{"data":[{"id":59,"title":"Light and Matter","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2010,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This is an introductory text intended for a one-year introductory course of the type typically taken by biology majors, or for AP Physics B. Algebra and trig are used, and there are optional calculus-based sections.","contributors":[{"id":3769,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Benjamin","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Crowell","location":"Fullerton College","background_text":"Ben Crowell teaches physics at Fullerton College, a community college in southern California. PhD in physics from Yale."}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":373,"url":"http://lightandmatter.com/books.html","year":2020,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-01-20T18:35:05.000-06:00","name":"Benjamin Crowell"}],"formats":[{"id":637,"type":"Online","url":"https://archive.org/details/lm_20220102","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":638,"type":"PDF","url":"https://archive.org/details/lm_20220102","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":639,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/benjamin_crowell","price":{"cents":1300,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1851,"type":"LaTeX","url":"https://github.com/bcrowell/lm","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"3","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":135,"first_name":"Ulrich","last_name":"Zurcher","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Cleveland State University","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"While the book “nominally” covers all the topic of an introductory physics course [either algebra- or calculus-based], the topics are not covered at a level appropriate for a standard college-level course. For example, in the chapters on forces, the text does not solve typical problems covered in these courses, such as the sliding of a block on an incline plane with friction. A textbook should include a step-by-step explanation how these problems are solved.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The text is fairly accurate, with only few mistakes. For example, on page 149, two hands are connected by a string. The text writes: “Two people’s hands exert forces on each other.”  This is technically not correct since the two hands are not in contact with other: it’s not acceptable that a textbook would make such a mistake.","relevance_rating":1,"relevance_review":"The text is an idiosyncratic  text. It has its charm, but is ill-suited for a highly “regulated” introductory course. These courses cover a long-list of required topics and prepare students for standardized tests [such as MCAT].  It would be very difficult to adopt the text and amend it such that it would a standard course outline.","clarity_rating":1,"clarity_review":"The text introduces too many concepts in the same chapter. In chapter 2 that deals with translational kinematics in one spatial dimension, it introduces: rotation, deformation, center of mass, rolling motion, projectile motion, and the principle of inertia. I cannot see that how anyone just learning the “language of physics” cannot distinguish between these different concepts. \r\n\r\nThe authors lament that students are frequently not able to distinguish between force and energy. This reviewer shares this sentiment; it is then puzzling why the authors do not address this difficulty by step-by0step explanation of illustrative examples. \r\n\r\nOverall, the book is far too long; students do not read long books. Short book are much more likely to be read. Short texts also have the benefit of authors forcing to be very concise in their writing.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The book is internally consistent.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"Physical concepts are used in different chapters. This will make it difficult to split the text into different parts.","organization_rating":1,"organization_review":"The organization of the text is very unusual. Air resistance is discussed in the chapter on forces. It should instead be in the chapter on fluids where density is introduced. This organization is detrimental to student learning. This is a single example of a much deeper problem of the organization of this text.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"There are no problems with the interface.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The grammar is fine.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The book is not insensitive in any form. It is difficult to address racial disparities in a physics text.","overall_rating":5,"overall_review":"This text is ill-suited for an introductory physics course or as a self-study text for students.","created_at":"2015-01-12T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2015-01-12T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1281,"first_name":"Esperanza","last_name":"Zenon","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"River Parishes Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook does include many of the standard topics appropriate for an introductory physics course. Unfortunately, it doesn't cover these topics on a level that supports the attainment of mastery for the user. There are examples worked in this text, but these examples aren't the standard physics problems that students are expected to solve. Also, there aren't enough end-of-chapter questions and problems for sufficient student practice.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content in this textbook is error-free and unbiased.","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"The arrangement of material in this textbook does show the connectedness between topics, but this interweaving of content makes it difficult to cover the information in the \"typical\" sequencing found in most introductory physics courses.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"The author is to be commended for trying to present this material in its historical context. Unfortunately, this leads to an overly complicated plethora of information that can't be easily digested by the student. The content needs to be separated and streamlined in order to make it usable.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The content represented in this textbook is internally consistent.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"Many of the concepts presented in this textbook are woven together in a way that makes them difficult to separate into subunits or smaller reading sections.","organization_rating":1,"organization_review":"The author's attempt to present this material in a  more  \"story-like\" fashion falls woefully short of the structure and rigor needed in an introductory physics course.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no issues are concerns regarding this textbook's interface.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no issues are concerns regarding the grammar used in this textbook.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There are no cultural or racial insensitivities found in this textbook.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"This textbook lacks the rigor and structure needed for an undergraduate introductory physics course or an AP Physics B course.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/light-and-matter","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:08:56.000-06:00"},{"id":61,"title":"College Physics","edition_statement":"2e","volume":null,"copyright_year":2022,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"College Physics 2e introduces topics conceptually and progresses through clear explanations in the context of career-oriented, practical applications, and meets the scope and sequence of an algebra-based physics course. The narrative of physics and scientific discovery has been even further expanded to focus on including more diverse contributors to the field. Building on the success of the first edition the authors have increased focus on interdisciplinary connections, including enhancements to biological and medical applications. The problem solving approach has been revised to further unify conceptual, analytical, and calculation skills within the learning process, the authors have integrated a wide array of strategies and supports throughout the text for students. View the first edition of College Physics at OpenStax.","contributors":[{"id":2754,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":"Dr.","first_name":"Paul","middle_name":"Peter","last_name":"Urone","location":"Sacramento, California","background_text":"Dr. Paul Peter Urone, Senior Contributing Authors, California State University Sacramento"},{"id":5032,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":"Dr.","first_name":"Roger","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Hinrichs","location":"Oswego County, New York","background_text":"Dr. Roger Hinrichs, Senior Contributing Author, State University of New York, College at Oswego"},{"id":6864,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":"Dr.","first_name":"Kim","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Dirks","location":"New Zealand","background_text":"Dr. Kim Dirks, Contributing Author, University of Auckland"}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":93,"url":"https://openstax.org/details/books/college-physics-2e","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-01-23T11:29:36.000-06:00","name":"OpenStax"}],"formats":[{"id":125,"type":"Online","url":"https://openstax.org/details/books/college-physics-2e","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":126,"type":"PDF","url":"https://openstax.org/details/books/college-physics-2e","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1789,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.amazon.com/College-Physics-OpenStax-Official-hardcover-dp-171147083X/dp/171147083X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1790,"type":"eBook","url":"https://openstax.org/details/books/college-physics-2e","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":49,"reviews":[{"id":55,"first_name":"Elena","last_name":"Bassiachvili","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Langara College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"a. Glossary is provided at the end of each chapter, but I feel the definitions are not detailed enough and are too specialized without referencing the particular cases where it is applicable. For example, the rms equations work for sinusoidal functions (which is what the book deals with) but, that limitation is not clearly stated to the student. Some glossary terms are a bit too succinct and as a result are oversimplified. For example: \"model: simplified description that contains only those elements necessary to describe the physics of a physical situation\" b. Some glossary terms are repeated with a different definition \"grounded: when a conductor is connected to the Earth, allowing charge to freely flow to and from Earth's unlimited reservoir grounded: connected to the ground with a conductor, so that charge flows freely to and from the Earth to the grounded object\" p. 652 c. The index is fairly detailed, easy to click on the page in the pdf. d. The range of topics covered is quite vast and is enough for a first-year introduction. However, the amount of detail provided for some of the basic concepts is in some cases too little.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I would need to go through the text with a fine-toothed comb to be able to say this with all certainty, but it seems that overall the material is accurate, error-free and unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I believe so, of course there are (as always) the photos with computers that look dated, but should not be difficult to fix. Many images are general enough to withstand the test of time. The material is modular enough that things could be added/removed/modified as needed.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"a. I find that the explanations of the basics for many topics are too limited. More time is devoted to the (admittedly more interesting!) subtopics or ideas that follow the basics. I think that the explanations of the basics are lacking, especially in the later chapters, and the students may need to use additional references. However, the text is more interesting than others because of the inclusion of the extras. b. On the same theme, most examples are great ‘application' type, however, many students may not be familiar with the terminology used for a particular device (such as a combustion engine or headphones/mic) and I feel insufficient explanation of each item is given. Also, some examples are a bit confusing, Fig. 16.18., Fig. 23.36 c. Much of the data is presented in a tabular format, an associated graphical representation would be useful. ex. table 14.4 d. The authors clearly tried to make connections with real-life examples and I think that is very helpful to get the students' intuition to connect to the challenging concepts.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Seems that way, I could find no glaring inconsistencies. The one thing that is a bit odd is some terms are defined twice with 2 different definitions. For example: Definitions at end of chapter repeats Ch. 11: \"diastolic pressure: the minimum blood pres","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"a. Each chapter is sectioned, labeled and indexed well. Has own self-contained glossary and review at the end. Obviously, some chapters must be done after others, especially the specialized chapters, but this is not an issue. Other than that, there is not undue reliance on previously presented material. In fact, some material is repeated in several locations in the text as needed. b. In general, the text is quite large and would definitely need to be split up in some way. Chapters would have to be omitted or the text would have to be split into 2 parts. It seems that it lends itself well to that.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The tone of the text is definitely accessible to students, and is an easy read. However, the flow of ideas (in some cases) may be difficult for inexperienced students to follow. The thoughts are not compartmentalized, they are more of a lecture-style explanation rather than solid, clear-cut description of the material. I think this will work well for the more engaged students but may be difficult for the weaker students. This may potentially be an issue. Personally, I would have re-organized some of the chapter contents and grouped things together a bit differently (especially the circuits, EM chapters), but I think that is more of a personal preference rather than a criticism.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"a. Images: There is quite a bit of jpeg aberration with images that are not photographs (which really should not be saved as jpegs in the first place). This appears on images such as graphs, vector diagrams, tables, etc. that were placed in as images, and this is really quite distracting. This would be an easy fix for the book authors, just saving the original images in a format which is more appropriate for that image type (such as bmp or gif) would remove the issue entirely. (ex. image on p.100 and many, many others) Aside from that, some pixilation is also evident in some photos, but not terrible. Most figures themselves are clear and of good size, but some are a bit cluttered and small, ex. 18.24. b. In general, some images have a feeling of being placed a bit haphazardly, maybe rounding the corners or putting a frame around them would have made them look more in-place. Other images look well integrated. c. Equations: Inconsistent sizing of things like brackets, superscripts look out of place, bars over symbols are too far just general formatting issues. Probably occurred when the document was converted to pdf. Some numbers look larger than the surrounding text. d. Navigation: The links that I tested worked (from index, to chapter section, to the PhET simulations).","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"None that I noticed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Images try to be inclusive of various ethnicities. I saw no offensive terminology.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"a. The use of the links to java games (PhET Interactive Simulations) is a great idea, though the games themselves are not particularly good or well-defined (it is not clear what the user is supposed to do to play the game). b. I've never been a huge fan of the prime (') notation for anything other than the derivative. Text uses it for the quantity \"some time later\"; in Ch. 8. c. Some questions are of the \"Professional application\" nature, I think that is really nice to spark the students' interest and show application of the material in the real world. d. Many biomedical applications and examples in this text. I do find this material interesting, but it is a definite extra that is very prevalent in the chapter questions as well as supporting chapters. I'm a fan of applications, but I wish the topics were a bit more varied. e. I like the presence of conceptual questions at the end of the chapters, gives the students a chance to test their \"general feel\"; of the concepts before plugging in numbers into equations. f. In terms of relevance to Canada: there are quite a few photographs of US navy, SOPS, NASA, security agents. Many examples of places in the United States, the book is definitely US-centric.\r\nThis review originated in the BC Open Textbook Collection and is licensed under CC BY-ND.","created_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":56,"first_name":"Julie","last_name":"Alexander","position":"Physics Faculty","institution_name":"Camosun College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"While reviewing this textbook we compared it to two other widely used first year algebra based physics textbooks, Physics by Giancoli and College Physics by Knight, Jones and Field. we have taught many courses using both these standard textbooks. The openstax College Physics text covers all of the topics that the other two texts cover. It is perhaps even more comprehensive than either Giancoli or Knight. For example when introducing electric charge it discusses quarks. The openstax text has 1269 pages in a font that is smaller than either Giancoli or Knight and the text goes right to the edges of the pages. It is unlikely that a typical student in an algebra based introductory course would be able to work their way through the textual part of the book. Giancoli (1004 pages) and Knight (1067 pages) use only 2/3 the width of the page for text and the large margin for pictures or examples. This makes these texts much easier to read than the openstax text. If a student chooses to print the openstax book on regular paper, double sided, it is 8cm thick whereas Giancoli is only 3.5cm and Knight 4cm, including the hard covers. At the end of each chapter the openstax text has a useful glossary of terms encountered in the chapter and a chapter summary that is similar to both Giancoli and Knight. The openstax index is 5 ½ pages long compared to 15 pages in Giancoli and 13 pages in Knight. It has far fewer topics in the index and is missing subcategories under topics such as acceleration, angular momentum and electric circuits. Oddly it has a larger font for the index than the rest of the text so it has more than three times fewer topics in the index than either Giancoli or Knight. The problems at the end of each chapter of the openstax text are its strongest feature. They are similar to those in both Knight and Giancoli. There are an adequate number of them and they have adequate variety and varying difficulty. However, unlike Giancoli and Knight the openstax problems are not labeled according to difficulty, a feature that we as instructors like when assigning problems. An additional feature in the openstax text, that neither Giancoli nor Knight have, is problems labeled Integrated Concepts and problems labeled Construct your own problem.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"There were some examples of notation that were not adequately explained, for example the use of F12 on page 639 without explaining that it means the force on particle 1 due to particle 2. Also on page 633 it says \"she receives an excess of positive charge\" which seems to imply that positive charge moves onto her hair, which is not the case. On page 640 the statement \"the force that surrounds an object\" is not correct. There are an adequate number of examples in the text with nice color pictures. We believe they are in general accurate and correct, although we didn't go through each one. The type of examples used are the same type as in Giancoli and Knight and we don't think they are biased in any way. There is an instructor solution manual that comes with the text, an excellent feature here is that both the problem and solution are given. This makes choosing homework problems or problems to do in class much more convenient for the instructor. The online homework system WebAssign is available for this OpenStax text. It costs the students a nominal fee per term but we think it is in general an inexpensive alternate system to Mastering Physics which is included with Giancoli and Knight. Unlike Mastering Physics that has every single problem in Giancoli and Knight, Web Assign has only about one third of the problems in the back of each chapter. Both Web Assign and Mastering Physics have links to the text in many of the problems. However, where Mastering Physics has links to the appropriate pages for students to read before attempting a problem, Web Assign links to the beginning of the appropriate chapter. Mastering Physics is a much more comprehensive online homework system than Web Assign; it has tutorials, conceptual questions, and a test bank. The links to the PhET Interactive Simulations in the openstax text are also available on Mastering Physics for both Giancoli and Knight.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Most of the content in a physics text is over 200 years old so being up to date isn't an issue. However, this text also includes many modern applications of physics such as medical applications of nuclear physics and particle physics. It also has a chapter called Frontiers of Physics that is up to date. In this regard it is equally as good as Giancoli and Knight and the risk of it becoming obsolete is negligible.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"We found that the openstax text is quite wordy in its explanation of concepts. For example it takes about 10 lines to explain the concept of position whereas Giancoli uses one clear and concise sentence and Knight uses a simple example to explain the concept. The definition of position in the glossary of the openstax text at the end of the chapter is too vague. We think students in general have a very difficult time reading physics textbooks and if the explanations are too long they get lost. We expect this will be the case for most students immediately in the early chapters of this text.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The chapters in the text are organized in a consistent fashion throughout the book. The notation is also consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"It would be easy to pick individual chapters of this book to put together into 2 separate one semester courses just like any standard textbook.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics in this text are organized in the same order as both Giancoli and Knight. The Open Stax text has 34 chapters whereas Giancoli has 33 and Knight has 30.","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"The font in the openstax text is Arial and is smaller than the Times New Roman used in both Giancoli and Knight. It is also more closely spaced and goes to the edge of the pages. It is more difficult to read in print than either Giancoli or Knight but on a computer the student could zoom in to whatever resolution they choose.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"We didn't notice any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"We agree with this statement however since the text originates in the United States it refers to places and things in the US and not Canada. This is true of both Giancoli and Knight.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"Instructors and physics departments should be very careful about choosing this textbook simply because it is free. The best existing textbooks are much better than the Open Stax textbook notwithstanding the cost implications. Overall we think that this text is overly comprehensive for a first year algebra based physics course. It explains many things that are best left for an instructor to discuss in class but should not require students to read. It would be a good reference for new teachers preparing lecture notes. We think that typical students would feel overwhelmed when trying to read this text. However, it would be appropriate as a resource for problems or specific explanations.\r\nThis review originated in the BC Open Textbook Collection and is licensed under CC BY-ND.","created_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":57,"first_name":"Tyron","last_name":"Tsui","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Langara College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text included and appropriately covered all topics necessary for a first-year algebra-based physics class. An index is provided in the PDF version of the text, but a link to the index in the web version of the text was not found. There are glossaries at the end of each chapter. Compared with a large glossary at the end of the text, it was easier for students to review the new terms, but trickier for them to find a term defined in a previous chapter.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Agree.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Chapters begin by introducing and developing physical concepts and end with sections covering modern applications of those topics. Keeping the applications updated seems like it would be straightforward.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Each topic is introduced with a contextual or motivational section. Next, the concepts are developed and terms are well defined. The structure and text was generally straightforward.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"As mentioned, chapters/topics begin and are developed with the same framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Agree.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Agree.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"No issues that would distract the reader, but the font and style used for numbers, scientific notation and units change depending on where the value is shown and what the units actually are. Maybe it's the equation/math type program they used? The equations and some symbols disappear when the PDF is printed on certain printers or when the original PDF is modified (lines highlighted or reprinted to 2 or 4 pages on a sheet). The bars over average variables sit high.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Agree.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Agree.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Most other physics textbooks provide a rating for each end-of-chapter question (I, II, III) as a rough estimate of the question's difficulty. I've found the system to be useful for myself and for students working on unassigned problems. The current PDF of this text (col11406_1_8_13.pdf) does not have such a system. Most forces in the text are given the symbol F with a subscript to differentiate, but weight, normal force and tension are W, N and T. Note: At the suggestion of BCcampus staff, this review has been prepared jointly by Takashi Sato and Tyron Tsui (alphabetical order). Tsui nominally examined Chapters 1 - 17 and Sato nominally examined Chapters 18 - 34. Further, Dr. Tsui has the experience of having adopted this book for his class (Summer 2013 semester).\r\nThis review originated in the BC Open Textbook Collection and is licensed under CC BY-ND.","created_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":58,"first_name":"Takashi","last_name":"Sato","position":"Physics \u0026 astronomy faculty","institution_name":"Kwantlen Polytechnic University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book has the feel of a typical algebra based first year physics book, suitable for algebra-based first year physics courses anywhere. This book has reportedly been produced as part of a well-funded project (including support from the Hewlett Foundation, Gates Foundation, etc.) and, despite it being made available for free, does not appear lacking in quality. A general practice in physics education at the first year level is to split courses (and corresponding textbooks) into two streams: algebra-based and calculus-based. This book is not intended for use with calculus-based courses.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"On the whole there is no issue with content accuracy or bias. The one exception I detected is in Ch. 26 where the Square Kilometre Array is discussed in a way that does not appear technically correct to this radio astronomer.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book pays good attention to highlighting the application of physical principles in contemporary society, often by description of technological devices. Although the physical principles do not become outdated, the specific devices referred to will need updates and maintenance.. This is generally what is done with all physics textbooks at this level.