Customer Reviews:
Perfect Pysics Book.......2007-09-23
The perfect book to study physics. Many pictures and great problems. It applies physics to everyday life and makes physics very interesting. A great book for all levels of study: high school, college, university, grad school, etc.
Learn to Run Before You Can Walk with Giancoli's "Physics" . . ........2007-06-14
While I wouldn't call this a bad book, I find myself rather frustrated with it. It seems to me to be most ideally suited for those who either have a natural inclination for physics or those who have plenty of spare time in which to contemplate solutions for the problems. (Unfortunately, I have neither.) The chapters themselves are actually fairly well done, but, in my opinion, not well enough to provide all the necessary information and insights to successfully solve the problems. I've opted to discontinue my attempts to work through this book in favor of Cutnell and Johnson's text of the same title.
outstanding.......2006-07-30
I used Giancoli as my primary text in high school, and found it to be a superb text. I think those complaining of a lack of worked problems are missing the entire point of this text and the essence of studying physics. This book is about understanding physics principles and the equations you use to solve physics problems. You will find that with this understanding (certainly provided by this excellent text), the need for mindless ploughing through physics problems is lost. You will be able to solve physics problems on the basis of your conceptual understanding of the problems. So many students rely on rote learning and repetition by doing hundreds of questions. Sure, you might be able to attack similar problems for the next week or so, but as soon as you stop practicing, the skill is lost. True mastery of physics comes from appreciation of principles, not mere recognition of patterns in problems...this text will help you achieve such an appreciation.
Clear and nice physics book for intro students.......2005-11-18
I know physics is hard for all of us, but this book is very clear in explaining physics. It does not involve in calculus, so usually it is better for most students who never took physics. So if you did not take physics class before, I highly recommend this book because it does not use pompous or intricate words that most science textbook writers do. Not only is it an easy reading, but also it has awesome questions and problems that make you think and that check whether you know really physics.
Most my friends who were in engineering or math majors had easy physics teachers in high school. Some of them did not even take physics at all. Surprisingly, they dived into calculus based physics book and they found the subject to be incredibly hard. I understand their pain because I think this book can be a bridge that can connect high school physics(so easy ones) and calculus based physics.
I also read Serway's College Physics, and in my opinion, I think Giancoli wrote better job in explaining physics with more clear diagrams. The sentences that he uses grabs my attention. Serway confused me and I was stuck a lot from his book. Problems in examples are so much better in Giancoli as well and diagrams were better as well.
So before you read calculus based physics, read this one thoroughly and you will be able to breathe in higher physics class.
Product Description
Used like new
Customer Reviews:
errors in Giancoli.......2007-09-21
6th Edition: For number 24, pg. 40, it is incorrect to ask about the "average acceleration" of the sprinter. One has to assume that the rate of acceleration is constant or one will not be able to solve the problem.
This is just one of many errors in this book, although none of the errors I have seen are severe.
The problem reads:
"A world-class sprinter can burst out of the blocks to essentially top speed of about 11.5 m/s in the first 15.0 m of the race. What is the average acceleration of the sprinter, and how long does it take her to reach top speed?"
To figure out why one cannot find the average acceleration without assuming that the acceleration is constant, imagine that the sprinter falls off the blocks, picks herself up and then blasts up to 11.5 m/s within the 15.0 m. Her average acceleration is (v - vo) / t, but t in this case is much larger than it would be compared to the normal situation where she pushes off and essentially accelerates uniformly. But remember, the problem only asks for average acceleration!
More mathematically to the point, let her velocity be v = c t^2, instead of the usual v = a t. This is not disallowed by the notion of average acceleration, but it does lead to different answers. Therefore, one needs the additional assumption that acceleration is constant.
Since runners don't accelerate at a uniform rate, we could state that we are simplifying the problem with this assumption, but Giancoli doesn't do this. This is an example of his sloppiness in the name of pedagogy.
Three words. Not very good........2007-07-04
Those three words really are a very good description. The book isn't very good at all. I used this book in AP Physics (B), in all honesty it was just terrible. It was uninteresting, and confusing. If you're going to buy an introductory Physics book, consider Physics (2 Vol. Set). But as always you can't really go off of another person's opinion, as everyone seems to learn best in their own unique styles, so scan through the books.
Another Algebra-Based Physics Textbook!.......2006-09-21
I have taken three straight years of Physics in highschool. I took it sophomore, junior, and now senior year. Each year, I used a different book. I was given this book for AP Physics B (Junior Year), an algebra-based Advanced Placement Physics course.
Overall, the book's examples don't truly help much with the more difficult problems. Explanations aren't very clear, and the key points aren't highlighted. Examples are boring, and questions are less than exciting. How am I to be motivated to perform numerous number crunches with algebra when the questions and writing are so dry?
