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Title: Teach Yourself Physics by Jim Breithaupt ISBN: 0-07-140718-9 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: 25 July, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (2 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: I made a mistake. Don't make the same one yourself.
Comment: I cannot warn you strongly enough against buying this book. Were it possible, I would rate this at 0 stars. Supposedly it is written by an experienced professor and lecturer. If this is in fact true, I hope he no longer is employed by any reputable university. As a sophomore who has been away from school for some time, I bought this sight unseen from Amazon.com, intending to use it as a refresher prior to the end of my military service and before I re-entered college. I have found it riddled with factual errors, lacking in its depth and misguided in its focus.
The book attempts to introduce the reader to chemistry, then produces a table with the first 11 elements and their valences, leaving the rest unknown. It does the same for molecular physics, then states that an electron is 2000 times more massive than a proton. It touches on astronomy, then claims the Grand Canyon was created by a meteorite impact. It tries to discuss Einstein's concept of space-time, but does absolutely nothing for relating the actual formulae or demonstrating the concept in any way to help the reader understand it. The book does however waste the paper to discuss what would happen if the sun's mass was turned into a black hole, and how even though Sol's mass is unchanged, it would mysteriously begin sucking in nearby stars. It talks about the speed of light and refraction through a clear substance, then mentions two theories, one which claims light travels slower through denser materials, one which claims light moves faster- and never states which is correct.
Patrick from Sydney apparently meant to review another book, because this is certainly not a 500 page textbook. The 240 pages of material are in a comfortably large font, with little enough real information that each chapter can be read without difficulty in about the same time it takes to read a magazine article. There is no math beyond the most basic of algebra, with a single page devoted to the definition of sine, cosine and tangent so that Snell's law of refraction can even be brought up. The primary focus of this book seems to be a cursorary history of physics, but I would prefer reading a decent encyclopedia's individual entries than the thin overview presented in "Teach Yourself Physics." For the irrelevant discussion on the future of power generation in England and "blue sky research" that was out of date when this book went to the publisher, I would rather pick up a copy of Nature, Smithsonian or Omni.
I thoroughly regret wasting my money and time on this book and urge you not to do so as well.
Rating: 5
Summary: A sound intro to physics book
Comment: This is a senior high school / 1st year university level book for students who have never really studied physics and who want a strong but reasonably shallow overview. The mathematics is simple and the topics typically are given enough depth to get you underway and on the right track with plenty of good diagrams, explanantion and examples. The book is arranged in logical groupings: Waves, Properties of Materials, Mechanics, Electricity, Fields, Atomic and Nuclear Physics, Further Physics.
The topics in each logical grouping include:
* properties waves, sound, optivs, EM waves
* Matter and Molecules, Thermal properties, strenth of solids, pressure
* Forces in equilibrium, dynamics, force and motion, energy and power
* Introduction to electricity, electric circuits, capacitors, electronics
* Electric fields, magnetic fields, electromagentic induction, alternating current
* Electrons and Photons, radioactivity, energy the nucleus
* Gases, thermodynamics, uniform circular motion, gravitation, simple harmonic motion
There are exercises at the end of each chapter with solutions (not worked however) and additional problems as an appendix at the end of the book (also with non-worked solutions). A website is also available. Each chapter has a brief summary and the author works hard to relate physics to reality through a good number of practical activities that should strength the concepts to be learned (Constructivist learning!).
This book is a whole SI edition and written in English English so the word metre (not meter) is commonplace -> which may phase (pun intended) americans just a little. Has lots of black-and-white diagrams that are readily photocopied.
I purchased this book to tutor a 11th grade student about to embark on his first jounrey into physics and i find it a very good introduction. A lot of thought has gone into the pedagogy of this book and maintaining the engagment of the beginning physics by not swaping him/her with masses of mathematics and dry unintelligble explanation and/or extention.
At 500-ish pages, this is not a huge book by any means -> so don't expect too much depth. Buy Hecht (isbn: 0534339859) if you want a 'serious' and weighty undergrad physics book. Repeat: This book is a beginners' book, so it's merit should be judged accordingly.
All in all, an excellent foundation on which to build a strong grasp of introductory physics.
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Title: Teach Yourself Trigonometry by P. Abbott, Hugh Neill ISBN: 0071421351 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: 28 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: Teach Yourself Algebra by P. Abbott, Michael Wardle, Hugh Neill ISBN: 0844231177 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: 11 June, 1996 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: Teach Yourself Calculus by P. Abbott, Hugh Neill ISBN: 0071421289 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: 25 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Calculus (Teach Yourself) by P. Abbott, Hugh Neill ISBN: 0844200417 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: August, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Geometry and Trigonometry for Calculus by Peter H. Selby ISBN: 0471775584 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 18 April, 1975 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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