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"No significant issues detected.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"No significant issues detected.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"No significant issues detected.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Yes.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I used mainly the PDF version (hardcopy and on screen) for this review - no issues experienced.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No significant issue detected.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No significant issue detected.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"(1) my preface: This review has been conducted jointly by Takashi Sato and Tyron Tsui (alphabetical order). Tsui nominally examined Chapters 1 - 17 and Sato nominally examined Chapters 18 - 34. Further, Dr. Tsui has the experience of having adopted this book for his class (Summer 2013 semester) and has shared his experiences with me. I believe we are in good agreement with each other's comments and I have benefited from the discussion. However, rather than merging our comments into one submission, we are each making our own submission. (2) The authors do not use the symbol \"e\" for the fundamental charge, 1.6 x 10-19 C, which is the standard notation . They use \"q_e\" instead. This choice of symbology is very unusual, perhaps unique, in textbooks for this audience. Because the two forms of notation are completely equivalent, it can be ascribed to a stylistic choice and this reviewer has no strong preference. However, I question whether it is prudent to graduate our students without knowing what \"e\" means. (3) This textbook incorporates the use of PhET simulations throughout. Simulations produced by the PhET project at the University of Colorado Boulder is the current golden standard and fans of PhET will surely embrace its prominence in this book. (4) Prompted by Clint Lalonde's question regarding the suitability of using parts of this same book for multiple courses, I looked at the chapters on special relativity and quantum physics to see if it might be suitable for a second year course in modern physics. The chapter on quantum physics serves only as an introduction and thus unsuitable for a modern physics course. The chapter on special relativity is more promising, and the algebra-based nature of this book is indeed sufficient for special relativity. However, it is only one chapter and I would imagine most modern physics courses will require more depth on this topic. Of course, while we physics teachers may forget to state the obvious, the algebra-based first year course I refer to in the opening is often a two-semester sequence (i.e. two courses. (4) The publishers provide supplements, much like any other modern textbook. In addition to an instructor solution manual and powerpoint slides, electronic supplements such as WebAssign and Sapling are also available. More specifically, I have learned that OpenStax has worked with Sapling Learning to produce an online homework tool tailored for this book. I have seen it demonstrated and for this particular book, unlike other books Sapling works with, the e-text has been integrated into the Sapling product. Students pay $40 instead of the usual $30 for this convenience. (5) I would like to reiterate Tyron Tsui's comment about the lack of ratings of end-of-chpater problems.\r\nThis review originated in the BC Open Textbook Collection and is licensed under CC BY-ND.","created_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":59,"first_name":"Neil","last_name":"Alberding","position":"Senior Lecturer","institution_name":"Simon Fraser University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Comprehensive and include much more than could be covered in two one-semester introductory courses. The Index and glossary are find. The pdf version needs a Table of Contents for navigation.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Here are a few points in the order that I saw them. (Stars indicate importance.) *1. (1.3) The rules for significant figures should not be taken as inviolable. Suggest that they be applied with common sense. For intermediate calculations keep more significant figures than necessary to avoid propagating roundoff error. A few too many sig figs is better than too few. An example of an exception is 10.2 x 0.99. The rules would imply that only two figures be kept in the result which is plainly nonsense; the answer should be written as 10.1 not 10. (0.99 has three \"honorary\" sig figs.) *2. (2.2) \"A vector is any quantity with both magnitude and direction\". Not true. A vector has magnitude and direction, but some quantities with magnitude and direction are not vectors, e.g., rotations. *3. (2.4)Trying to rigorously define \"deceleration\" is not necessary and is confusing. Just say that when using technical terminology in physics, acceleration covers speeding up and slowing down and we will not be using deceleration in a technical way. (The section even starts with an image on the topic so students will think it's an important concept that must be memorized.) **4. (2.4 and 2.5) The concept finding displacement from the v vs t curve by the area under the curve is not discussed. True, this is an integral calculus concept, but I have never found students to be troubled by it. This concept is necessary to derive the kinematic equations. For example, the statement vavg = (vi + vf)/2 is not obviously true. Note that a common student misconception is that the average velocity is an average of some velocities and taking this statement as obvious panders to that misconception. *5. (2.7) Although most textbooks do it and it's not wrong, I don't like introducing the concept of \"the acceleration due to gravity\" in the kinematics section before discussing mass and force. The only reason it's done is to give a wider repertoire of constant acceleration problems. I prefer introducing \"g\" as the \"gravitational field strength\" which, when multiplied by the object's mass (see discussion later) predicts the force of gravity on it. Only in the absence of air resistance or other forces is the object's acceleration equal to g. **6. (4.2) The concept of how to measure mass, operationally, is crucial at this point. The author beats around the bush but never says the important words. He says, \"Operationally, the masses of objects are determined by comparison with the standard kilogram.\" but HOW this comparison is done isn't said. There needs to be some mention of comparing the accelerations of two masses (one possibly being the standard) when the are subjected to the same force and that the ratios of the masses are inverse to the accelerations. (A later mention that the weights can be compared as a means of measuring mass leads to the idea that mass could have two ways of being measured and then, later, when the Cavendish experiment is discussed the notion that gravitational attraction doesn't depend on an object's composition might make some sense.) *7. In figures such as 2.4, the points on the parabola are connected by straight line segments. They should not be. 8. Ch 9: Positioning of arrows over the figures of male bodies on the free bod diagrams. may cause some amusement among adolescent readers. ***9. Simple pendulum discussion needs revising: \"We see from Figure 16.14 that the net force on the bob is tangent to the arc and equals Fnet. (The weight has components along the string and tangent to the arc.) Tension in the string exactly cancels the component parallel to the string. This leaves a net restoring force back toward the equilibrium position at θ=0.\" This is wrong. During the swing of the pendulum the acceleration direction varies. It goes from being tangential to the arc at the extremity to pointing toward the pivot point as it swings through the equilibrium. See this figure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oscillating_pendulum.gif . The acceleration vector is pointing in the direction of the net force. **10. (25.6) There needs to be a discussion of angular magnification in this section and how it applies to the simple magnifier held a focal length from its object. In that case a magnified image is clearly seen with good eyes, but the lateral magnification, as described in this section, makes no sense because it is infinite. **11 (26.4) The magnification of the microscope suffers from the same lacuna as that of the simple magnifier, but worse. The important point is that the angle subtended by the object observed through the microscope is larger than it would be if viewed by the naked eye at the eye's near point. The calculation of a lateral magnification in a case where real images exist somewhere in space at an arbitrary position that is closer than infinity tells us nothing about the apparent magnification seen by the eye, which is the angular magnification. 12. CH 27: the combined contributions of the double slit and single slit patterns to the pattern of the double slit interference is not discussed, but is hinted at in the problem 11. This should probably be discussed in the text before one could expect a student to do the problem. 13. Ch31: The picture depicting synchrotron radiation actually has little if anything to do with this chapter? 14. Figures 7.32 seems way off. (GDP/capita vs energy usage) Must be out of date. GDP numbers seem consistent with year 2000 numbers. In 2007 the GDP/capita should be as follows: US $46350 vs Japan $34100. (World Bank statistics found by Google search.)) This list is probably shorter than a similar one of the good things about this book. But these items (especially the starred ones) are important enough to warrant some concern that other issues would be apparent when a closer look at this book would occur when teaching a course from it. There are many worked example that will be appreciated by the students. Some of the problems are interesting and unusual.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"It's ok. I have mentioned some data on GDP/Capita that seem outdated. The material covered generally is not changing that qickly.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Yes","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Yes. I have mentioned some issues in a previous box.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Good. The textbook should be broken into smaller files to easily use in tablets or smaller netbooks.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Yes. The main issue I have is at the beginning where some topics in kinematics are omitted (area under v vs t curve) that do not allow the kinematics to be rigorously derived The issue of operationally defining mass and how to measure it is also discussed in a previous box..","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"No. Here are my previously prepared omments on this issue: it is worthwhile addressing the accessibility and usability of this textbook. The initial link I was given was to a pdf file many hundreds of MB in size. Currently in one of my courses I am using a textbook whose highquality pdf is about 1/10 that size. After downloading I noticed that it was impossible to copy any text from the display. Perhaps this is an antiplagiarism measure or copyright protection. Downloading from the link shown in the front of the pdf, I got a copy that did not have this feature. Furthermore, there was a lowresolution version pdf as well as epub versions. The lowresolution was indeed a manageable size and the quality was acceptable. It should be noted that most of the figures are line drawings. Line drawings can be imbedded in a pdf using a vector graphics encoding (such as eps) that retain the full resolution of the images at a fraction of the size of a bitmap. Indeed, all images in the pdf were jpeged bitmaps which made them big and full of compression artefacts in the smaller pdf file. The readability of the pdf version of the book approaches zero. The text is very small, sans serif and each line is much longer than what is needed for comfortable reading. When reading a paragraph, the eye often finds itself at the beginning of the line just read or completely lost. Furthermore, there is no sidebar table of contents for easy navigation. The thumbnail view shows barely recognizable page images that give no help in navigating around in the huge book. So I tried the epub. It is much larger than the lowres pdf, undoubtedly because of the images. The epub version was not able to be read by iBooks on the iPad. (I'm not referring to the special paid edition.) The only ebook reader that would load it was Calibre. (A fine piece of software). Using my 2010 MacBook Pro it took about 3 min to display the first time. The epub formatting was very legible and pleasant to read. The images were clear and well placed. Pages could be navigated rapidly within a chapter. There was a sidebar table of contents allowing quick navigation from one place to another. Transitioning from chapter to chapter caused a delay of a few seconds, but it was not annoying. The equations were legible, although the bitmap images of them looked a little crude. (Is mathJax coming to epub sometime?) One issue was that after navigating around in the book the images start to disappear. Unlike pdf, epub is supposed to allow svg vectorgraphic images, but is seldom done. The best solution for the epub would be to break the book into several parts according to the normal division of firstyear physics courses. On to the contents. As I say, it's unfortunate that most students will not read the purple prose of the authors, or try to follow the logic of the exposition. Nevertheless, I think it's worthwhile to present an intellectually respectable narrative. Unfortunately most \"College Physics\" books are written for an audience that often is not attracted to taxing their brain over the intricacies of the subject. An easily digested gloss may be rated higher than a text that tells the full story. There are some textbooks that achieve a happy medium between simplifying too much and explaining in a rigorous way. But the average College Physics, algebrabased textbook tends to simplify too much.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Not as far as I could tell.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I am ok with this aspect of the book.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Here are the rest of my prepared omments: It's unfortunate, but most of us who teach physics soon realize that students don't read the textbook. Perhaps they use it as a last resort for finding hints on solving homework problems. No matter how well written, laid out, feature-filled the effort gone into preparing even the best textbook is wasted. The textbook by Urone et al. is a College Physics text. That means it is intended for an audience whose main interests usually lie elsewhere than the physical sciences or engineering. A textbook is usually recommended or assigned by the instructor with little input from the student; therefore, it is good to have an option that is inexpensive and portable. On this count, Urone et al. surpasses most other commercially marketed textbooks. On the other hand, its content does not. The list of issues is probably shorter than a similar one of the good things about this book. But these items (especially the starred ones) are important enough to warrant some concern that other issues would be apparent when a closer look at this book would occur when teaching a course from it. There are many worked example that will be appreciated by the students. Some of the problems are interesting and unusual. I do approve of suggesting the interactive activities with the PHETs and even more appreciate actual takehome experiment suggestions. Perhaps more guidance to the student could be given in carrying out their investigations by providing a worksheet or more detailed instructions. The examples and problems of biological nature are also commendable. One does wonder whether the authors have the expertise in all the various aspects of biophysics necessary to properly vet them.\r\nThis review originated in the BC Open Textbook Collection and is licensed under CC BY-ND.","created_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2013-10-09T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":175,"first_name":"Kriton","last_name":"Papavasiliou","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Virginia Tech","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"It is hard to find topics that should be included in an introductory text such as this one that have been left out. All the standard topics are there as well as additional material not found in most introductory physics books. I especially like the brief biographical notes and references to application in fields such as chemistry and biology.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"No major errors or author bias are apparent with a quick first reading. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Most introductory physics courses do not cover topics that require up to date information on the progress of physics. Still this book includes topics such as nuclear and particle physics along with topics such as dark matter, general relativity and nonlinear dynamics. One can hope that students may find them interesting and explore them outside of their usual course work.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Excellent! Patiently worked examples with ample explanation of each step. Simple figures that remain to the point and do not try to be unnecessarily fancy distracting the students' attention from the problem.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"There seems to be coherence between any two chapters. I could not detect any problems with consistency.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Again no problems here. The sections are of proper length and although there is a good amount of explanation and examples, it does not get irrelevant and tedious.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"This is probably the only objection I have with this book. First I believe some more treatment of vectors is necessary. Perhaps even an entire chapter on vectors would be a good idea. I also do not like the fact that the topic of gravity does not have its own chapter. Oscillations and simple harmonic motion should, in my opinion, also be moved a bit earlier in the book. These statements simply refer to my personal preference and I do not want to pretend that this is the absolutely best way to organize the material.\r\n","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I saw no problems of this nature. I commented earlier on the simplicity of the presentation and the figures, the lack of which I believe is a major flaw of most introductory physics books today.\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors as far as I could tell. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This being a physics book makes this question rather irrelevant. Still I found no problematic points.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Generally a very good book with simple figures, a multitude of worked examples with all the steps shown, good check points for the students to consider, and a good variety of well chosen problems at the end of each chapter. The selection of topics is excellent. I would prefer a slightly different organization of the material, especially for the first half of the book, with more emphasis on vectors.","created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":355,"first_name":"Rod","last_name":"Lee","position":"Physics and Astronomy Instructor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers all of what we cover in our General Physics sequence (i.e. PHY 201-202-203).  There are additional chapters that we don't necessarily cover like \"Physics of Hearing\" and \"Vision and Optical Instruments\", although much of this content appears elsewhere in our courses.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have not found any incorrect information in the text.  In fact, there are some really useful tables of constants that I'd like to see in other physics texts.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The physics we teach our students doesn't really change that much.  I don't see that as a major concern.  If updates are needed, I believe they can be easily inserted.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found the text to be more clear than the textbook we use.  I did get a printed copy of the book ($48.50 vs $200+ for Cutnell/Johnson - our current text).  The printed copy is very dense with text - may be hard to read for some.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There are many real world examples given in the text to help students see how physics is applicable to real-life.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I found the text to be easy to navigate.  There is consistency from chapter to chapter in the formatting of material.  This makes the text easier for students to navigate.  The text does a good job of referring to material already covered.  Such references are hyperlinked which makes the text easy to pull earlier material and then return to the current chapter.  This is much quicker than a traditional, physical text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The material is logically presented.  The sequence of material is mechanics, electromagnetics, optics, and modern physics.  This is generally the same approach most physical texts use.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I have not encountered any of these issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have yet to find any grammar errors - and I am a stickler on this issue!","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"This issue does not seem to arise in this text.  Like most physics texts, this one draws on western examples, but in addition, it has more diversity than many textbooks.  I'm giving this category a '3' only because we all have our subconscious biases and I don't think anyone can clearly see all insensitive or offensive language.  ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I hope that our college will move in the direction of using this text.  It would save students a ton of money and the text has more instructor and student ancillary materials than any physical text I've seen in my 17 years of teaching!","created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":486,"first_name":"Lawrence","last_name":"Davis","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Umpqua Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is designed for the 200-level algebra based introductory physics course, which is typically taken by students in the biological sciences and health science majors. The book covers the full range of topics typically covered in such a course (CH 1-26) and goes beyond (CH 26+). The book also provides biology/human health related example problems and exercises that aid in engaging students who are not planning on studying the physical sciences.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have only used the book for chapters 1-26 and I don't regularly assign problems from the book (I use an online HW system) so I can't comment on that content. Everything else appears to be accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The bulk of the content covered by this book hasn't changed in decades, maybe even in centuries, but the way that we as instructors present that content is changing. The book presents this content is a way that is as modern as possible for a book, including references to online simulations and some example problems and exercise that are related to biology and human health. The e-book format should make updates relatively easy.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is written using common language that is accessible to the students, however it can be verbose at times, but no more so than any other standard textbook. Large chunks of text at the start of a chapter will typically be ignored, or at best glanced through by students, but there just isn't much that that can be done about that. Breaking up those large text chunks may make them more appealing to students. Students have not complained that the textbook is \"hard to read\" any more than with other textbooks I have used.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"In my experience this is the case, I have had no complaints from students.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book chapter align will with weekly modules and contain an appropriate amount of content to cover in a HW assignments due on a weekly basis. The order of the content aligns with that of the most commonly used standard texts for this course.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book chapter align will with weekly modules and contain an appropriate amount of content to cover in a HW assignments due on a weekly basis. The order of the content aligns with that of the most commonly used standard texts for this course.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Not all of the images are high quality, some images and fonts exhibit slight pixelation and resolution issues. However, the issues are not severe. I have talked with students about this and they claim that the issues do not affect the ability of the images and diagrams to convey the intended content and the students would definitely accept some pixelation in exchange for the hundreds of dollars in savings over a standard textbook.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"A comma here and there (probably personal preference), nothing major found so far, but I haven't read the text cover to cover.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Photos show a range of ethnicities, problems use a mix of male, female genders for subjects.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Students seem receptive to the book, most likely because it is free. Motivating students to read the text in physics courses is a constant challenge, it appears this book does no better or worse than standard texts at motivating students, but it does so at no cost, and it has links to simulations and other content that students may be more receptive toward.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":511,"first_name":"James","last_name":"Rittenbach","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Rogue Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"At over 1400 pages, this is the most complete algebra-based physics textbooks I’ve ever seen.  As many of the students in the algebra-based physics sequence are pre-med or otherwise biologically oriented, the many biological/medical examples do a wonderful job of showing the relevance of the physics being discussed to a student’s given field.\n\nThis text also has great appendices, especially for radioactivity.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"One of the many advantages of an open-source text that can be downloaded is that it’s easier to fix errata sooner than traditional texts.  While there were a few errors a couple of years when it first came out, it’s better than most traditional texts at this point.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The nature of an introductory physics text is that most of the topics have been figured out for a couple of centuries and even the “modern physics” of relativity and quantum mechanics have been around for over a 100 years at this point.  While certain application examples could be updated in the near future, any good physics text written since World War I is still a good resource. \n\nSo, this text does have longevity but any physics text does.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Not only is the text written clearly but as an electronic text, it is able to link out to various online physics simulations directly.  This is incredibly valuable.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The treatment of vectors is developed in such a way that the one-dimensional treatment is inconsistent with the two-dimensional treatment but that it probably intended to gradually develop the complexity.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of this text is wonderful.  I’ve used the modules to make an introductory physics text based on another edit of the modules.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The structure matches up with most physics texts which is OK.  There are some merits for covering conservation of energy before kinematics but that’s not traditionally done.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface is well done.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammar error since the errata edits.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There is a nice mix of gender and ethnicities in the examples.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"One of my biggest issues with this text is the treatment of vectors.  In the section on acceleration (Chapter 2.4), there is a Misconception Alert on deceleration vs. negative acceleration.  This is creating a problem that doesn’t need to be there.  In “saving” the student from learning the difference between vectors, magnitude of vectors, vector components and scalars, a host of problems are created.  In an example there is an answer of  “a = -8.33 m/s^2”.  This is horrible.  This is an x-component within the context of the problem and as such should be written as “a_x = -8.33 m/s^2” as it is neither a magnitude of the acceleration vector (its negative) nor a scalar (although it looks like one, it’s really a component).  The text does latter start using components (the very next chapter is 2D kinematics) so student don’t even get to use this “easy” way for long.  It just means that a student’s introduction to vectors is such that it messes them up for treating them correctly.  