There is a lot of information in this book, and some of the explanations are good (it's pretty difficult to mess up Kinematics), but the book stumbles in its explanations of many important Physics topics--including Fluid Mechanics and Modern Physics.
Overall, not a great text, but it is very difficult to find a nice Algebra-based Physics text that is as intellectually challenging and in depth. Be wary, if you are not a Physics geek, you will have a hard time plowing through this book.
A student's perspective.......2005-10-17
As one reviewer stated before me, these books are the reason why people are afraid of physics.
I have had the horrible misfortune of using this book during my senior year of high school...it is horrible...horrific...detestable...coarse to the mind. The most criminal error that I can point out is that this book does not have a GLOSSARY. A school textbook without a glossary? Give me a break.
The text reads like a conversation. Apparently Giancoli didn't pay very much attention in English class. One should not write educational text the way he or she speaks. One should state facts in a way that clearly defines what needs to be said. The positively criminal lingo of the book goes on tangents constantly and really breaks up the progression of the information.
Also, the author tends to call an element of a concept one thing, but substitute it with a variable that is totally different. It is clear that Giancoli assumed that everyone who was reading this book already knew physics vocabulary and was looking for a refresher course. Apparently Giancoli, the god of physics, could teach the experts more than they could ever dream. Throw me a bone here...his writing is crap. This book is being distributed to highschools and is also used at the university level. These are LEARNING stages. LEARNING. That's something that one can't do with this horrible book.
It's criminal. Absolutely criminal. Physics isn't a scary thing, nor is it impossible. Don't let books like these scare you away from the subject. It's just a few selfish, cocky scientists that wish to exclude others.
Giancoli, I hope your 6th edition was better...much better. Otherwise, schools will be wasting even more money on garbage.
Informative .......2005-03-23
Comprehensive and thorough. A must for anyone who needs an understanding of applying calculations to actions. I found this book to be even paced and very understandable.
Customer Reviews:
A must for Physics teachers!.......2000-03-29
I've been teaching physics around the world for a number of years now and I have yet to find such a comprehensive text book for most international syllabi. It is complete and concise, full of practice problems for students. An ideal text book for any advanced physics course.
Book Description
An alternative rendering of the theory of relativity by a distinguished English mathematician and philosopher. Three-part treatment presents an overview of general principles, mainly philosophical in character; describes physical applications and the results deducible from the formulas assumed for the gravitation and electromagnetic fields; presents an exposition of the elementary theory of tensors.
Customer Reviews:
Why Einstein might be wrong........2004-10-14
It is a delight to have this volume back in print again. For anyone with an interest in Whitehead's philosophy, this is an essential work that requires very little discussion. Whitehead is, here and in all of his work, a marvelous writer. But this is a technical piece, not necessarily of interest to the broadest audience imaginable. So, very briefly, what I want to do here is suggest to physicists, physics enthusiasts, and philosophers of science why they need to be interested in this book.
In the physics community, it is well known that Whitehead's theory of relativity is "wrong." Evidence presented by Clifford Will in 1971 articles in the "Astrophysical Journal," which were later summarized in his _Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics_ (available at Amazon), "demonstrate" that Whitehead's theory makes predictions that are violations of observational data. Very convincing, and as nearly as I can tell, Will's arguments have only one (or two, depending on how you count) problem(s):
They are predicated on two assumptions, one that is so limited it grossly misconstrues the aims of Whitehead's theory, while the other is demonstrably false.
Will's arguments against Whitehead (which come from the work of J.L. Synge) state up front that Whitehead's theory is based upon a "(1)non-dynamical (2)flat metric." #2 is the limited approach that grossly misconstrues Whitehead's argument, while #1 is the demonstrable falsehood.
It is true that, in the explicit mathematical treatments of the second half of the book, Whitehead is using Euclidean geometry. But the idea that the "flat-metric" plays any central role in Whitehead's theory is explicitly repudiated on the VERY FIRST PAGE of text in Whitehead's book. Whitehead makes it absolutely clear that he is only using "flat" geometry for purposes of mathematical convenience; it plays no essential role in his larger theory. Indeed, in 1923, G. Temple actually generalized Whitehead's program to a non-flat system of mathematics. But, despite the fact that everyone mentions Temple, no one actually looks at his work, or addresses Whitehead's larger arguments in that light.
The claim that Whitehead's theory is "non-dynamical" is demonstrably false. Unfortunately, Whitehead put this demonstration in a book that had been published three-years earlier, his _Enquiry into the Principles of Natural Knowledge_. This, along with _Concept of Nature_ and the finally republished _Principle_ form what might be thought of as the "triptych" of Whitehead's philosophy of nature. All of these books are the results of a common line of inquiry. But, unfortunately (again), Whitehead's argument for the dynamical nature of his theory is only implicit in _The Principle of Relativity_; he assumed people read his other books.
