Physics for Scientists and Engeneers: Vol. 1: Mechanics, Oscillations and Waves, Thermodynamics

The first equation that you see in this book is that "Tipler= Quality"At first, this seems a little pompous and presumptuous. But it is alas, oh so true. When I first started physics this year, I had no experience of calculus. I thought taking a physics course based in calc was going to be hard. I was wrong, as Tipler's explinations were so well done that I found the math to be easy. Although its true that most of my physics learning came from my high school teacher, the only thing he lectured on where things that came almost directly from Tipler. This was convinient if I didn't feel like taking extensive notes. By the end of the simester, I had mechanics mastered. With Tipler by my side, the biggest challenge in learning physics was overcoming my own lazyness.

It is a pleasure reading the Optics in Dr. Tipler's volume II. The part is much better than the Waves which is somewhat confusing. So I gave 4 stars to the Waves part. Actually what I wanted to say in the previous reivew is that the explanation of SOME of those mathematical expressions and of those optional sections are not very clear--like written informally.

Overall, Tipler's physics series is a successful introductory texts for physics majors who have had good high-school physics background. For me, it is not a good choice. It is very obvious that Dr. Tipler explains those basic concepts in a very informal manner. Physics is, I believe, a systematic study of the complex phenomena of the universe. Surely we shall develop our sense of appreciation of the beauty of Nature and our creativity of modeling the physical phenomena. However, in presenting the laws of physics, there is no need of being informal. That is what I believe. Probably I haven't understood enough physics and English. If so, forgive me!

This is the best physics book I have ever seen. The text is well written, the examples are great. What sets this book apart from other physics textbooks I have seen are these advantages. Examples are set up in columns so that on the left, it tells u whats going on in english and on the right, whats going on in math. There are great section summary pages and problem solving guides at the end of every chapter. The problems are each labeled with a difficulty, and they are creative problems. There are optional sections which you do not need to read but enhance what you are learning in lecture and reading. Overall, a great book.