Vectors are important tools in physics and students’ issues with them are a major part of the struggles they have.  Luckily, as a modular open source text I can edit it to my liking.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":557,"first_name":"Michael","last_name":"Murray","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Kansas","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Our interest in the book is for our algebra based physics sequence. Our students in these courses are mainly in the medical and biological areas.  We are trying to focus these courses on the human body as a mechanical, electrical and thermodynamic system and are using the MCAT test as a guide. The book is certainly comprehensive enough for our needs. \n\nWhile Newton's 3rd law is discussed it is such a hard idea for students that I think it deserves much more space in the text. The same could be set about electrical potential.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book does not seem to be biased. I have one pet piev in that the Introduction ignores the development of physics between Plato/Aristotle and Galileo/Newton. For example the concept of conservation of momentum was worked out before before Newton and the idea that the world could be understood through experimentation gained ground in the high middle ages.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"It is very difficult to use photos and examples  that our students will immediately relate to since they are very tuned to technology and this changes fast. However this is not so important and I think that the students could see the relevance of the underlying physical principles to the human body.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Generally the book is clear. I don't like some of the language, eg on Page 741\n\"One of the rules for static electric fields and conductors is that the electric field must be perpendicular to the surface of any\nconductor. This implies that a conductor is an equipotential surface in static situations.\"\n\nThis tends to de-emphasize the physical reason and may heighten students' tendency to just \"know which equation to use here.\"\n\nI would have preferred to say\n\"For a conductor the charges will arrange themselves such that they all have the same electrical potential. This happens very fast and once they have done this the electric field must be perpendicular to the surface of the condocutor.\"","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The most important thing to be consistent about in this material is the notation for vectors. The book uses bold face to represent vectors. My concern is that this is not enough for students and it would be better to show the arrow over the symbol.  The book also sometimes drop the boldface without saying \"Now let us consider the magnitude of the Coulomb force\"","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book follows the class divisions of introductory physics. The subdivisions are small enough to be assigned as readings for each day.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book follows the \"Kinematics First\" approach which I think is more appropriate for medical/biology students than the \"Energy First\" approach. I would have preferred gravitation to be its own separate chapter since the is quite an intellectual leap from driving around a bend to the motion of the planets.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Generally the images are fine. I found some of the optics images a little hard to follow because the lines showing the actual rays and the perceived straight lines that our vision constructs were so close.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The books grammar is as good as mine.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The only cultural point I noted was in the Introduction where physics is presented as completely dormant through the middle ages. This misses the gradual development of technology and the growing realization that the world could be understood through experimentation, rather than just through logic.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"It certainly contains much that is useful for our medical and biology students. Some of the hardest concepts will need additional material and extra class time but this is not a fatal problem.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":767,"first_name":"Alan","last_name":"Covell","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"University of North Caronlina at Greensboro","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"OpenStax's college physics includes all topics, with standard examples, that would normally be found in an introductory college physics text. I have not found anything lacking.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"OpenStax has done a very good job in reviewing their material, and as such I have found no errors within the text as I have used it.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Another good point about the OpenStax text is that it can be updated by the community at large. This means submissions for updates are reviewed and then included if they add to the text. College Physics includes relatively recent examples of content just like any other introductory text.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"OpenStax's College Physics reads quite well. It is perhaps not as well written as some of the more costly texts, but it is far better than the worst I've seen. Everything is clearly defined and laid out.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I have yet to find inconsistencies within the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text does flow well and is easily organized. The chapter layouts are intuitive and can easily be reworked for any purpose. An added bonus with the OpenStax text is that the online version is free, along with other tools that make the text even more accessible and user friendly.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As well organized as any text in the market.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The quality of the text is top notch, and with the added online interfaces and tools, the OpenStax text is even better than commercial texts.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have not found any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I know of no issue concerning this.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I would recommend this text for all instructors of introductory physics as it represents a huge savings for most students without sacrificing quality.","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":864,"first_name":"Lawrence","last_name":"Rees","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Brigham Young University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all the subjects traditionally included in an algebra-based college physics course. It includes bio-med applications, as is expected for this course, including dedicated chapters to there are dedicated chapters to fluid dynamics and nuclear physics in bio-med applications in fluid dynamics and nuclear physics. It also includes a chapter on the frontiers of physics, which is a nice addition. The text is just over 1400 pages long, but in terms of word count, it appears to be commensurate with typical texts. \n\nThere are chapter glossaries, a table of contents, and an index. I found the index spotty. It lists “conservation of momentum principle” and “elastic collisions,” but not “momentum” or “collisions,”  for example.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"In reading over a number of chapters that often give students difficulty, I found that the text is generally accurate. There are a few errors. In one case, the historical background was inaccurate (but commonly repeated). More seriously, one argument led to a correct conclusion, but was non sequitur (in other words, it was a lie that looks true on the surface). There are very few typographical problems, and nothing in that realm of any consequence. On the whole the book is accurate, and the inaccuracies are not critical.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Most of the subject matter has changed little in the last 50 years (or even 200 years in many cases). It’s not likely to change much in the near future, and the places where it has a higher likelihood of changing are mostly limited to a small number of chapters. The part that will change most rapidly are the applications.\n \n","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"General, the book is clearly written. I examined parts of the text where students struggle most and found a few places where I felt that the explanations were terse, though accurate. One introductory section (wave optics) seemed more likely to confuse students than to be a motivational introduction. I would be inclined to add a few definitions and more detailed explanations if I were to adopt the text. I felt that this was the text’s most significant problem. Numerically. I gave the text a 4 on clarity, but in reality it’s more like 3.7.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found the structure of the text consistent throughout. Some topics were treated somewhat better than others, but on the whole it was all adequate and mostly quite good.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"Modularity is important to me because I often like to cover topics in a little different order than is traditional. For example, I prefer to discuss conservation of momentum before Newton’s laws. As with most texts, this text makes it difficult to do that as the chapter on conservation of momentum makes extensive reference to force. I feel that the modularity of this text is typical for the genre, which means it is not especially good.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization and structure are good. Examples are set off nicely. There are helps for working problems that are easily located as are the chapter glossaries. The logical flow is clear.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is fine. Some of the illustrations look like they were came from somewhat low-resolution jpeg files. (I downloaded the high-resolution version.) The lettering isn’t crisp and there are “jpeg shadows” in the white background. It’s not confusing, but looks a little less professional than if higher quality images were produced from the source applications.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I’m picky about grammar and only noticed one grammatical/typographical error in all I read.\n\n","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There is certainly nothing that could be considered offensive to any group of people. I didn’t really notice whether the names in the examples seemed culturally diverse. There aren’t a lot of personal names used even in the examples and the problems. There is gender diversity.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I reviewed this book with an eye to adopting it for my second-semester algebra-based calculus course. I like the idea of open source texts and was hoping that I would find a text as good as the ones that are produced by major publishing houses. Frankly, I was a little disappointed. I feel I’d have to do more explanation and clarifying in class to compensate for things in the text that are a little vague. That being said, I recognize the difficulty of producing a text like this without the financial and technical support of a publisher. In the end, I think the text is acceptable. The beauty of the Creative Commons License is that I could do a modest amount of work to change it into something that I really like.\n \n","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":885,"first_name":"Daniel","last_name":"Sheehy","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Louisiana State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"\nThe textbook is very comprehensive, covering all topics in a typical two-semester algebra-based introductory physics coruse. Each chapter concludes with a glossary that is also comprehensive, covering terms defined in that chapter.  In addition,  an appendix provides a glossary of mathematical symbols and a multi-page index is provided at the end of the text.  \n\nOne topic of interest that is missing is Gauss's law in electrostatics.  A full description of this law is far too \nadvanced for a class at this level, and even if included many instructors might skip over it anyway.  However, it is\nuseful in that it introduces the idea of flux (in the context of the flux on an electric field).  \n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"\n\nThe content appears to be fully accurate and error-free.  \n","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"\nThe material covered in an introductory physics class is, to a large extent, old enough that it doesn't change much from year to year.\nHowever, there are a few specific modern topics that I was glad to see this book discuss (and which may be missing from older texts).  For example, global warming is discussed several times, as are recent discoveries such as the existence of neutrino masses.  The mystery of dark matter is mentioned, but not dark energy.  \n\nI didn't find  many anachronistic things, meaning examples or concepts that would be foreign to modern students.  The only clear\nexample I found is in terms of references to television antennas, which are becoming less common.  \n","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"\nThe text is extremely clear but also verbose, almost too a fault.  Introductory physics students need to learn to solve problems, and the copious historical background provided may be interesting to many students but can also distract from the main point.  \nFor example, in Chapter 2 (essentially the first chapter that involves problem solving, after the introductory chapter 1),\nit is several pages before the reader is finally presented with a summary of the four main equations of one-dimensional \nkinematics.   I understand that it is very difficult to balance the idea of building ideas logically (which the\nbook excels at) with the necessity of having a clear explanation of the most important equations and concepts.  \n","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"\nThe book strived to be very clear in how problems are solved, providing detailed descriptions of each step (particularly early \non in the book).  However, I did find a few ambiguities.  For example, on page 56, one of the early problems on kinematics,\nthe problem figure refers to v_F (the final velocity), while the text below the figure refers to v (the same quantity).  \nThe example problem on page 58 involves the sentence \"In this case, then, the time is t=t in seconds\" -- to me, this construction\nis confusing and it is better to simply say the result of the quadratic equation is t=10.0s.  Incidentally, in my opinion\nthe method presented in 2.13 is not the best way to solve this problem (since it requires using the quadratic formula) and it \nis much easier to find the final velocity from the distance travelled and the acceleration, and then find the time elapsed.\nAlthough the authors perhaps wanted to provide an example using the quadratic formula, in my opinion this was unneccesary.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"\nPhysics is intrinsically cumulative, so it is hard to say how modular a physics textbook can be.  One thing I was surprised to see was \nthat the formation of images due to curved mirrors is presented after the discussion of refraction and lenses; I typically think of the case of convex and concave mirrors as more naturally coming first as a warmup for the later more advanced topic of lenses.  However I think this order is probably fine.  \n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"\n\nI found that the book proceeded through the most important topics in a very straightforward manner.  \n","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"\n\nI didn't see any issues with the book's interface with two exceptions: The book pdf has links to PhET simulations which provide a link to external content.   When I clicked on these links they downloaded a file that did not work on my apple computer when I clicked on them.  Perhaps with a bit more effort I could have figured out how to use them.  Secondly, some of the figures were not as clear as they could have been.  In particular, on page 745 in chapter 19 the electric field lines and equipotential lines are (almost) the same color, and it is hard to distinquish them.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"\n\nI did not notice any grammatical errors.  \n","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I didn't note any culturally insensitive or offensive sections of the book.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":941,"first_name":"Julia","last_name":"Olsen","position":"Faculty, Program Director","institution_name":"University of Arizona","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"My interest in the text is for use as a physics content resource for specialized courses and workshops for STEM teachers.  As such, it includes all topics - and more - that I'd expect from a single introductory college text at a level accessible to non-physics majors.  I especially note the applications to biomedical and other fields which receive special attention in the text. \n\nAs a STEM educator, I do have strong issues with the perpetuation of the \"Scientific Method\" as defined in Chapter 1 (page 10) which epitomizes the cookbook approach to science which we are trying to modify in science courses.  Science is an iterative process and should be reflected as such: http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/howscienceworks_02 provides a more realistic framework which we encourage STEM teachers to incorporate in K12 education through our work with teacher development and graduate level coursework for STEM teachers. \n\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As I read through most of the chapters, I did not notice any errors in accuracy.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I am approaching evaluation of this text from the standpoint of STEM educator rather than as physics faculty. There isn't (and should not be) any issues in physics content, especially since it is open source and can be quickly updated as needed. Physics doesn't change a lot, but the skills we require our students to learn, do, along with the contexts in which the content is applied. What also changes is how we want students to engage with the content.\n\nAs a STEM educator, a books pedagogy is highly relevant in my practice: this text does include a format which is consistent with the emphasis (see American Association of Physics Teachers) on active learning - this text includes focus on concept integrations, open ended problems, and student inquiry.  This feature is especially in the examples (through the discussion presented), application sections,  problems sets (conceptual questions are presented before calculations),  and PhET sims. The take home experiments are also very good.\n\nPedagogically speaking, I also see a number of issues, one of which is that the \"check your understanding\" callouts in the pdf version provide the student no serious reason for reflection -  the \"correct\" answer is immediately below the prompt/question in the version but not in the web version, which has a \"show solution\" button. \n\nThe chapter outlines are also somewhat limited in the outcomes presented - for instructors familiar with Bloom's taxonomy (http://web2.uconn.edu/assessment/images/Bloom_UpperDivisionCourses.jpg), you will quickly note that the majority of section outcomes are low level: define, identify, and describe are highly used terms which are very basic knowledge and comprehension tasks that do not promote higher level thinking.\n\nTo conclude on a positive note, the PhET sims occur before the content is presented, which is an excellent strategy to increase student learning, and the misconception alerts and take-home investigations are also well appreciated as pedagogically sound strategies.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is  clearly written in standard English.  Terms are defined briefly at the end of each chapter after introduction and a broader definition within the text.  Context is provided in every chapter for many topics. Illustrations and charts. Examples are presented and explained. \n\nBesides the PhET Sims I would like to see at least some of the static illustrations and images linked to video for added clarity - the Tacoma Narrows Bridge oscillation is one notable example. but there are a number of others.  \n\nAppraising at the book as an instructor who frequently integrates students with various disabilities into my courses, I would like to at least see the web version be fully accessible for the 10% of college students who have a disability.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text follows a consistent pattern in it's presentation.  I did not notice any inconsistencies between or within chapters. The framework is predictable and easy to follow. Topic and subtopic headings are clearly defined, as are example sections, PhET explorations and other callouts, and the various problem sets. \n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The length of this book could be rather daunting, but it is not because this text is highly modular. This is an important feature I plan to take full advantage of in my planned courses/workshops where specific chapters or topics will be used as instruction for content underlying specific real-world topics.  The web version appears to enhance the modularity aspect much more than the pdf version.\n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a clear, predictable fashion throughout each chapter.   Any topic that need more elaboration can be supplemented by the instructor.  Examples are clearly designated. The connections to PhET are helpful and clarify concepts within each chapter/topic/subtopic. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I compared both the pdf and the browser version. Overall, I find the interface to be usable in either version with some caveats. \n\nThe images and charts seem to all be as they should be.  However I must note that on my Mac, some lines in the pdf are irregularly spaced.    Text to speech is supported. My text-to-speech reader followed the pdf fairly well. \n\nThe font is easy to read but providing choices in font may benefit some users, also choice of font and background color for increased accessibility. http://oregonstate.edu/accessibility/web provides a usable overview of what should be included and why.\n\nOne issue (also mentioned above in #3) is that the \"check your understanding\" callouts in the pdf version provide the student no serious reason for reflection -  the \"correct\" answer is immediately below the prompt/question in the version but not in the web version, which has a \"show solution\" button.  I see no good reason for this discrepancy. \n\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I do not notice any obvious cultural insensitivities or offensive representations. It seems to prefer US references rather than incorporating world contributions to physics or as examples of physics.  I also did not notice significant representation of persons with disabilities.  There is gender diversity, but it does seem to favor males.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I really appreciate the idea of an open source text that is so readily accessible for students.  It is easy to read in a browser or in pdf download.   I have applied for an instructor account which should provide many more resources to complement this text. ","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":980,"first_name":"Tatsu","last_name":"Takeuchi","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Virginia Tech","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook is indeed comprehensive and covers all the topics that are discussed in a traditional algebra based introductory physics course.  However, at more than 1400 pages long, I wonder if the textbook could have been made more amenable to reading from cover to cover had the topics been carefully selected and presented in a more coherent fashion.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Many statements in the textbook are what I would characterize as \"inaccurate.\"  Various definitions are simply introduced via unexplained equations with the justification being simply \"it seems reasonable.\"  Misprints and misspellings also make some of the statements \"inaccurate\" and confusing.  For instance, on page 175 just after Eq. (5.2) it says \"The symbol \\le means less than or equal to, implying that static friction can have a minimum and a maximum value of \\mu_S N.\"  The \"a minimum and\" part of the sentence should have been edited out. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The main content of the book is introductory physics which has been well established by the early 20th century.  It is the basis of all modern physics so it will take some time for the content to become obsolete.  The text also includes many modern applications of the physics discussed, and those portions may need to be updated every now and then.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"In my opinion, the text is very difficult to read, not because of jargon or technical terminology, but due to the sometimes very contrived attempts to derive relevant relations while avoiding as much math as possible, and the presentation of too much circumstantial information.","consistency_rating":2,"consistency_review":"I as particularly annoyed by the inconsistent treatments of quantities that need to be defined as an integral of other quantities, such as displacement which is an integral of velocity over time, work which is an integral of force over distance, impulse which is an integral of force over time, etc.  In some cases, the integral is presented using graphical methods, while in others the relevant graph is never shown and the result of the integration just presented with a lot of hand-waving.\nThe detail and depth that the text goes into also varies from topic to topic.  ","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"When trying to teach physics, it is never a good idea to try to modularize the topics since the entire point of physics is to make connections between various phenomena.  This book, unfortunately, seems to have tried very hard to modularize various topics.  As a result, many definitions are just introduced in an ad hoc manner at the beginning of each section with little emphasis on the motivation or connections to the various other topics already discussed in the book.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The book does not seem to have any particular structure on how the topics are organized.  It simply follows the traditional order of topics used by every other textbook and does not try to tell any compelling story.","interface_rating":1,"interface_review":"The most annoying thing about this book is how the equations are formatted.  Very poor typesetting.  Why did the author not use LaTeX?   The font used in the equations seems to be Times New Roman which makes the lower case v look like a greek nu. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Except for some typos and misspellings, I did not spot any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I would say that being a physics textbook, this book is culturally neutral.","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":"Some of the figures are inaccurate.  For instance, the parabolas in Figs. 3.49 and 3.50 do not look like parabolas.","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1025,"first_name":"Jeanette","last_name":"Eggert","position":"Professor of Math and Physics","institution_name":"Concordia University, Portland, Oregon","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The OpenStax textbook coverage of content for a one-year algebra-based physics course exceeds standard textbooks that I have recently used. Because I have many biology majors in my physics course that are headed into medical or physical therapy careers, I always use books that include reasonable coverage of atomic and nuclear physics to support their understanding of imaging processes. This text has even more detail in those areas than other texts that I have been using.\n\nIn addition to the textbook, I have been evaluating other instructor resources provided by OpenStax. I will provide feedback about two that I have explored. I am very pleased with the Concept Trailers. These short videos are well done and can easily augment class presentations and may be viewed by students outside of class as well. PowerPoint slides are provided. They are primarily images from the textbook, and that is exactly what I like to have available as I plan presentations and sample problems. Furthermore, I am very pleased that I can edit these slides. \nIn addition to the free resources listed above, OpenStax has various partner resources listed on the website. I am interested in utilizing web-based homework systems. I am currently evaluating WebAssign and Expert TA. Both systems provide access to all the problems in the OpenStax Physics textbook.\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content accuracy is satisfactory for the chapters that I have read.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I am very pleased with the clear, classic diagrams. Some medical examples may become dated. The atomic and nuclear physics portions are most prone to needing updating.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The clarity of the text is satisfactory.