to-read chapter on special relativity is included. This is followed by similar introductory chapters on matter waves, nuclear physics and particle physics. This reference provides the motivated general reader with a suitable background to be able then to read most books on modern physics.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: The book is very overrated. It is obtuse and most of the problems are completely unsolvable based on the information and examples given. It is grossly overpriced. This book is worth maybe $50, and that is pushing it. I get good grades in physics, but not because of this book. If it wasn't for my fantastic instructor, this series of courses would be a total nightmare.

The chapters dealing with force, energy, torque, momentum, and angular momentum are among the worst that I have gone through. The optics section is also pretty weak. I did like the chapter on gravitational force(13).

There are too many textbooks out there that assume that the reader already knows the subject, as hard as it is too believe, math books are notorious for it. This book is yet another one.

Rating:
Summary: THE best physics book ever
Review: This book was envigorating. Normally, you wouldn't think of a textbook as good writing but this book has the stuff. I used it for my college physics classes and it lead me to A's. It's amazing!

Rating:
Summary: The Classic Text
Review: This is the classic text for fundamentals of physics. It has been translated to many different languages and is absolutely proven to be the best. However if you get the earlier editions you will find some more challenging problems that have been omitted in this edition. The students who want to gain a solid foundation in fundamental of physics or want to prepare for physics contests must work through this book carefully in an earlier stage of their physics education (end of high school or freshman year).

I read this book (the two volume series) when I was in grades 11 and 12 and through college even, I am getting benefits from the intuitions and core concepts that I gained from this book. Try to get the solution manual but try not to use it unless you really don't know what to do (some problems are a bit of a challenge :)