Now, the centerpiece of Whitehead's argument -- the part that Synge explicitly ignores and which Will (following Synge) doesn't even acknowledge -- is the *philosophical* critique of Einstein's theory. This philosophical critique is seldom enough noticed in the philosophical literature; as far as I know, has never been addressed within physics. The criticism is this: if the geometry of space is altered by every last particle of matter and energy which influences space, then there is no possibility of meaningful measurement. In order to measure a piece of space, my unit of measure must have some kind of uniform meaning, such that I can legitimately move my "yardstick" from "here to there." Einsteinian General Relativity undercuts this possibility, by denying the existence of any such uniformity. The structure of space is absolutely dependent upon the contingent distributions of matter and energy.
As a result, before we can engage in meaningful measurements, we must know how matter and energy is distributed throughout the universe so as to know how to interpret our measurements. In other words, if Einstein is right, we're boxed into a situation where the only way we can know anything, we must first know everything.
Clearly, I have the space here for neither a careful nor a detailed examination of Whitehead's argument. There are some interesting responses to this criticism that can be developed from the claim that space exhibits "maximal symmetry" in the abstract. This claim is rarely mentioned even in the orthodox physics literature -- Weinberg and Carroll are the only major texts on the subject which I know that talk about the subject at all. In any case, Whitehead's work is more than deserving of examination, examination that is *NOT* dominated by the narrowest consideration of nothing beyond the mathematical treatments at the end of the book. These, too, are of interest, though by now it would seem more for their historical worth than their direct connection to cutting edge cosmology. Still, even this part is worthy of serious attention, since it is the basis of Whitehead's rejection of the "geometrical metaphors" which so dominate the field.
Book Description
This volume describes the two main applications of plasma physics--laboratory research on thermo-nuclear fusion energy and plasma astrophysics of the solar system and stars and accretion disks--from the single viewpoint of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). This approach provides effective methods and insights for the interpretation of plasma phenomena on virtually all scales, ranging from the laboratory to the universe. The text will be of value to senior-level undergraduates and graduate students in physics, astrophysics and magnetohydrodynamics.
Customer Reviews:
excelent book.......2006-10-20
I am having this book as a textbook in a Space Plasma Physics Course. It is outstanding, and very helpful. I highly recommend it.
Book Description
This selection of Sir Thomas Browne's writings presents the full range of his exuberant enthusiasms and his richly textured, allusive language. Browne's discussion on death and resurrection, sneezing, astronomy, ostriches, hieroglyphics, and rainbows are included, as are thematically arranged extracts, annotated texts, and a detailed introduction with a list of further reading.
Customer Reviews:
The great literary stylist Browne.......2006-09-28
There are those writers who so beguile us by their reflective musings that we are left by them with a sense of the deeper mystery and wonder of all we know and may be. The reflective imaginative speculations of Thomas Browne( 1605-1682) anthologized here touch upon his medical, antiquarian, scientific and philosophical interests. They give evidence to what writers Coleridge to Virginia Woolf have understand that in terms of literary style , few can match his bold wit, wisdom and questionings. All who know the history of English Literature know that in the 'Oxen in the Sun' parody- history of the Language Joyce writes he includes a Brownean particled metaphorical adventure. Browne traveled far in lands outside and inside, in his own mind and in worlds of knowledge many of which too us are long dated. But his questionings and his reachings out to make new worlds of connections make him like Donne, Borges, and other Kafka himself, an uncanny seeker and finder of truths the Creator hides and reveals within and without us, more than once.
Books:
- Physics: Principles with Applications (6th Edition)
- Physics: Principles with Applications Volume II (Ch. 16-33) (6th Edition)
- Physics Problem Solver (Problem Solvers)
- Physics Regents Power Pack (Regents Power Packs)
- Practicing Physics: Worksheets to accompany Conceptual Physics, 9th edition
- Primer of Quantum Mechanics (Physics)
- Principles of Electrodynamics
- Principles of Heat Transfer
- Principles Of Nanotechnology: Molecular-Based Study Of Condensed Matter In Small Systems
- Problems and Solutions on Solid State Physics, Relativity and Miscellaneous Topics (Major American Universities Ph.D. Qualifying Questions and Solutions) ... Ph. D. Qualifying Questions and Solutions)
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General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Physics: Student Study Guide With Selected Solutions Vol. 1 6th Edition
Calculus Of A Single Variable
Physics: Principles with Applications (5th Edition)
Organic Chemistry and CW+ GradeTracker Access Card Package (6th Edition)
Physics Laboratory Experiments
Physics: Principles and Applications, Student Study Guide
Student Pocket Companian Physics: Principles with Applications