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Internal consistency seems satisfactory. For the sections that I have carefully read, and for other sections that I have casually considered, I am pleased with the “standard” notation utilized.\n\nOne feature that I really like is Appendix D: Glossary of Key Symbols and Notation. For example, the list shows that the Greek letter alpha can represent angular acceleration, alpha decay, or temperature coefficients of resistivity. I think students will find this list of variables very helpful. It is also a quick way for me to check on the notation as I am adapting to this textbook.\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I like the idea that I can create a customized version, but plan to use the materials “as is” for the implementation. Even with prior textbooks, I would “omit” certain sections due to time limitations. \n\nI am considering using portions of the OpenStax Physics text for my general education conceptual physics course. I may create a customized version for that course.\n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization structure is satisfactory. I am pleased that images are provided in PowerPoint slides that are customizable.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I am very pleased that the textbook is available as a Web version, a downloadable pdf version, and in print. The print copy is very heavy! I do not plan to carry it around much, but will use it as a “desk copy.” So far I have been reading both the web version and the pdf version. On the web version, the glossary and problems are at the end of each section. On the pdf version and the print version the glossary and problems are at the end of each chapter. Since the problems in the web version are not numbered, it will be easier to work from the pdf version to provide references for the students as we complete sample problems. I am thankful for all three versions and will survey my students for feedback about these options as well. \n\nIt is my hope that I can reference the textbook often enough so that the student will use it often as their “go-to” reference instead of just googling whatever they are trying to learn.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not note any grammatical errors in the sections that I have read.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I did not notice any offensive language or illustrations.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I am planning to adopt the OpenStax College Physics textbook for our two-semester algebra-based physics courses. I am also considering using selections of this text for our 100-level general education conceptual physics course.","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1081,"first_name":"William","last_name":"Mekeel","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Riverland College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"At 34 chapters and 1400 words, this introductory textbook covers a myriad of topics. While obviously not a text intended to read cover-to-cover, the depth and breadth of content allows an instructor to choose the topics most appropriate for their course outline. The index and glossary are appropriate and error free.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"To-date, I have not noticed any errors (aside from a rare typo) and find the content to be diverse and unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content should maintain it's relevance for years to come...I find this to be true of most introductory physics texts I have reviewed.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The examples and explanations of basic concepts can become wordy at time but overall, the language is approachable for students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This text maintains a consistent structure throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"For my hybrid courses, I often divide the sections up to match video explanations and have found this to be consistently easy.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization and structure match what I have come to expect from other introductory textbooks. The structure is coherent, the examples are effective, and the links to outside materials are useful.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I have not encountered any issues with compatibility- especially considering the various formats available. This being said, I have personally used the text and supporting materials on Apple devices.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Aside from it's preference towards American audiences, the text appears to be culturally non-biased.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I plan to continue using this text in the near future and hope to see it more widely adopted by neighboring institutions. I am impressed with both the textbook and supplemental content available through Openstax.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1177,"first_name":"Medini","last_name":"Padmanabhan","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Rhode Island College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book has an exhaustive list of all introductory physics topics. It has pretty much everything i need (and then some!) to teach a 2-semester course for non-science majors.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Of the 12/34 chapters I have used, I have not found any conceptual or mathematical error.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This is an introductory physics book. The content here is not expected to change rapidly at all. This book is a great alternative to the multitude of expensive textbooks which keep repeating pretty much the same content.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"It took me some time to get used to the style in which this book is written. But this could simply be a manifestation of the fact that as a student I used hardbound texts. My students seemed comfortable reading it online. However, many of them performed badly in the course. I don't think it is the textbook's fault, but I will reserve my judgement till I have tried this book in future semesters.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"I have used only 1/3rd of the book (mechanics) and the terminology and notation was consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I have used only 1/3rd of the book (mechanics) and it is pretty modular. Of course in physics, concepts build off of each other. A certain amount of dependency is unavoidable.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The order in which physics topics are introduced seem to be consistent among most of the texts available in the market. This text pretty much follows the same order. Some rearrangement might be needed to suit a specific course/audience.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I personally like printed copies of physics texts because I can focus on the text and not get distracted by the side navigation bar. Also, I find it difficult to scroll up and down while working out problems and exercises. However, all these issues can be solved by printing this out as a pdf. So, I wouldn't hold this against this book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"n/a","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"n/a","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Next time I adopt this book, I would make a \"sub textbook\" by collating and printing only the pages I need. The major mistake I made was to assign online readings: the students got confused and side tracked by extraneous concepts which were not relevant to what I was trying to say in the class. \nWith this modification, I believe that OpenStax Physics can be a great book to teach algebra based science to non-majors.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1203,"first_name":"Henry","last_name":"Smith","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"River Parishes Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The contents of this book are complete, and it is done in an orderly manner.  The chapter titles are easily matched to the contents of the chapters.  At the back of the book there is a glossary, but no index except for the electronic index.  Finding material presented in one section, then used in problems later can be handled with the search feature which is called index.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate.  The book is well thought out and care has been taken in working the examples.  \n\nThere is no bias in the material.  The book does not use names in the problems, since the problems are based on objects, such as electrons.  Therefore, the book is cultural and gender neutral.  This is typical of a physics book.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Most of physics is constant over time, so being up to date is not an issue.  The physics of fifty years ago is still valid.  As time goes on we are continuing to add to the base of knowledge, and these current advances are usually placed in the later chapters.  This book is rich in up to date material in those later chapters.\nAs to soon being obsolete, that is not likely.  As more is learned from physics, some, but not much, can be added at this level.  And such additions can be done easily, often by adding a late chapter or two, or adding to an existing chapter.  Since the later material is not gotten to in most classes, whether additions are made in the future or not will not impact the usability of the book.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book in extremely clear.  The book is written with material of a section focusing on a single topic, or a few related topics, and the work is easily understood without clouding the material with too many new concepts.\n\nThe wording is such that a college student should understand the book by reading, and the technical words needed to understand the material are adequately defined.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book maintains the same style throughout, and the terms used in one section do not vary when used in a future section.  The sections are comparable in length, and all sections have a narrow focus.  Chapters combine appropriate sections in the proper order.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is essentially modular, in that each section contains a small bit of information with subsections properly labeled within them.  However, there is a need for former material, so jumping about or skipping material can be a difficulty.  This is actually a positive in physics, since compound problems bringing multiple concepts together is the proper level and approach for a course taught using this material.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"In physics there is a natural flow of material, and this book follows such a flow.  At times there are two topics that can interact with each other.  One must be presented first, and the second tie things together.  This book follows the standard flow of material that works well in physics, and material is properly tied together..","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is for the most part well handled.  However, the text used interactives and videos.  The videos are long, and likely to be abandoned by students.  The interactives are not easily used.  \nAside fro the videos and interactives, the interfacing of material within the book is fine.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar is excellent, and the word choices are such that a freshman college student should not struggle.  The book has been well edited for grammatical issues, and is devoid of errors, including punctuation.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Since the examples and exercises do not involve people, names and settings that might cause cultural issues are avoided.  The book essentially has avoiding this issue by referring to objects, not people.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The book is well written, and viable for a course.  There is no end of chapter material, so this would be a minor flaw, however the questions can be assigned as a group after the chapter is completed.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1308,"first_name":"Edward","last_name":"Davis","position":"Research Associate Professor","institution_name":"North Carolina State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I have been in the business of teaching Freshman physics courses for more than 20 years. In that time, I’ve had to work with half-a-dozen mainstream texts from publishing houses like Pearson and Wiley. As regards comprehensiveness, Openstax’s College Physics compares favourably with these texts. In fact, an attractive feature of College Physics is that it contains significantly more material spelling out the implications for the life and allied health sciences, integrated seamlessly into the body of the text. Despite the considerable size of the book, it should be easy to use as a reference work: in addition to an adequate index (at the end of the book), each chapter ends with a glossary and a detailed summary.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Any book of this size cannot be entirely error free, but I cannot say I found any (although I have yet to teach from the book). There is no discernible bias. I have some minor quibbles here and there about statements made in College Physics, but most of these have more to do with nuances of interpretation than inaccuracies, and do not impact on the utility of the book as an introductory text.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"All of the core material covered by College Physics is well established, but the text is remarkable for its consistent attention to recent developments. In almost all cases, these are dealt with in such a way that frequent updating will not be required. The various sections which discuss the search for the Higgs boson and gravitational waves, now both discovered, are most clearly in need of revision, but the changes will be easy to implement.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The writing style is certainly accessible without being too informal. There is an unfortunate tendency to use technical terms in the introductions to chapters or sections before they have been defined. However, in all the instances I am aware of, it was possible to find the term defined not long thereafter, making this an irritating but, hopefully, not debilitating feature of the book for the neophyte. Of more concern is that many sections could do with an overhaul to improve their conciseness and clarity. Often, I was reminded of Blaise Pascal’s wry comment “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time”. Sometimes, even when it is clear that an especial effort has been made with the composition of some section, the writing distracts from the point that is being made. Perhaps, the most egregious instance occurs in section 4.4 which opens with an appeal to humor no doubt intended to enliven the presentation: “There is a passage in the musical Man of la Mancha that relates to Newton’s third law of motion. Sancho, in describing a fight with his wife to Don Quixote, says, `Of course I hit her back, Your Grace, but she’s a lot harder than me and you know what they say, ‘Whether the stone hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the stone, it’s going to be bad for the pitcher’.” The reader is left with the subliminal impression of asymmetry (whatever the interaction, “it’s going to be bad for the pitcher”), whereas the point the authors want to make in section 4.4 is that the third law demands a certain symmetry of physical interactions or forces.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There are no obvious problems with internal consistency, either of terminology, notation or the book’s framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text has been suitably modularized. It will be straightforward to use it in conjunction with any course which covers only a small portion of the material in College Physics. It is also of considerable help that all the end of chapter conceptual questions and exercises/problems have been classified according to the section to which they refer.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organisation of the topics within the text is, by and large, standard. One departure from the norm is the inclusion of elasticity under a discussion of forces within the Newtonian paradigm. Usually, this material is deferred to a chapter dealing with the static equilibrium of structures, which then serves to motivate the phenomenological description of the response of materials to applied forces. However, I don’t mind this innovation. It permits one to introduce a number of concepts and parameters (stress, strain, Young’s modulus, etc), which arise in contexts other than static equilibrium, and thereby increases the flexibility (no pun intended) that one has in the presentation of subsequent material.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"There are some formatting issues but none are serious. \n\nSome of the Chapter Outlines, which appear right at the beginning of each chapter, spill over to the next page (see, for example, chapters 2, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13), which makes it difficult to take in the content of a chapter at a glance (surely one purpose of these outlines?). Couldn't the pictures which appear above these outlines be cropped accordingly? They add colour but have limited information content. \n\nMany of the worked examples in the text are spread over more than one page. Sometimes this seems justified, but at others it’s an irritant.\n\nIt would possibly be an improvement if the glossaries appeared at the beginnings of chapters, immediately after the outline and before the text starts. Then readers can gauge if they are already familiar with the key concepts to be introduced in the chapter, and the authors would be less constrained in their prose by the need to carefully introduce terminology before they use it.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I am sure that the authors have been careful to eliminate as many grammatical errors as humanly possible. Nevertheless, there is one that has escaped their attention which appears at a rather prominent place in the text. The second paragraph of chapter 4 opens with the sentence “Isaac Newton’s (1642–1727) laws of motion were just one part of the monumental work that has made him legendary.” I would say that it would be preferable to rewrite this sentence as follows: “The laws of motion formulated by Newton (1642-1727) were just one …”.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"College Physics deals with the fruits of the scientific method. As such, the book should be and is culturally neutral. The illustrations which accompany the text do not display a predilection for any gender, ethnicity or race.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I would like to congratulate the authors on their selfless achievement. I hope that they will be able to summon up the motivation to continue the never-ending task of improving upon their already useful pedagogic tool.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1340,"first_name":"Gabriele","last_name":"Belle","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"George Mason University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is an excellent comprehensive text for a 200-level algebra-based physics course. It explains all relevant physics concepts in a clear and consistent manner. The book also has a chapter on the “Frontiers” of physics which distinguishes it from other texts on the market.\n\nThe authors provide many biological and medical examples which makes it an ideal textbook for pre-med and bio-oriented students. In most 200-level physics courses the majority of students are interested in pursuing a medical career. Using this book as a course textbook will most likely motivate many pre-med and biology students to be more interested in understanding the basic concepts of physics.\n\nEach chapter has its own glossary of terms which makes it easier for students to read the chapter before attending a lecture.\n\nEnd of chapter problems include integrated concept and unreasonable results problems. In “integrated concept problems”, students are tasked to apply several concepts to find a solution.  In “unreasonable results problems”, students need to analyze the solution and evaluate how likely the result is. For the instructor a manual is provided which contains both problems and solutions. This makes it easy to integrate examples into a lecture.  More than 4,000 end-of chapter problems are available in WebAssign, an affordable online homework system. A student solutions manual is also available.\n\nThe book has very good appendices and is equivalent to other college physics text books.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"In general, the contents can be considered accurate and unbiased. An exception to this statement is the title of chapter 32:”Medical Applications of Nuclear Physics.” In addition to medical applications, the contents of this chapter also includes food irradiation, fusion, fission, and nuclear weapons. These topics have nothing to do with medical applications of nuclear physics; therefore the title is not accurate. A more appropriate title would be “Applications of Nuclear Physics.”","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The concepts described in the book will not change. Applications as well as links to external websites will need to be updated and kept current.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Concepts are explained in a logical and consistent manner. All relevant terms are defined briefly in the glossary at the end of each chapter. The text contains many examples. Solutions to problems are well explained and follow a coherent step-by-step approach throughout the book. The book is well written and easy to read.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The chapters are organized in a consistent manner.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is divided into several sections. The modular version of the web view of the book allows to re-organize the chapters, create new modules, and add images. This is only possible on the legacy site of Connexions. A personal work-space is provided in which the user can create a collection of modules that match the instructor’s needs. A PDF file of each chapter can also be created. Unfortunately, this has not yet been implemented for the new online version of the book at the time of this review.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book follows the traditional approach used in most college physics text books.The topics are presented in a logical and clear fashion. Each chapter starts with the learning objectives followed by an introduction to the basic concepts with examples, and ends with applications.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The user interface with the browser version of the book is easy to navigate and well designed. The font is sans serif and very small. This is not a problem, if the user reads the book online or downloads the PDF file and reads it on a computer screen. All browsers and Acrobat Reader offer the possibility to zoom in on the text. However, the printed version of the book is difficult to read.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"As this is a physics text book, the text is culturally unbiased. Images are inclusive of different ethnicities and show a mix of gender.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I highly recommend OpenStax's College Physics book to all instructors of introductory physics courses. I will use it in my summer courses.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1365,"first_name":"Darrell","last_name":"Lim","position":"Faculty","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers what’s to be expected in college-level physics, with some sections being rather bare, yet factual. For example, the book didn’t seem to introduce dot and cross products, which I feel could be introduced at an appropriate math level for this course.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book seems accurate with given information, but sometimes the information is incomplete. For example, the fundamental SI units are not all listed at the beginning.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"With ease of making improvements, the book can last forever. Being an OER, constant changes would bring this text to life with current events and relevance to student lives.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"It’s explanations are often brief, to the point, and dry. Often it feels like I’m reading a more pedagogically-inclined Wikipedia article.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Some concepts were emphasized more than I would emphasize in lecture, and some parts were glossed over where I wouldn’t have done so. For example, in calculating uncertainties in the first chapter, I would have spent more time talking about how adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing values with uncertainties can affect the uncertainties of the answers.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"The organization of the table of contents (and thus, the chapters) seems well done. I realize the pedagogical methods of the text values discovery---bringing up concepts as they are needed---versus topic-based organization---providing all mathematical information at the beginning and using them throughout the book. I think that has more weight of acceptance today.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Some “pages” of the text were short and some were rather long. I find it a little misleading in the TOC because I was to assign the right amount of reading assignments, and I can’t do that by looking at the TOC. Also, as a small side issue, the solutions for each HW problem are given nearer to the next HW problem, which could be confusing to some.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I enjoy the text’s interface, in that you can easily search for key topics and terms. The only thing I saw as an issue was that each link title was just “figure” or “table”, or the like, and it didn’t have the associated number after it to differentiate it from all the others.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I saw no grammatical errors during the usage of the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I think the HW problems are great assets to the text. Problems such as “Integrated Concepts” or “Professional Application” or “Construct your own problem” are creative ideas for student engagement. Props for that great idea!","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1376,"first_name":"Raymond","last_name":"Duplessis","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Delgado Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The coverage in the book is similar to others such as Cutnell Physics or Knight. The chapter topics and order are virtually the same.I found the index to be more straightforward and organized in a way that \"'students would think\" to find information in the text. \n\nThe human body application problems are very good, particularly the torque problems in Chapter 9\n\nThere should be a handy reference for math and trigonometric identities in the Appendix. My students use them frequently.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information that I was able to review in most detail from Chapters 1 - 28 which our main coverages, was surprisingly accurate. No major errors were noticed. There are a good number of typos though throughout. The eariy chapters 1-8 were spot on. Chapters 18 - 24 could use a little tuning up as the chapters seem disconnected in reading.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The Electricity and Magnetism chapters will probably need changes sooner than later. The hard drive example in a few years will probably be as useful as a vinyl record example. Some eariler introduction of solid state examples may be prudent.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The reading level is uneven throughout the text, but reads at a level that should be in the community college students' comfort zone. Some textbooks seam to read as if they were written by PhDs for PhDs. This book was a good read for students that are transitioning from developmental courses.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The structure of the text is fairly consistent with the usage of terms, examples, chapter and subchapter heading and divisions.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Again, this text falls in line with similar texts and there are always different ways to structure the material. The separation of fulid mechanics into statics and dynamics with applications is a good touch.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"There is an unevenness in the text after Fluids, but that seems typical of all of the trig-based level texts. The flow of the book is no better or worse that any other book on the market. No one has published a text yet that doesn't turn into a selected topics in Physics after fluids. The question I always have from students in the later chapters is how does this relate to the earlier chapters. I think later chapters should have small \"Making the connection / Tying it together\" passages that relate/contrast the later topics to the foundational topics.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The linking and navigation components function fine in TOC and index as do the links to the figure within the chapters and the topic links in the examples. Some linking feature should be left out of the PDF. For example, the use of links to previous chapters in problem examples without a way to get back to what you were reading can be a bit annoying especially if you weren't keeping track of the page or example you were looking at.