Comprehensible and Interesting Physics
12/10/2006
I have had the pleasure of being taught Physics by Brian Jones at CSU from this book, and I will say that although I have personally had an aversion and dread of taking a physics class, Brian's enthusiasm, knowledge, real-life applications, participation and integration with this text have made Physics into my favorite class this semester (and I am a Biomedical Science major). This text is extremely readable, even engrossing; moreover, it thoroughly covers the major principles of physics without losing the reader. The clever integration of real-world examples helps to visualize physics as the amazing observation and understanding tool of the "magical" aspects of the world and the greater universe surrounding us. The problems in the book are workable, and there are plenty of examples in the text that relate to the problems to help solve them. Brian used to write problems for the MCAT, and some of the problems in the book are geared for biology applications, so this would be a great study tool for the MCAT as well. This text does not require any calculus, but a strong understanding of trigonometry is essential. As an aside, Brian is devoted to making physics fun and interesting and has taught physics all over the world, including in Africa. His Little Shop of Physics [...] is an extraordinary traveling teaching tool geared to elementary school students--my own children have been turned on to a love of science by this program.