Conceptual Physics

I am a physics teacher with a degree in physics and I think this is one of the best physics texts I have ever seen. I have used it for quite a few years now, with excellent results. Hewitt packs a lot of information into the book, but teachers and students are not expected to get through it all. The extra material gives the book great applications for a wide variety of audiences, but the responsibility is on the teacher to use it in a way that is not confusing to students. This is the case with any of the standard physics texts (Halliday Resnick, Giancoli). Anyone who discounts this book because it has more words and cartoons than equations and math problems in it has no idea what understanding physics can be. Physics has too long been abused as an applied math course, and this book is a welcome remedy for this. For a general audience, this book provides an excellent overview of the fundamental concepts that make our world run. For science-bound students, it provides an excellent conceptual foundation for a more rigorous calculus-based course where deeper understanding of the connection between math and nature can be explored. On major fault of the book, as one reviewer pointed out, is that Hewitt includes some problems that he does not give readers the math skills to solve. If a teacher assigns these problems, it is necessary that the students have access to the supplementary material written for the text that explains this math. But as a conceptual physics text for a conceptual physics course, Hewitt's book is unparalleled.

I would imagine that the answer to my subject heading is, for most people, NO! But for me it was YES!, as I'd never had a physics class, and it was essential, for research that I am conducting, that I have slightly more than an elementary grasp of physics. I turned to this book, and am glad that I did.This book, thankfully, is written in conceptual terms. There are few equations - because equations are necessary in science - but you don't need to know calculus or trigonometry to read this book and walk away with a solid foundation.The author has a clear and easy tone about his writing, and breaks complex concepts down into their simple building blocks so that a typical layperson can understand. I know - because I'm as typical a layperson as they come regarding the sciences.I can't recommend this highly enough.

I took freshman physics in college. I picked up this book as a bit of a review. It is well worth reading. It is pitched at a level that a 12 year old could understand, but contains physics that would educate and entertain adults. I recommend getting the accompanying work book as well. There are concept questions and math questions. The math questions at the end of the chapters require knowledge of arithmetic ( not heavy algebra or calculus ). I recommend this book for those that just like to read educational material for fun.... this is a light enough read to allow that. I also recommend this book for science students that want to get the concepts of physics down, before they get bogged down in the math. It makes your higher level physics book much easier to read. If you dont get this book, you are really missin out on a good thing.KatherinePS yes real girls do read physics

I am a high school physics teacher. While I was taking my teaching physics courses in my undergraduate education (in 1996), Hewitt's approach in teaching physics and his book "Conceptual Physics" was one of the topics that we have discussed in the class. It is also discussed in a well-known textbook of Chiappetta and et. al. "Science Instruction in the Middle and Secondary Schools". His approach and the book can be considered a breakthrough in physics education. The major critique on the book focuses on little or no math used in it. But, it is a natural aspect of "conceptual physics". The main aim of that approach is to facilitate the understanding of concepts of physics which will surely create a robust framework for problem solving in physics and, for advanced physics. Many researches have shown that lack of conceptual base for science is the major responsible for the difficulties in deeper understanding, and/or for the obstacles in the road of problem solving. Do not consider the book as an algebra based or calculus based physics textbook. As it's name says, it is "conceptual". No one can ignore(and actually Hewitt himself does not 'ignore') the beauty of math in physics, actually in any science. Dealing with physics by using the math as the language requires two aspects: 1)a well-structured conceptual understanding of physics, 2)mastery in math. The "Conceptual Physics" is for the first aspect. And it does function very well!

As a new teacher returning to physics for the first time since engineering school ten years ago, I found this book to be a wonderful resource. The analogies that Hewitt uses are extremely helpful in explaining concepts to students. The book was the district chosen book in a lower level physics class that I no longer teach, but I still use it in my honors class as required reading to insure that students understand the concepts before we get to the math.