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a few error scattered throughout the text. Minor error at best.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No problems here at all.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I was surprised at the how well this book comparer to what we are currently using. I plan to recommend a pilot of this text in the upcoming spring 2018 semester. Since, it is a good equivalent, the price is an advantage.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1501,"first_name":"James","last_name":"Kennicutt","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers all the content you would expect from an introductory algebra-based physics course. I didn’t find any gaps in content. All the topics i cover in my course are included in this textbook.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text appears to be accurate throughout. I did not find any mistakes.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This textbook seems up to date and able to be used for the foreseeable future. Since any updates to the curriculum can be adjusted once you download the text, it’s a perfect template for any course.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Although the text can be confusing at times, I didn’t find it any less clear than similar textbooks. It’s not the best textbook I’ve ever read, but it’s certainly adequate for the price. The formulas can be confusing at times, it seems like they should have used a better editor for the mathematical components.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The format of equations and numbers throughout seems to vary a bit. The formulas can be confusing at times, it seems like they should have used a better editor for the mathematical components.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This text can be easily implemented into any algebra-based physics course. It’s extremely comprehensive and can be edited to an individual instructors taste. The text is an excellent template.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I enjoyed the flow of the text. Mainly I thought the questions at the bottom of every section were useful for student comprehension. It’s more difficult to view this once downloading the PDF, but the online version is wonderful.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"As I mentioned above, I prefer the online version of the text. If you download the PDF the format changes slightly, though the text is still very useful.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I didn’t find many cultural references in the textbook. I didn’t find the textbook outdated or inappropriate in any way, although, I did not find a variety of cultural specific questions.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2017-08-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-08-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1626,"first_name":"Lih-Sin","last_name":"The","position":"Dr. / Senior Lecturer","institution_name":"Clemson University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers all materials shown in most other College Physics textbooks. The textbook is even more comprehensive as it covers more materials than most other textbooks.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"All physical concepts in the textbook are correct and explained very well. Other than some notations that are not consistent (see note 5), the materials are error-free and unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The most important contents of the textbooks such as physical laws and their explanations do not change with time, so they do not need to be updated so often. However, writing styles, presentations (such as symbols, drawings, or pictures), and topics could be obsolete, fortunately they can easily be updated when needed. But many figures and topics in the textbook are of recent discoveries or inventions, therefore they probably do not need to be updated for at least within the next five years.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I find the textbook is quite easy to read, the materials are presented smoothly and clear descriptions of physical concepts and jargons are provided including their historical backgrounds. Most figures are given excellent descriptions and notations.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The framework of the textbook is excellent and it is adopted consistently. The example problems are solved following the same steps, such as, first present the strategy, then elaborate the solution, then discuss the solution. Most sections have their own problem-solving strategies, PhET Interactive simulations, and at the end of each chapter, we can find its glossary and section summary. However, there is one inconsistency in notation: on page 356, it writes \"net torque\" in Eq.(10.43) and in many following equations of chapter 10, but the textbook writes \"F_{net} = m a\" in chapter 4. For consistency, it'd be better to write \"torque_{net}\" in Eq.(10.43) for example.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The length of sections with less or equal to 5 pages is about 78%. The percentage of sections between 6 and 9 pages is about 21%, and the percentage of sections larger than 9 pages (but less than 13 pages) is about 1% out of about 250 sections in the textbook. These make it rather easy to create reading assignments and lecture topics.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The chapters in the textbook are logically arranged that the comprehension of the earlier chapters are needed to understand the later chapters. The thought and concepts developments are excellent.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The pdf file of the textbook can be accessed without a problem. No flaw in the figures and tables can be found. \n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I cannot find any grammatical errors in the textbook.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I do not find any offensive materials in the textbook. In my opinion, it can be accepted by all people, in fact, the pictures or figures in the textbook represent many races, ethnicities, and backgrounds much better than other textbooks that I read.\n","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I run a spellchecker to the pdf file, but due to limited time it can only check the spelling of chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Below is the list of corrections:\n-  On page 178, Eq. (5.10) fk = Fgx, it would be better written as fk = w// as shown in Figure 5.4.\n-  On page 186, below Eq. (5.30), \"... tensile stifness\" should be \"... tensile stiffness\".\n-  On page 340, problem 2, \"Convert this torque to footpounds.\" should be \"Convert this torque to foot-pounds.\"","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1642,"first_name":"Dr. Sriparna","last_name":"Bhattacharya","position":"Adjunct Faculty / Assistant Research Professor","institution_name":"Wofford College / Clemson University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book discusses all the topics of the subject that are covered by any standard introductory physics textbook. However, I found that the numerical problems at the end of this book are not as varied as compared to other standard textbooks. As a result I generally have to look for example problems from other textbooks for discussion in class.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The contents of the book are accurate and to the point.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The topics of this introductory physics book are relevant and up-to-date, with examples and example problems that are explained clearly. In addition, the book also provides answers to all the numerical problems from the end of each chapter. Further improvement by adding a variation of numerical problems for each chapter would make the book more competitive.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The topics are discussed in clear language and the book provides several examples to help understand the topic. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The symbols and text are consistent for each topic in the book.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapter is divided into smaller sections or modules that are helpful in locating relevant topics, instead of having to search through the entire chapter. Particularly, the summary section at the end of each chapter is well written, highlighting all the important topics of each chapter.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics in the book are organized, and discussed clearly. Sometimes, the approach to a particular problem may be different compared to that used in a standard physics textbook, however, the topics are clearly and consistently explained throughout the book. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"There are no interface issues connected to this textbook. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is well written, without any grammatical error.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The topics and figures discussed in the book add to the scientific discussion, and are not culturally insensitive or offensive in any respect. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is an excellent endeavor by the authors/publishers in making this book available to students. The online version of the book is available free of cost, while the actual book is available to students at a quarter of the price compared to any standard introductory physics textbook. The quality of the material is comparable to other standard textbooks. ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1710,"first_name":"Eric","last_name":"Mandell","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"Bowling Green State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers all of the expected content in a College Physics course, encompassing both semesters, and includes several modern physics topics. This allows instructors flexibility in choosing the topics they would like for each semester of physics. The text is designed to teach Motion before Forces, which is common, though it would be nice to see flexibility in editions increased, with a second edition that covers forces first, and another that integrates the discussion of Motion and Forces.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"While reviewing every single example and end-of-chapter problem is not practical for one person, I did not find any significant errors and am impressed by the number of end-of-chapter problems, especially in the modern physics chapters. Problems seem to be \"on the level\" for students, and cover the major ideas in each chapter. I like the PhET simulation problem prompts in each chapter. These are supported by research, and help augment investigative skills that help bridge the text to the lab aspects of the course. It is also known that this text content has been and continues to be reviewed/used, lending credibility to its accuracy.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Well, most of it hasn't changed much in 100+ years, so pretty up to date. Updates would be clear, if necessary, based on the breakdown of content. The modern topics seem to be well organized and relevant for the type of student who would take College Physics.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"I would prefer that examples be moved to the end of each section, and would encourage students to skip reading examples until they finish reading the prose in each chapter. The text is brief. Truly, this needs to be evaluated by students in order to find out how clear they perceive it compared to other texts. I feel other text possess better prose, but this texts gets to the point (which I like). The brief nature of the text allows instructors to supplement more easily, though that is more work possibly, depending on the amount of supplementation the instructor feels is necessary.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Very good framework. Again, the PhET inclusions are unexpected, and fantastic. Diagrams are pretty clear and the breakdown of topics into bite-sized chunks can work well for students. While some subjects are not discussed in the way I would like (such as separating free fall from regular motion analysis, as if it required different behaviors or ideas), I think the book approaches each chapter in a consistent way. Students should have a strong expectation of what a chapter will look like and how workflow will proceed given the layout of the book.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This is tough. Topics in physics tend to build on one another. I would really prefer to see waves discussed before thermodynamics. It would be logical to build that waves off of harmonic motion. I don't understand why that discussion is moved to be after thermodynamics. That being said, there are examples of modular possibilities as you get into the later sections of the book, allowing instructors some freedom in choosing modern topics. My biggest beef would be the requirement to teach motion first. The layout of the first few chapters WILL require this. I have found that, when teaching non-majors, that teaching forces first seems more successful than motion, and teaching them simultaneously is even better. This book would make teaching in either of these ways very difficult for students. That being said, each of these changes would require totally separate editions.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I have addressed several of these issues in a previous part of this review. I will re-state here, \n\nMy biggest beef would be the requirement to teach motion first. The layout of the first few chapters WILL require this. I have found that, when teaching non-majors, that teaching forces first seems more successful than motion, and teaching them simultaneously is even better. This book would make teaching in either of these ways very difficult for students. That being said, each of these changes would require totally separate editions.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The book is interfaced pretty well, with bookmarks (necessary), and the hyperlinks I tested worked. The navigations to PhET simulations are helpful, but it should be noted that while those links are maintained, updates to the PhETs are often completed and a student who navigates to these through the website may find different options or layouts of the PhETs themselves. THis may cause confusion. I have seen this occur in other etexts with PhET stuff. The lack of other publisher text resources is noticeable. Links to many videos or minilectures can help some students, but again, this can be supplemented by the instructor at his or her leisure.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't run across any glaring errors. Problems could be stated more clearly in some cases, but that is tru for just about every text in existence.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I didn't see anything offensive. I really like the inclusion of history and historical figures in this text. The authors have done a fantastic job of realizing this can be a way to introduce content to students. Understanding the historical development of scientific knowledge should be part of the journey in a physics course. I think the authors have done a good job of making these connections. Even more of these connections would be even better. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I am using this text next semester in an online course and hope to see further how much I feel the need to supplement in each case. ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1964,"first_name":"Mikel","last_name":"Holcomb","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"West Virginia University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all material typically covered in an algebra based two semester introductory course. The index is useful and clickable to go directly to the material desired.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not identify any accuracy issues. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The material is mostly up-to-date and could be updated easily. For example, it discusses gravitational waves, which have recently been discovered, but does not mention that. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"While it is possible my students might feel differently, I found the material very approachable. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology is consistent. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It would be very easy to assign sections of reading based on the books layout. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I found the structure and flow of the material better than in most introductory physics books. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"For the most part, I found the images to be excellent. However, there were some pictures in the example problems early in the book that I thought were not complete enough. I think their point might have been that the pictures do not have to be great pictures, but one could make a nice picture and then another simpler one a few times to make that point too.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not catch any grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I noticed the book pointed out a female physicist in Chapter 1, which is not often done. While the book did a nice job of covering energy concerns, I'm surprised that global climate change was not mentioned (though the greenhouse effect was). I realize it's a topic we should treat carefully, but it should be discussed. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I love the introduction. What a great way to motivate the importance of physics. \n\nI like the misconception alerts.\n\nI like that the book provides a section about problem solving approaches and then models this pretty well through the example problems they solve, including drawing a coordinate system and picture, identifying unknowns, and reflecting upon the result.\n \nI liked the fact that graphing was embedded into the topics of velocity and acceleration, rather than making a separate section. \n\nI like the example problems that look like experiments and the suggestions for PhET simulations. \n\nI like the many examples of muscles and other biology related topics that will appeal to the many pre-meds or people just interested in the physics relations to their body. I particularly like the posture discussion.\n\nThings I did not like:\nThe text seems a little small. \n\nThere were some bolded terms (such as relativity) in Chapter 1, that I do not think should be bolded. When things are bolded, the students think they need to know it, and they don’t need to know relativity on the first week of class. The poor things will have heart attacks. \n\nIt did not seem like the odd problems had solutions at the end of the book, like some books do. I think that’s a nice resource for the students to try extra problems to make sure they understand the material. Also, there was no indication of problem difficulty level on the problems at the end of the chapter. That is normally nice for the students to know. If it’s an easy one, they should be able to get it. If not, they maybe they don’t have to worry too much about not understanding it. \n\nI personally like Freedman’s or Cutnell \u0026amp; Johnson’s books better, but this is a great resource for free!\n\n","created_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1988,"first_name":"Donna","last_name":"Stokes","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Houston","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook is comprehensive. It covers all topics typical to a college physics course.  The table of conten is very clear and easy to follow.  The appendices are verey detail, some almost give too much detail, i.e., the definition of various symbols might be confusing to the student since many symbols are used to represent more than one quantity.  The index is very detailed allowing the reader to find lots of topic quickly.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The chapters which I reviewed presented accurate information.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book covers typical topic for college physics.  The physics problem are related to modern day applications.  Photos,pictures used are also related to modern day which should be relevant for many years.  Some photos may need to be update every few years as technology advances, i.e., iPhone.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The formatting/quality for formulas is not the best.  The muted colors could be brightened a bit.  There could also be some separation of definitions and formulas from the text.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The terminology is consistent throughout the book.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"The book is broken down into sections, but it is still not very clear where one section ends and another starts.  Maybe some large bold or underline heading could be used. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization of the book as far as topics is good.  Some chapters are reordered in comparison to typical college physics books, but that does not cause any concern.  I did like the grouping of topics such as circular motion with gravity.  Often circular motion is placed in a chapter where it is not very relevant.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I love the integration of the PHET simulations within the text.  This will allow the student to explore applications related to the physics concepts.  I also like the info given on resources for the book such as the partnerships for online homework.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"The grammar could be improved.  Some problems/examples are too wordy which can lead to confusion for the student","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I liked the book's intro where both female and male physicist were highlighted.  There were examples which include a variety of race, backgrounds which is important for inclusion for all communities to see how they can utilize physics in their communities as well as how it can be relevant in their everyday life.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"No","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1990,"first_name":"Antony","last_name":"Timmins","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Houston","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I found this book rather comprehensive. My point of comparison was Physics, Walker (4th edition) which is currently our main textbook for the our non calculus Physics courses. I compared the contents in detail, and found almost 100% overlap with a couple of sub topics missing. Actually, the sub topics that were missing I believe should be taught in a calculus based physics course (e.g. Gauss's law).","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found no issues here whatsoever. All the equations I saw were correct, and their descriptions appropriate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Typically, an introductory physics course stays relevant for a long time. Changes in the most modern law's of physics don't usually make their way down to introductory physics, since they are rather complicated.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Indeed, the book was rather clear. I asked my students of an introductory physics class if the book was more or less clear compared to Walker. They rated each book as clear as each other.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found no issues with consistency within the book, nor compared to other books.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I found the book suitably modular, and divided sections similar to other physics textbooks.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I would not the organization was not logical, but it was different to the other main Physics textbooks in terms of the order of the topics. This can create problems when a professor wants to switch from another book, to this book.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The images could be of a better quality, compared to the standard Physics books the students paid $200+ for. But, I also think the students understand these books are free, and this is a worthwhile compromise. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":".I found no grammar issues with the book. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Well, its pretty hard to offend anyone with a Physics book culturally, as we tend to discuss objects rather than people.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Its fantastic. I asked my students to compare this book to Physics by Walker and most rated it as better. I am absolutely sure it will be adopted by the University Houston Physics Department, and we look forward to reducing the cost of education in doing so.","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2210,"first_name":"Robert","last_name":"Riggs","position":"Associate Teaching Professor","institution_name":"University of Missouri-Kansas City","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is a very comprehensive text.  The text incorporated \"real world\" parameters that aren't usually covered in the \"corporate\" textbooks.  Things such as draft and the Magnus force were introduced in the projectile motion discussion so students could see how the \"school house\" answer for the distance of a home run in Major League baseball is very different from what actually happens.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found no errors of accuracy.  I found some things you could \"quibble\" about--but that's physics.  Those situations arise.  An example is that in Chapter 18, if you weren't an expert, in section 18.1 one might think that protons actually move in electrostatic conditions.  It's electrons.  The text makes that very clear later on though.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book is relevant and up-to-date.  In Chapter 14 the book discussed the green house effect and how our changing climate is making that phenomenon even more dramatic.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"My favorite part of this book!  This book reads much more like a well written article in Scientific American than a dull text.  One drawback to this however is that there is a LOT of things covered that is impossible to cover in a 2 semester sequence.  But, by assigning readings, the book is an enjoyable read and the students can glean much of the extra information on their own.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book keeps the same \"tone\" and clarity throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modules are broken down in a well-ordered way and in easily digestible pieces.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The flow and structure is good.  The book has no surprises in the material it covers, what is a bonus is the how the introduce the \"real world\" situations along with the standard theories all textbokks have.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Though the overall text is outstanding, the graphs and charts can be a little busy.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors that I could find--at least nothing stood out to me.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"This is a difficult arena for physics because it's white male dominance is a problem and we are trying to address these issues.  This reviewer would almost be inclined to check N/A for this text if that was a choice.  But the text is very male centric I noticed on a second look.  Lots of \"engineering\" pictures with while men standing around lab set-ups and large machines.  The drawings, an attempt to was made to have people of color represented in the drawings, but that just makes it look patronizing since there were very few people of color in the text, and almost no women.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I found this book very readable and the science was top notch.  An engaging text.  But then, I look at my comments in Section 10 and I see we have a ways to go in physics to be more inclusive.  When i was reading the book, as a white male, I wasn't even looking for cultural relevance, which is a big \"shame on me\" since I fashion myself a champion of STEM for all!","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2281,"first_name":"Greg","last_name":"Gerstner","position":"Civil and Mechanical Engineering Technology Instructor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is quite comprehensive to the subject of College Physics.  With 34 Chapters, the text covers an incredible span of Physics from Kinematics to Quantum Physics.  Students have informed me that they have referred to this text in other courses besides the course that I use it in.\n\nThere is an Appendix A: Atomic Masses, Appendix B: Selected Radioactive Isotopes, Appendix C: Useful Information with constant values, Appendix D: Glossary of Key Symbols and Notation and an Index.  There is also a useful Table of Contents.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have used College Physics for 2 terms and have not found any errors, although answers are not provided to the end-of-chapter problems which I find to be a drawback of the book.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Currently, I have found the content to be up-to-date.  The vast majority of the chapters will not need updating, but a couple of them (Chapter 33 Particle Physics and Chapter 34 Frontiers of Physics) may indeed need updating.  I do believe the text is written in such a way that this would be relatively easy and straight forward to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I think the authors of College Physics do a fine job with relating the technical material to examples that a student of Physics could relate to.  I have received high praise from students for the way this text is written compared to other texts in the Portland Community College - Civil and Mechanical Engineering Technology program.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Overall, in the Chapters that I have covered in my course, I have found a bit of inconsistency as far as symbols are concerned.  However, I think that comes with the territory with having a text written by 'Multiple Authors'.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I think College Physics does a great service to teachers and students with modularity.  An instructor could cover many different aspects with excluding different parts of the text without missing a beat.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I do believe this book presents Physics in a logical, clear fashion which is crucial for a thorough understanding of a science.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The interface of the book, but the one negative comment that I have received from students and one that I believe to be valid in my own experience is that the page numbers of the *.pdf do not line up with the page numbers of the text.  There is a discrepancy of 10 pages.  With a 1412 page book, this gets inconvenient to have to consistently negotiate this discrepancy when you want to use the book.  Otherwise, no other issues in this or other regards.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have found no grammar errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I have found no instances of culturally insensitivity.  Photographs and figures of people seem to include people of all races and genders.  I appreciate that the text includes culturally relevant sections such as World Energy Use in the Work, Energy and Energy Resources Chapter.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I think it's fantastic and I have only heard positive remarks regarding it from my students.  I would like to express my gratitude to those who wrote it and made it available to students in an OER setting!","created_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2301,"first_name":"Amber","last_name":"Hicks","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers all areas and ideas of the subject but is not catered to the diversity that make up community college students.  I would also love to see focus on short term trainings and stackable certifications.  As modern as online learning textbooks can be, I would hope that the author focuses on the modern workplace as well.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"I like how hyperlinks are provided in the chapter to support further exploration of a particular topic in the literature though not all of them work.    The text refers to printed catalogs to utilize for accuracy... I wish they would talk about campus resources and the importance of speaking with an academic advisor.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The text is designed for students at a 4 year institution.  I would love to see a book like this designed for the community college student.  It is true that some community colleges offer housing but ours does not.  It might be helpful to offer supports for finding rentals in the area or community and campus supports.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is well organized and clear.  I worry a bit that it will be obsolete as higher education and the employment agencies change quickly.  This is why I support the online textbook for this discipline but would hope for a few adjustments to make it more accurate for our institution.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The consistency and terminology is strong in this text.  It fits the framework of the conversation but not accurately depicts our particular community college situation.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"I found this text easy to read and visually enticing.  It was organized well and at different points within the text, the book realigned with various subunits.  The only issue is that I would organize my class in sections that might not need particular sections and some of the content can be considered a bit outdated.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"If I were to instruct this course at a 4 year institution, I would see the benefit of the organization and structure of this text.  I see the topics in the text are presented in a logical and clear manner.  It would take an instructor to cut and paste according to course outcomes.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"I can't say anything was wrong with the interface of this text.  T","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not see any grammatical errors in this book.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The book does a good job in exploring the variety of students: \"traditional\" vs \"commuter\" but think under each of these titles are a number of variations that would need to be discussed.  I think it would be nice to have a few stories of individual students who were successful who provide their entire story inclusive of race, ethnicity and background.  A story supports a student to relate as they move through a somewhat difficult higher education path.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"Overall, I would consider using this text for the future if given the opportunity to teach at a more \"traditional\" institution.  At this point, I don't see that it would be helpful.  Ideally, the best way to move forward would be to allow the instructor (ME) to utilize materials form the text to provide a \"cut and paste\" option for relevant chapters to be utilize in the order deemed suitable for my students.","created_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2465,"first_name":"Lisa","last_name":"Paulius","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Western Michigan University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers all the major areas and the index and glossary are clear and appropriate.  The text would benefit from being more concise.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"On a first reading, the text appears accurate but I would need to teach from it for a semester before a full review of accuracy would be done.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text is relevant with up to date  and real life examples.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The majority of the explanations are clear, but a few are awkwardly worded.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"At first glance, the terminology looks consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity seems well designed for selecting just the most important or relevant topics for a particular course.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text follows the traditional flow of topics.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I did not find any issues with the navigation but some of the layout of the images interrupted the flow of the text and was distracting.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any issues with the grammar.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The text does include some diversity in the choice of images, but could do better in this area.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"The text gives a solid, traditional approach to the major topics needed for this course.  Visually, the text is a bit bland and less engaging than some of the publisher developed texts.  But it is definitely a wonderful resource for the students and the ability to edit and make changes is of great benefit for the instructor. \r\n","created_at":"2018-12-14T12:35:15.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-12-14T12:35:15.000-06:00"},{"id":2681,"first_name":"Ryan","last_name":"Johnson","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Gettysburg College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is fairly comprehensive for a 2nd semester non-major physics course.  There is sufficient depth to explore many different practical aspects of a topic and it does a good job of using medically-motivated example problems and discussions. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book seemed accurate, however there are some significant departures from standard physics nomenclature which led to occasional confusion.  Ther is a simpler way for, say, the Doppler equation to be written, rather than using 2 separate forms.  ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Some chapters could be made more current or exciting, but I think the content is reasonably up to date. ","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"Lucid and accessible prose sure, but it is really devoid of any interesting or consistent voice throughout. ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"As far as I could tell, it was consistent internally.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I often pick and choose specific sections to include in my curriculum, and so I find the modularity quite of the text quite good to facilitate that. ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"I don't particularly like the flow of the material from Ch. 16, 17 to Ch. 18.  For my course, I taught Ch. 16, 17, then moved to 24-27, then moved back to 18-22.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"There were a few pages that didn't seem to use white space well; where perhaps one figure and caption took up 2/3 of the page and nothing else was present.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"None that I could find. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"It seemed to be fairly inclusive assuming industrialized nation background.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-03-19T14:44:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-03-19T14:44:37.000-05:00"},{"id":2820,"first_name":"Chuck","last_name":"Crabtree","position":"Director of STEM, Physics Instructor","institution_name":"Northshore Technical Community College (NTCC)","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"College Physics includes all the major topics for an introductory non-calculus-based classical physics course. There are also seven chapters covering topics in modern physics.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall, the accuracy of information and equation typography are good.  In section 2.7 Falling Objects, two of the headings should be edited to avoid capital G (the universal gravitational constant) when referring to lower case g (approximate acceleration due to gravity on Earth's surface). It is correct \r\nin Section 16.4: TAKE HOME EXPERIMENT: DETERMINING g.\r\n","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The examples are relevant and approachable. Use of the space shuttle to describe acceleration, explain fluid behavior in microgravity and introduce rocket propulsion is fine, but since the STS program is no longer active and will soon be replaced by the Space Launch System, the authors may wish to update those examples in the near future.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is clear with adequate descriptions of terms and symbols.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The concept of selecting reference frames is consistent throughout. However, reference frame conventions are not always followed. For example, in Fig. 4.13, an 2-D axis system with perpendicular and parallel axes is shown. I suggest keeping conventional \"x\" and \"y\" notation, which is done later in the text. \r\nAlso, while the glossary attempts to provide several symbol definitions, there are a few places where it is incomplete. For example, delta(x) is only defined as \"uncertainty in x\". Spring constant, k, is described, but thermal conductivity, k, is missing from the glossary. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapter topics are presented in a format which lends itself to customized modules. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The sequence follows a traditional logical progression.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Navigation within and among chapters is straightforward. The search function was helpful. Images looked clear and optimized for the web. For optimal readability online, students should maximize the browser window.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no issues with grammar/spelling. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The authors make use of variety of cultural references without purposefully excluding anyone. Generally, nothing in the text is blatantly offensive. However, there is one off-putting reference in the introduction to section 4.4 Newton’s Third Law of Motion: Symmetry in Forces which uses an excerpt from Man of La Mancha about domestic abuse. There are plenty of illustrations of Newton's third law of motion available which do not mention domestic violence.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The Student Solutions Manual is good, but it would be helpful to have more problems featured. Instructor resources are plentiful, with good trailers and lecture slides.","created_at":"2019-04-22T16:36:50.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-22T16:36:50.000-05:00"},{"id":2963,"first_name":"James","last_name":"Wetzel","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Augustana College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book more than covers a standard 2-semester college physics curriculum - from mechanics to thermal to optics to modern, including up to date information on the latest areas of active research.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have not found any errors or inaccuracies about any of the physics subjects.  Very well done.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This textbook is perfectly up to date until the modern physics sections which cover particle physics and cosmology.  It still contains allusions to the discovery of the Higgs Boson, despite it being observed in 2012.  It includes pictures of the CDF experiment, rather than more up to date experiments like the CMS or ATLAS detectors at CERN.  It has NO mentions of LIGO or gravitational wave astronomy.  So you might want to include supplementary material when assigning those chapters.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"This book is clearer than most physics textbooks.  But it could use a little bit more cleaning up - the text is pretty busy with a lot of things going on.  I recommend doing podcasts or vidcasts contextualizing what the book is saying for your students for them to watch or listen to before they do the reading.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"It is very consistent, each chapter has a similar structure, making it easier to read as you go along as you learn what to expect.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is reasonably well self contained, and you can easily pull out chapters from the PDF into stand alone reading assignments.  I definitely recommend doing this as psychologically it's easier on students to do the reading when its easily accessible in a single PDF.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"This book does a better job than average presenting each topic.  The order is standard and logical.  Each chapter introduces the material with examples and follows up with a summary, a glossary of terms, and two sets of problems.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No problems at all with the interface.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No obvious errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The book is not culturally insensitive or offensive, but contains very little history or cultural references when discussing the physics.  Not necessarily a bad thing, as it might make the text too long or wordy, but some wouldn't hurt.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"At long last!  A college physics book I can be proud to offer my students!","created_at":"2019-05-31T14:48:22.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-31T14:48:22.000-05:00"},{"id":3082,"first_name":"Eric","last_name":"Bubar","position":"Associate Professor of Physics","institution_name":"Marymount University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Definitely contains all of the relevant information that a student in an algebra-based college physics course would need.\r\nAs stated in other reviews, the modern physics information could be updated, but otherwise its an excellent text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have not found issues with incorrect material.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Everything looks good.  The core material covered in an algebra-based physics course doesn't change much and this book covers it well.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"I find the text is a little bit busy and packed.  This could make it difficult for students to read and learn from.  The chapter summaries are good and the definitions of key terms at the end of the text are  useful for students to make flashcards.  However, the overall structure could be cleaner.  Perhaps more white space so the pages don't appear quite as \"busy\".  I would also recommend making supplemental video lectures to point out key portions of the chapters for students to focus on.  Chapters can be more dense than needed for some populations of students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"All chapters have the same structure, flow and characteristics.  I particularly like the chapter summaries and listings of key terms.  This is a very valuable resource for students to use when brushing up on concepts before exams.  \r\nNote that I encountered one odd error where a student purchased a physical copy and in one chapter, the problem numbers they had were different than those in the online version.  ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The formatting and setup is logical for a typical physics course.  It is reasonably easy to remove sections of chapters that are overly complicated for some student populations.  I like the inclusion of medical applications for physics as I think a likely population of students to benefit from this type of text is the biology/pre-med populations that I teach myself.  I would perhaps include more biological applications of physics as modular sections to further enhance the applicability for this book into such a population.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Everything is organized like every other introductory physics textbook i've seen.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Figures and text are all high quality.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No problems encountered","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Certainly nothing offensive or insensitive in the text.  There appear to be attempts to make the problems more gender neutral (i.e. its not always \"some guy pushing stuff around\").  Figures do appear to have different races/ethnicities.  The text and problems, however, don't seem to necessarily target cultural diversity.  I don't think its problematic in the least.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The textbook is excellent.  It does everything that a more expensive textbook would need to do.  I do think the solution sets could be written up in a more clear manner.  There are sometimes algebraic leaps that students need to make to understand the student solution manual that all students cannot always make.  I think its a great resource for non-physics majors (physics students should be doing calculus-based physics) and the medical applications really appealed to the pre-physical therapy students that take the course where I teach.  I would highly recommend this text.","created_at":"2019-07-08T09:29:57.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-08T09:29:57.000-05:00"},{"id":3194,"first_name":"Saul","last_name":"Novo","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Michigan State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is very complete for an intro physics class. The topics are presented in the typical order (from mechanics to modern physics) and it is easy to access and find different topics with the search tool and the glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate, it is clear that the authors have put thought in the material adding multiple examples relevant to the students and to the topics covered in the book","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The list of contents for a general introductory course like this has been pretty standard for a couple of decades, thus the relevance and longevity of the materials are clear. Examples are current and will probably stay relevant for a long time. The book can also be easily updated by adding new relevant examples as new technologies appear","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"In my opinion the language chosen for the book is on point for a young college audience. The organization of the different topics, makes it easy to follow or just jump to a particular section to read about it. There is not unnecessary jargon.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The mathematical notation and general language is very consistent throughout the book with multiple internal reference between sections. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is perfectly modular. Each section is mostly self consistent and you can send the students to read a given topic with no problems. Of course one must be aware that the book is building each chapter upon knowledge from the previous ones, so it is not always possible to jump directly to an advance one without reading the previous ones, but this is not something unique of this book but of every intro physics book.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text follows the traditional structure followed by most teachers when introducing physics: from mechanics to modern physics. Some chapters could potentially be swapped but it would not affect the flow.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface for the book is very user friendly, being very easy to navigate the contents and do searches. It also comes with a lot of extra materials for both students and instructors.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors in a first reading. The language chosen is impeccable for the given audience in my opinion.\r\n\r\n","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is full of examples that can be relatable to students in their daily life at the same time as it avoids cultural bias. \r\n\r\n\r\n","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The book is very well written, with a lot of extra materials for instructors and students and very easy to use. In my opinion it is a great resource to consider for an intro physics class, since there is not much more you can actually gain from a textbook. ","created_at":"2019-10-18T16:52:32.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-10-18T16:52:32.000-05:00"},{"id":3230,"first_name":"Mazin","last_name":"Khasawneh","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Earlham College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I found the book to be suitable for an intro physics course. The authors presented the material in the typical order starting from mechanics to modern physics;  The table of content is easy to navigate, just click on any chapter you want to and you are there.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The chapters I reviewed so far have no accuracy issues.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The topics covered in this book are relevant and up-to-date. The physics problems in the body of the book and the end of chapter problems are related to modern day applications.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I think the material is presented in a clear concise way; that is why I will be using the same book for my next Algebra based course","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The terminology used is consistent throughout the book.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is divided into sub-sections, where each section is mostly self consistent, that helps me to assign the students to read  certain topic with no problems.  I very much appreciate the summary section at the end of each chapter because it is well written, and it highlights all the important concepts covered in that chapter.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book follows the traditional structure used by most intro physics books: from mechanics to modern physics. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface for the book is very user friendly, being very easy to navigate the contents and do searches. It also comes with a lot of extra materials for both students and instructors. The integration of the PHET simulations within the text is a very important addition to this book  as it gives the student the tool to to explore the concept they learned in class.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors. within the book so far.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I didn't find anything culturally insensitive or offensive in the text. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The book is nicely written, with a lot of extra materials for instructors and students. I will use it again my course in the Spring of 2020.","created_at":"2019-10-29T11:45:03.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-10-29T11:45:03.000-05:00"},{"id":3717,"first_name":"Joseph","last_name":"Eccles","position":"Adjunct Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Raritan Valley Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I am looking at this text from the viewpoints of both a two semester algebra-based physics course for engineering majors  and a one-semester algebra course aimed at students in medical and technology and technology programs. All the standard topics are extensively covered, providing the instructor many options for structuring either course. For a one-semester course, there is ample material to allow the instructor to select the topics and depth of coverage. The text provides links to appropriate simulator activities, from the PhET library. \r\nThe Frontiers of Physics chapter provides a quick view of where Physics is today.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The material I've read so far appear to be accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text is structured in a way that will simplify changes moving forward.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to consume and understand.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Presentation and organization of the text are consistent. The organization of each chapter consistent, including a chapter outline. self-check exercises, highlighting for important concepts, concepts, worked examples, a glossary, a section summary for the chapter, and problems and exercises give tha students help in navigating.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Molecularity is a critical part of being able to customize the material to different classes and different instructors. The flow of the chapters and their subdivisions","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization is similar to that used by other authors.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text makes use of PDF format that will be accessible through various PDF readers.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No obvious problems.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I have not identifies any cultural concerns.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Well organized for students, with additional material available, including a \"Getting Started\" guide, A Solutions Guide, and so on. This is even more true for instructors, who have access to PowerPoint slides, Solutions manual, Sample Syllabus, Canvas Course Cartridge, and so on, The availability of shells for LMS tools such as Canvas is a big item.","created_at":"2020-04-13T17:40:07.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-04-13T17:40:07.000-05:00"},{"id":3983,"first_name":"Jason","last_name":"Hyatt","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Massachusetts Maritime Academy","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I have taught College Physics 1 and 2 many many times and this book covers all of the topics that every other book covers.  The order may not be exactly what you find in other books, but college physics textbooks are all so similar these days, but this one is free!","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"While I have not read every single word in this book, I have not found anything inaccurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book follows the classic approach to college physics, so it should remain relevant.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"This text is about as clear as every other college physics text, which is to say I find them all quite verbose to the point where most students do not read them.  I do wish they would read the text because it is well-written and clear.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Yes very well laid out and consistent.  I also feel that the openstax line is all consistent which should help students who are familiar with the layout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Very modular which allows faculty to pick and choose topics for a College Physics 2 course which needs to select various topics.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Yes I prefer kinematics, then F=ma and then energy then momentum and end with rotation, which this book does.  Mostly because no one really learns rotational physics anyway and it's the end of the semester.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I have not had any interface issues with this text.  The openstax line has been used extensively and is well done and it shows.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have not found any grammatical errors.  Openstax is well developed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I have not come across any examples that make me cringe like I do in some old 50s texts that are pre-political correctness.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The OpenStax textbooks are so evolved and polished (unlike some other OER) and I have been waiting for a chance to adopt based on my teaching assignments and other faculty with whom I teach.  I have yet to find that perfect college physics text, so I might as well use the free one.  This one does look quite good.","created_at":"2020-06-15T09:04:04.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-15T09:04:04.000-05:00"},{"id":4620,"first_name":"Nathan","last_name":"Tompkins","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Wabash College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers every topic that might be included in an algebra based physics course and more. It would likely take three semesters to cover the entire book.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I've been teaching out of this book and have yet to find any errors in the text itself. Some of the instructor solutions are questionable, but I've yet to find any errors in the text or student solutions.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text is updated regularly and far more up to date and relevant than most print books.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear and descriptive. Many of the sections are very verbose so students are likely to skim, but the important terms and equations are boxed, bolded, and summarized.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology and figures are consistent within the book and to common use within the field.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters are very easy to use out of order and independent from one another. This is very important with more chapters than you will ever likely use in one course.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics follow the very traditional order from kinematics through energy and then additional topics beyond. Nothing novel here like covering energy before force.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The online interface is fantastic! Students will actually have the textbook with them when they need it. The pdf is good too, but the formatting works better online. In the pdf and print forms some boxes and tables are awkwardly split between pages.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have found no grammatical errors yet.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is more culturally diverse than most physics texts, but there is always room for improvement.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"No textbook is perfect, and you could spend hours nitpicking the details between this text and any other you are considering. At the end of the day however, this text is free to your students, available online, constantly updated, and very unlikely to be made obsolete by a newer version. The most likely complaints with this text can be solved by using the chapters in the order of your choosing and supplementing the descriptions during class. I use this text in class now and will actively encourage my colleagues to do so as well.","created_at":"2021-02-13T13:18:57.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-02-13T13:18:57.000-06:00"},{"id":4683,"first_name":"Mazn","last_name":"Khasawneh","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor-Physics","institution_name":"Earlham College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Similar to a typical algebra based first year physics book. You may more than two semesters to cover the whole book.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I have not read every everything in this book, but it seems to have no errors","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"It is relevant, as it follows the classic approach to college physics books","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is well-written and clear.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Yes, the book is very well laid out and consistent","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It is very easy to customize the material to different classes and different instructors. The flow of the chapters and their subdivisions, makes it easy on me me to assign the students to read certain topic with no problems.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book follows the traditional structure used by most intro physics books.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I have not had any interface issues with this text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The parts I read don't have any grammatical errors","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I  have not found any cultural concerns.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The book is very well  organized for both instructors and students.","created_at":"2021-03-08T11:06:31.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-03-08T11:06:31.000-06:00"},{"id":4788,"first_name":"Stacy","last_name":"Hootman","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Indianapolis","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers all of the topics that we cover in our two semester algebra/trigonometry-based physics course.  I was pleased to see that it separates fluid statics and fluid dynamics into two separate chapters as this often times confuses students.  There were actually some topics covered that we don't have in our current text.  I can't say that we will necessarily then cover ALL of these topics, but having them there for additional information is good.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I was unable to find any instances where information was inaccurate or contained errors.  The book contains a good number of sample problems for students to examine in each chapter.  The end of chapter problems are sufficient too.  I was surprised to not see answers to odd problems in the back of the book, but instead these can be located in a separate student solutions manual that is also free to students.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Most college physics texts don't need much \"updating\" for general/introductory courses.  Even so, being that the text is online it would actually be easier to update than more traditional texts where you have to wait for the next edition.  I don't see this text as being anything that would need to be updated, although there certainly could be room for improvement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I wasn't able to find any examples where terminology would be any more confusing than our current text.  Physics traditionally contains quite a bit of vocabulary that students are not familiar with and/or recognize.  I don't find this to be any different than any other text that does its best to explain the concepts clearly.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"All of the chapters follow a similar pattern.  This will make it easier for students when they move from one chapter to the next to know what to expect.  Every section has at least one example problem to help students make sense of the concepts and formulas that are presented.  Every chapter begins with a common picture that helps students to recognize where these abstract terms are available in their everyday life, has learning objectives per section, and ends the chapter with a glossary, section summary, conceptual questions per section, and lastly problems and exercises per section.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This was one thing that I was concerned with as the book does follow a slightly different approach to some topics than what we have in our current text.  I will say that in one of those instances, I actually prefer the approach in this text (angular momentum is included with rotational motion in Chapter 10, rather than with linear momentum in Chapter 8) whereas the other is the placement of optics (we begin our second semester electricity/magnetism course with optics, whereas this text would include it later in the semester if you take the chapters in order).  However, in looking it over, I don't see any problem with moving those chapters on optics (25, 26, and 27) earlier in the course.  This text seems to allow for some movement of topics depending on what you prefer and how you prefer to introduce topics.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Similar to my last comment on Modularity, I do think that the book follows a reasonable approach through these topics but still affords you the opportunity to move around in a different order if you so prefer (I might choose to move Optics, for instance).  I like how some topics are spread over multiple chapters (for instance, fluids is separated into chapter 11 on Fluid Statics and Chapter 12 on Fluid Dynamics) which can help with students differentiating between these two concepts, but instructors could always decide to cover chapters together if they so wish.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I have to say that this is the one aspect of the book that least impressed me.  The graphics are not as impressive as those from other (much more expensive) texts.  I know that some texts are starting to record solutions and give links to those solution videos using QR codes, whereas this text only shows written problem solutions.  This is where this text could certainly improve.  The figures are not distorted in any way, but they just aren't what you find in more expensive texts.  It's not that this makes the book bad, but it just isn't as impressive as other texts.  I don't think that this would necessarily cause confusion or distraction for the reader, however.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"In the chapters that I examined, I did not find any grammatical errors.  The text is just as easy to read as other similar college physics texts that I have used.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"In glancing through the book, I did see pictures of both men and women as well as individuals of a variety of races and ethnicities.  This is helpful for students to recognize that anyone can find success in this subject area.  I saw no examples of culturally insensitive or offensive language.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I have a colleague who has used this text and said that the students responded well to it.  I do think that it is a book that can be used successfully with a two (or even three) semester algebra/trigonometry based general physics course.","created_at":"2021-04-19T10:12:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-19T10:12:38.000-05:00"},{"id":5175,"first_name":"S.","last_name":"Vaitheeswaran","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Westfield State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is comprehensive and serves as the main text for two semesters of algebra-based introductory physics in our department.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have found no errors worth reporting.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The nature of introductory physics courses is such that there are virtually no fundamental changes to the content. There is nothing in this text that is at risk of becoming obsolete anytime soon.\r\n\r\nIf I were to nitpick, some of the pictures such as instruments, vehicles etc. are old and not the best quality. This gives the text an unattractive, dated feel. But this is a purely cosmetic issue that is irrelevant to the teaching of the subject matter.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This text is well written and quite clear in its explanations. The Phet simulations that are integrated throughout the book are very helpful.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I have no found no inconsistencies in the book.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Modules in the book are well constructed. This allows the instructor to cover topics in a different order from that in the text. The modular structure makes it straightforward to assign sections for student reading.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Topics are ordered logically.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The book is less attractive than competing texts from the major publishers, mainly because images are of lower quality. But this is a purely cosmetic issue (albeit, one that may bother students a lot), and does not get in the way of teaching the subject at hand.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have found no grammatical mistakes.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is culturally quite sensitive and inclusive along lines of gender, race etc. There is a well-considered diversity of human figures in diagrams as well as in the words used.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I wish that, wherever possible, this text and the calculus-based Openstax texts University Physics (vol. 1-3) would mirror each other. Of course, these two texts are written by different authors. But if they followed the same notation wherever possible, it would make the instructors' life much easier while teaching both courses simultaneously.\r\n\r\nOne example is the right hand rule specifying the magnetic force on a moving charge in an external magnetic field. The two texts use superficially different definitions, which are actually equivalent to each other. Neither definition is better than the other, so why not allow students and instructors the ability to switch between texts?","created_at":"2021-06-29T21:11:43.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-29T21:11:43.000-05:00"},{"id":34073,"first_name":"Sharma","last_name":"Dipti","position":"Contract/Adjunct Professor of Physics","institution_name":"Bunker Hill Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is a good Physics textbook for Algebra based Physics courses taught in colleges. This textbook covers almost every topic for two semester Physics I and Physics II courses. Physics instructor can use this Open Textbook as an option for their Physics textbook if they do not want students to purchase books. I personally use this open textbook and recommend to students to read chapters or look for examples problems when I explain some topics in Physics. Sometimes, I also use this textbook in my courses. It is a great alternative to college Physics paid textbooks if anyone wants to use it.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have not found any English or Grammar errors in this textbook. In my opinion, it is a good book with no errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"It covers everything that Algebra based Physics should have in it. So, nothing seems missing, and everything is up to date.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbook is written in clear English and understandable. Language is simple and good for students to follow. Explanation is descriptive.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The chapters contain figures related to the topics covered in the chapters and consistent to the content. Physics terms and words are also consistent with topics and chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"All chapters and topics are shown clearly in the right order in table of contents. Each unit and chapter follow the flow connection. Everything is explained very clearly with examples and people can use any chapter in order if they want and, but I would prefer going in the order of chapters as written in the table of content.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook covers all topics those needs to be in Physics I and Physics II course that is taught as Algebra based course. The flow of the chapters and connection from each other are also good.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"It is good to see that this textbook is available online on website, also available in pdf to download and can be printed too. So, students can access it in anyway that is most suitable to them.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no grammatical errors found.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"It is well structured culturally.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This textbook is a good textbook for algebra-based Physics. It focuses good examples related to topics covered for two semester Physics courses in colleges. It shows good flow between topics and good connection of concepts of Physics to the real-world applications. This textbook is good for anyone even for the beginners. I use this textbook in some of my classes and students like it.","created_at":"2022-10-09T21:07:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-10-09T21:07:16.000-05:00"},{"id":35159,"first_name":"S.","last_name":"Vaitheeswaran","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Westfield State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all the topics one would want in an introductory physics text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is a reliable and accurate source of information for its intended audience.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book can continue to be the primary text for introductory college physics courses, even in its present form. Of course, updates such as references to the latest physics and astronomy news will be welcome and make the text fresh and more compelling. The html format of the book makes such updates modular and easy to implement in a distributed manner.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is written clearly and simply, in a manner that is appropriate for its target audience. But there are some weak points in the text. For example, in section 7.3, Example 7.7 can be explained much more clearly by invoking the conservation of mechanical energy. But this principle is only introduced in the _next_ section, 7.4. Example 7.7 really belongs in section 7.4.\n\nThe book also lacks polish and excitement, mainly in its figures. This may seem to be trivial issue, but for students who don't care for physics in the first place, this can unfortunately dampen their already limited enthusiasm for the subject.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is mostly consistent in the notation.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is satisfactorily modular. This is another advantage of the html format over traditional printed books. See comment below on the Organization.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is organized logically and clearly. In cases when the instructor wants to cover topics in a different order, e.g., introduce the kinematics of uniform circular motion before Newton's laws of motion, the modular html format of the book makes it easy to direct students to different sections of the book.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is mostly fine. But one wishes that the figures were more polished.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammatically, the book is perfectly fine.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book cannot be faulted on this score at all.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This book is an excellent open resource, especially when competing textbooks from the big publishing houses can cost in the vicinity of $200. I have been using it for four years, and plan to continue with it. The book has a lot of potential for improvement, though. For example, as an html book, the figures can be dynamic and interactive with sliders to vary parameters etc. The embedded phet simulations do help, but this idea can be developed and make the book much better than even expensive, printed texts from big publishers.","created_at":"2024-07-04T18:03:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-07-04T18:03:16.000-05:00"},{"id":35602,"first_name":"Feier","last_name":"Hou","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Western Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers all the main topics of physics: kinematics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, optics, and nuclear physics","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The contents are very accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book covers mostly the fundamental principles of physics, which will most likely not be obsolete despite development of physics.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book is very clear: all the key concepts are very well explained with examples to help students understand and exercises to help them practice and assess their understanding.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework are all consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is divided into sections that are not long and can be finished within one class period or less.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The contents are very well organized.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No interface issues that I know of.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The examples given in the textbook are very relevant to everyday life and are mostly applicable in every culture.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I especially like how the textbook relates physics to everyday experience and phenomena, such as the physics behind how joints and muscles work. That makes the abstract physics concepts a lot easier to understand. There are also many interesting examples (check out Figure 17.12 - it makes me laugh every time I look at it) that can improve students' interest in physics and make physics more engaging.","created_at":"2025-08-21T13:17:12.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-08-21T13:17:12.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/college-physics","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:29:16.000-06:00"},{"id":138,"title":"The Adventure of Physics - Vol. I: Fall, Flow, and Heat","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":1990,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Curiosity about how people, animals, things, images and space move leads to many adventures. This volume presents the best of them in the domain of everyday life. Carefully observing everyday motion allows us to deduce six essential statements: everyday motion is continuous, conserved, relative, reversible, mirror-invariant – and lazy. Yes, nature is indeed lazy: in every motion, it minimizes change. This text explores how these six results are deduced and how they fit with all those observations that seem to contradict them. In the structure of modern physics, shown in Figure 1, the results on everyday motion form the major part of the starting point at the bottom. The present volume is the first of a six-volume overview of physics. It resulted from a threefold aim I have pursued since 1990: to present motion in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one surprise or provocation for the reader to think about. Numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.' Clarifying things – and adhering only to the truth – requires courage, as changing the habits of thought produces fear, often hidden by anger. But by overcoming our fears we grow in strength. And we experience intense and beautiful emotions. All great adventures in life allow this, and exploring motion is one of them. Enjoy it!","contributors":[{"id":3795,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Christoph","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Schiller","location":null,"background_text":"Christoph Schiller, born in 1960, is European. Raised in Varese, he studied physics at the Universität Stuttgart and received his Ph.D. in physics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in the department of Ilya Prigogine. Christoph Schiller is an innovation manager. He is convinced that exploring and applying physics can provide as much pleasure as anything else in life - and he explains why in the present text. He started the Motion Mountain Textbook project in Yokohama in 1990, wrote most of the text in Eindhoven and is finishing it during his business trips."}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":10,"url":"http://www.motionmountain.net/index.html","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-26T13:11:53.000-05:00","name":"Motion Mountain"}],"formats":[{"id":19,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.motionmountain.net/classical.html","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":21,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/shop/christoph-schiller/motion-mountain-the-adventure-of-physics-vol-1-fall-flow-and-heat/paperback/product-20504232.html","price":{"cents":2557,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"3.5","textbook_reviews_count":3,"reviews":[{"id":93,"first_name":"J Woods","last_name":"Halley","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Minnesota","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers a lot of ground, some of which is not standard fare in an undergraduate physics curriculum. However the treatment is extremely uneven both in quality of presentation and in mathematical level. Thus in one respect the book attempts to be unusually comprehensive, but it quite often ends by being superficial and idiosycratic in its choices of subject matter.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"In most cases, Schiller has the physics right, though I detected a few places in which I found some incorrect statements. You cannot, for example, learn anything about atoms from critical opalescence, which is a long wave length phenomenon. More commonly, there are statements which are not exactly wrong but which would be very confusing to students because of the idiosycratic choice of definitions. For example, Schiller insists on a nonconventional use of the word \"heat\". Elsewhere he describes force as \"momentum flow\". One can redefine / the words to make sense of this but it is a very bad thing to do because the words \"momentum flow\" are better and more conventionally associated with the stress tensor in the equation describing local momentum current conservation. The discussion of entropy (Chapter 13) is also quite idiosycratic and the statement that entropy cannot be defined for systems far from equilibrium is wrong.","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"A lot of current research topics are discussed, and most of the statements about them are correct as far as I know. However it will be utterly impossible for most students to learn anything substantive about those topics from the treatment here. It is quite evident that the author has little or no teaching experience at least before audiences characteristic of American public universities. It is absurd to expect most undergraduate students to absorb the meaning of cross products, integrals, groups and group theory and the calculus of variations in one paragraph descriptions.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"For reasons I've articulated above, this book will be impossible for most undergraduates, including physics majors, to fully understand. I did find it stimulating to read., Schiller is clearly quite smart and the exercises are often challenging and instructive. However there is hardly any attempt to actually TEACH anything in this book and almost no thought has been given to pace, illustrative exercises to make new concepts understandable or even to ordering of the mathematics so that the 'explanations' come before the use of the mathematics. Integrals, for example, appear long before they are even defined.","consistency_rating":1,"consistency_review":"It depends a little on how one defines the word 'consistency' but I'm afraid I would say 'terrible'. The writing veers from very elementary to postdoctoral advanced level from page to page. Thematically, there is a kind of consistency, but even that is violated toward the end of this volume, when the author chooses to throw in chapter 14 on chaos and self orgainization which has nothing to do with his theme. That chapter is in any case useless except as a list of topics and references.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"Some of the chapters could stand alone, in a sense, but that is largely because they are not really explaining the concepts, which would require thorough knowledge of what came before, but because they are basically just listing results, peppered with dashes of half-baked and very arrogantly asserted philosopy.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The book does follow a certain logic, as I indicated above, though it is violated in some chapters toward the end.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is ok. It was easy to find the solutions to the exercises after I did (or sometimes just attempted) them, though it would be good to be able to get back to the text more easily after going to a reference.","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"Grammar is fine, if a bit Germanic in places. Maybe this is the place to comment on the multitude of quotations in German, French, Greek, Italian and Latin. What, exactly, is the point of including them in an undergraduate physics text? It lends a certain pretension and I was sometimes intrigued or amused by them, but the vast majority of undergraduates will just be put off and annoyed by them and they rarely contribute much to the conceptual flow. In fact, many of them contain wrong physics, as in most cases Schiller is aware, and he apparently thinks it a good pedagogical technique to challenge the reader to find the errors. I can assure him that the technique would fall utterly flat, or would engender rage, in 99% of the thousands of undergraduates I have taught.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"No there is no evidence racial prejudice. But the book is often offensive because of the aggressive way in which the author pushes his views concerning interpretations of physics. For example he scornfully dismisses views of the nature of time held by leading physicists. This whole question of the nature of time is contentious, essentially metaphysical and does not need extensive discussion in an undergraduate physics text. If it is broached at all, it should be in a more evenhanded way. There are many such examples. but to mention one more, the author misinterprets what physicists who use the term 'emergence' mean and then scornfully dismisses those individuals, inaccurately attributing ideological positions to them.","overall_rating":5,"overall_review":"Schiller appears to be very intelligent and he has some interesting and rather unconventional perspectives on physics. The biographical information indicates that he is not a professional teacher, but a business man with a strong interest in physics. That is very evident in the pedagogical failures of this book, which vastly misjudges the amount of repetition and practise that practically all students need in order to master the mathematical and physical concepts swiftly presented here. I have mentioned that I could not use this book with undergraduates, but I don't think it would work with most graduate students either. In fact I wonder if it was written to be used as a teaching tool at all. The author seems more to be using the exercise of writing it as a way of organising his own thoughts, which are often interesting and provocative, though expressed in an annoyingly arrogant way.","created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":620,"first_name":"Aaron","last_name":"Coyner","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Southwestern Oregon Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"Schiller deserves some credit for attempting to address as many topics as he does in this volume alone. Many of the topics are suitable for an upper division course in physics. However, in attempting to be comprehensive, the depth of coverage varies from topic to topic, making it very difficult to recommend a particular level of course for the book. Upper division students may find some topics covered superficially for their needs; however, lower division students may struggle to get a firm grasp of early discussions of time and motion without being overwhelmed. I commend Schiller for his discussions of practical examples where applicable as practical use of physical principles is something that incoming physics students typically request.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The physics presented is largely accurate. There are issues of interpretation of a number of concepts and phrases. The discussion of entropy is while mostly accurate somewhat cloudy to wade through because of the nature of the presentation and the emphasized components. The discussion of force as a momentum flow is understandable conceptually but from the perspective of an undergraduate text is a deviation from standard terminology. The discussion of the nature of time is still in some respects a philosophical debate. Schiller’s presentation however, seems a bit heavy handed and certain that his perspective is the correct one and seems to lecture any readers with opposing views.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Schiller includes references to many ongoing current research topics and physical applications. To the best of my knowledge the statements made about these topics are true. Many of them are just passing mentions, limited on detail or insight, but it is worth noting the variety of new research included.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"Schiller’s text ranges wildly from very dense and at times very philosophical in nature to at times very superficial. The text and the mathematical levels vary with topic making it a very difficult for incoming undergraduates to get a foot hold in the subject matter. I appreciate that Schiller offers challenge questions to make the reader think about the topics as progress is made. However, I believe student would have liked to have seen some of the problems worked out as math examples in the text. Yes, the solutions and hints are in the back, but letting students see the equations and methods at work is often beneficial. I would like to make a side note that the inclusion of seemingly random quotes from random sources serve more to distract from than augment the text. Some aspects of this book seem more like a collection of facts and interpretations of physics without a real intent to teach.","consistency_rating":2,"consistency_review":"I have discussed the variation in tone and mathematical depth in other sections, but that does drop the level of the consistency score. Within the book the terminology is self-consistent although some term choices are not used in their typical sense. The overall structure is thematically consistent even if the individual pieces may vary widely.","modularity_rating":1,"modularity_review":"I am afraid to say the way the book reads and is structured is not really conducive to modularity. Some of the chapters are independent while others are structurally woven into a Schiller’s philosophy which requires the rest of the book to make heads or tails.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The book does follow a non-traditional pattern of physics instruction but there is a perceivable flow to the text.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The images, figures and equations all appear in the text undistorted. Navigation through the book is straightforward.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"No major grammatical errors. Text contains some phrasing that while grammatically correct may confuse the students and distract a bit from the overall point Schiller is addressing.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"No detectable cultural insensitivity. Examples are drawn from multiple countries mostly across Europe. Schiller does not provide many examples and practice problems with people or names unless he is referring to specific experiments or findings.","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":4110,"first_name":"Dipti","last_name":"Sharma","position":"Contract/Adjunct Professor of Physics","institution_name":"Bunker Hill Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is a book of series and in the 1st part of the book, everything those need to be in Physics I book is explained related to motion and examples of motion from real world.  It is good comprehensive book on Physics I.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This book is used good grammar and English and has no errors in writing and typing. It is written with good accuracy from the start to the end.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This textbook covers all topics of a usual Physics I book starting from measurement to the oscillations and fluids. The unique thing in this book is every chapter is related to the name of \"Motion\" and same as this title, every chapter describes concepts of Physics in the same way. Every chapter and topic is completely relevant to the chapters and topics usually taught in Physics I with good examples from real world.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text in the book is written in clear language of English and in good grammar although it also uses some quotes in different language which increases beauty of the book if reader can understand it.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text written in the book is completely consistent to the subject matter and to the real world applications. They follow the topic and concepts of Physics described in each chapter. They also follow the trend and flow of the subject matter as usually mentioned and described in General Physics I textbooks.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of the textbook is fine. Contents of the chapters are written precisely with good explanation in small parts with images, pictures, diagrams, figures, data table, examples and easily understandable by reader of all levels.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization of each chapter, chapter material, concepts are written in good order following with equations and numbering them.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Yes, the text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The textbook is written with good grammar without any errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is culturally insensitive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This book is a good textbook in Physics to teach or use it in teaching of Physics I courses without calculus where instructor need to focus more examples related to motions and also show a good connection of concepts of Physics to the real world application on Earth and in space. This is textbook is good for anybody who is curious about motion in nature. How do things, people, animals, images and empty space move? The answer leads o many adventures; this volume presents the best ones about everyday motion.","created_at":"2020-06-27T22:43:14.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-27T22:43:14.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-adventure-of-physics-vol-i-fall-flow-and-heat","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:23.000-06:00"},{"id":155,"title":"The Adventure of Physics - Vol. II: Relativity","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":1990,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Curiosity about how people, animals, things, images and empty space move leads to many adven- tures. This volume presents the best of them in the domains of relativity and cosmology. In the study of motion – physics – special and general relativity form two important building blocks. Special relativity is the exploration of the energy speed limit c. General relativity is the exploration of the force limit c4/4G. The text shows that in both domains, all equations follow from these two limit values. This simple, intuitive and unusual way of learning relativity should reward the curiosity of every reader – whether student or professional. The present volume is the second of a six-volume overview of physics that arose from a threefold aim that I have pursued since 1990: to present motion in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one surprise or provocation for the reader to think about. Numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.' Clar- ifying things – and adhering only to the truth – requires courage, as changing the habits of thought produces fear, often hidden by anger. But by overcoming our fears we grow in strength. And we experience intense and beautiful emotions. All great adventures in life allow this, and exploring motion is one of them. Enjoy it!","contributors":[{"id":3796,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Christoph","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Schiller","location":null,"background_text":"Christoph Schiller, born in 1960, is European. Raised in Varese, he studied physics at the Universität Stuttgart and received his Ph.D. in physics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in the department of Ilya Prigogine. Christoph Schiller is an innovation manager. He is convinced that exploring and applying physics can provide as much pleasure as anything else in life - and he explains why in the present text. He started the Motion Mountain Textbook project in Yokohama in 1990, wrote most of the text in Eindhoven and is finishing it during his business trips."}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":11,"url":"http://www.motionmountain.net/index.html","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-26T13:12:23.000-05:00","name":"Motion Mountain"}],"formats":[{"id":22,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.motionmountain.net/#chocobot:~:text=Download%20the%20files%20separately%20here%3A","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":23,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/shop/christoph-schiller/motion-mountain-the-adventure-of-physics-vol-2-relativity/paperback/product-20504435.html","price":{"cents":2111,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":195,"first_name":"Thomas","last_name":"Bolland","position":"lecturer","institution_name":"The Ohio State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"It covers special and general relativity with a detailed index.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"His treatment of general relativity centers around his view that there is a maximum force (in the same way that special relativity centers around there being a limiting speed) which he has published, but as far as I can tell this is not at all widely accepted by relativists.  For this reason I will rate the accuracy with a 3.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"It is certainly up-to-date in that it reports very recent results.  The author's certainties are woven into the text in such a way that the book will be quite difficult to rewrite.  Thus it is hard to rate relevance/longevity; I'll give it a 4 because of the appearance of latest observations and measurements.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"It is clearly written, easy to read from a language standpoint; there are a few places where his English is non-native.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Definitely consistent!","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"I do not think it is very modular.  Also it very frequently refers to other volumes in the series, as being needed for an understanding of the material in this volume.","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"It does not lead in an understandable, step-by-step way, from ignorance to comprehension.  I think however that the author believes his treatment does do this.  I expect students would be frustrated.  If you already know relativity you can follow what he is saying.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Very good!  The graphs, photographs etc. are excellent.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Impeccable.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No offensivity of this kind.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This book cannot be used for teaching a course.  I may pick some stories, facts, or examples from it when I teach relativity but I cannot imagine a course for which this would be a text.  If you already know relativity it's quite a bit of fun to read and you *can* learn from it, but you need to have a sufficient base in the subject to avoid getting swept away by the author's views.","created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":221,"first_name":"Michael","last_name":"Zudov","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Minnesota","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":" The book covers a lot of material, well beyond what is usually found in a typical undergraduate text. However, as the preface states “This book is not written with exams in mind” and, to me, this implies that it is not suitable (or even intended) as the main textbook for the relativity course, at least in U.S. institutions. However, the book can be used as a supplementary text, as it covers many interesting aspects of relativity which are not usually found in a typical college text.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I admit that I did not read the whole book, but what I have read seems to be accurate, with few exceptions.  Some of the discussions are somewhat ambiguous and can be confusing to the reader, see point 9 below.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The material seems to be up to date and I do not see that its critical parts it will become obsolete any time soon. Any necessary updates can indeed be added at any point. ","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"For an undergraduate who knows nothing about relativity, the text might be difficult to follow at times, as the definitions are not always given before the term is used.  Figure captions are often not comprehensive and do not contain necessary description. I see a lot of room for improvement here and would prefer figure captions, which are self-contained so the reader does not have to search for the relevant part of the text just to understand what the figure is showing.  For example: “FIGURE 23: A space-time diagram for a moving object T seen from an inertial observer O” – But where is the observer O?  There are also some repetitions in the text which are not always necessary. Finally, I have noticed that some concepts are discussed in depth several times, but others, e.g. a space-time diagram, are not well explained.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is fairly consistent in terms of terminology, however, I noticed that “ T” is used to denote both kinetic energy and temperature.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"Since the book is quite different from standard college texts, the modularity is somewhat special. Typical textbooks on special relativity usually have dedicated sections on topics like “Time dilation”, “Lorentz transformation”, etc.  While these and other concepts are indeed present in the book, they are not always easy to find using the “Contents” section.  ","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"As mentioned above, sometimes the definitions are given after the term, e.g. “event”,  has been already used in the discussion. Again, this is not a typical textbook, but some readers might still have problems.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface seems to be excellent and the text is easy to navigate. However, some hyperlinks point to other volumes in the series and I can see that some readers might find this a bit annoying. However, once other volumes are downloaded, everything works great.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"The text is definitely readable and understandable, but there are typos and ambiguities here and there, which can confuse the reader: on page 9: “intuitive and way of learning”; on page 74: “the energy difference is emitted as energy.”, on page 75: \"If the motion between two events is slower than the speed of light…”; on page 76: \"an body\", etc. Running a spell checker should have fixed most of these.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I did not find the text culturally, racially, or sexually offensive, but it seems to show a bit of German character. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"In summary, I have reservations using it as the main one but the book is very good as a supplementary text in the relativity course.  It will particularly be useful for students who want to learn a bit more about the relativity than the traditional textbook has to offer. In addition, the book should be useful for teachers looking to enrich their lectures as it offers quite a few interesting examples as well as historical facts.","created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-adventure-of-physics-vol-ii-relativity","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:23.000-06:00"},{"id":156,"title":"The Adventure of Physics - Vol. III: Light, Charges, and Brains","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":1990,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Curiosity about how people, animals, things, images and space move leads to many adventures. This volume presents the adventures one encounters when exploring everything electric. The story ranges from the weighing of electric current to the use of magnetic fields to heal bone fractures and up to the understanding of the human brain. In the structure of physics, shown in Figure 1, motion due to electricity is the most fascinating aspect of the starting point at the bottom. Indeed, almost everything around us is due to electric processes. The present introduction to electricity, magnetism, light and the brain is the third of a six-volume overview of physics that arose from a threefold aim that I have pursued since 1990: to present motion in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one surprise or provocation for the reader to think about. Numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.' Clar- ifying things – and adhering only to the truth – requires courage, as changing the habits of thought produces fear, often hidden by anger. But by overcoming our fears we grow in strength. And we experience intense and beautiful emotions. All great adventures in life allow this, and exploring motion is one of them. Enjoy it!","contributors":[{"id":3797,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Christoph","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Schiller","location":null,"background_text":"Christoph Schiller, born in 1960, is European. Raised in Varese, he studied physics at the Universität Stuttgart and received his Ph.D. in physics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in the department of Ilya Prigogine. Christoph Schiller is an innovation manager. He is convinced that exploring and applying physics can provide as much pleasure as anything else in life - and he explains why in the present text. He started the Motion Mountain Textbook project in Yokohama in 1990, wrote most of the text in Eindhoven and is finishing it during his business trips."}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":12,"url":"http://www.motionmountain.net/index.html","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-26T13:12:53.000-05:00","name":"Motion Mountain"}],"formats":[{"id":24,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.motionmountain.net/#chocobot:~:text=Download%20the%20files%20separately%20here%3A","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":25,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/shop/christoph-schiller/motion-mountain-the-adventure-of-physics-vol-3-light-charges-and-brains/paperback/product-20504343.html","price":{"cents":2102,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"2","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":1698,"first_name":"Claudia","last_name":"Eberlein","position":"Professor of Theoretical Physics","institution_name":"University of Sussex","comprehensiveness_rating":1,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book touches upon very many interesting topics, but it does not go into depth on many of them. This is in itself need not be a problem, but in this case the absence of depth on most topics is combined with too much technical depth on others, making up a very confusing eclectic jumble. The whole book takes a very introductory approach that may initially seem suitable for beginning physics students and even interested students from other disciplines, but even the most dedicated student would get lost almost immediately in the rambling style supplemented with a few advanced concepts and mathematics that are scattered in without being accessible from the knowledge presented.","accuracy_rating":2,"accuracy_review":"The book is not inaccurate in the sense of there being individual facts of formulae wrong, apart from very few misprints, but it is totally wrong in its approach to its topics. It does not convey anywhere near an overview of the knowledge on a particular topic leaving the reader confused. There is also very little balance in topics that are in fact much more controversial than the text makes the reader believe, e.g. as regards ball lighting. Some of the more philosophical parts of the book draw conclusions that most scientists would call at best wonky but probably downright wrong.","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"The book does not accurately reflect the current state of knowledge in the subject area and hence it does not make very much sense to discuss its longevity. Many of the illustrations and examples are very modern compared to other textbooks, but that does not make it any more valid. The many video clips included are impressive, though some of those are likely to date quickly both in content and in format.","clarity_rating":1,"clarity_review":"The lack of clarity in this book is not one of language but conceptual. The book puts together interesting morsels of knowledge without ever managing to weave it into a coherent whole. Short chunks of the text are suitable for various types of audience, but the book as a whole is largely inaccessible to anyone who does not already know the subject area very well.","consistency_rating":1,"consistency_review":"The book is totally inconsistent intellectually; it discusses topics in a very rambling style, but then may suddenly go into an explanation that anyone who has not already got in depth knowledge of the topic will not be able to follow. ","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"It is difficult to comment on the modularity of the book since every part of it suffers from the same problems of consistency already explained. The reader will not be able to follow the text, but cross-referencing within the book is only a very minor problem compared to the much larger problem of a potential student having to learn whole subject areas elsewhere before even attempting to understand this book.","organization_rating":1,"organization_review":"The book rambles on rather then presents anything in an intellectually logical manner. ","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The book is nicely typeset, has mostly good pictures and graphs, and the included video clips are on the whole well made and interesting, though not always to the point. However, a significant issue for navigation is the intellectual jumble this book is in. Even though the book has chapter and section headings, these are very confusing and do not help the reader to find relevant information easily.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"The book appears to have been written by a native speaker of German, which shows but is not a major distraction. However, readers will probably find the many untranslated quotes annoying.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Not applicable.","overall_rating":4,"overall_review":"This book could serve as an intellectual challenge and entertainment for experienced physicists, but it is totally unsuitable as a textbook. This is a shame considering the huge amount of effort that has gone into producing it.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-adventure-of-physics-vol-iii-light-charges-and-brains","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:23.000-06:00"},{"id":157,"title":"The Adventure of Physics - Vol. IV: The Quantum of Change","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":1990,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Have you ever asked: Why do people, animals, things, images and space move? The answer leads to many adventures; this volume presents those due to the discovery that there is a smallest change value in nature. This smallest change value, the quantum of action, leads to what is called quantum physics. In the structure of modern physics, quantum physics covers three points; this volume covers the introduction to the point in the lower right: the foundations of quantum theory. The present introduction to quantum physics arose from a threefold aim I have pursued since 1990: to present the basics of motion in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one surprise or provocation for the reader to think about. Numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.' Clarifying things – and adhering only to the truth – requires courage, as changing the habits of thought produces fear, often hidden by anger. But by overcoming our fears we grow in strength. And we experience intense and beautiful emotions. All great adventures in life allow this, and exploring motion is one of them. Enjoy it!","contributors":[{"id":3794,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Christoph","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Schiller","location":null,"background_text":"Christoph Schiller, born in 1960, is European. Raised in Varese, he studied physics at the Universität Stuttgart and received his Ph.D. in physics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in the department of Ilya Prigogine. Christoph Schiller is an innovation manager. He is convinced that exploring and applying physics can provide as much pleasure as anything else in life - and he explains why in the present text. He started the Motion Mountain Textbook project in Yokohama in 1990, wrote most of the text in Eindhoven and is finishing it during his business trips."}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":14,"url":"http://www.motionmountain.net/index.html","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-26T13:11:23.000-05:00","name":"Motion Mountain"}],"formats":[{"id":28,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.motionmountain.net/#chocobot:~:text=Download%20the%20files%20separately%20here%3A","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":30,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/shop/christoph-schiller/motion-mountain-the-adventure-of-physics-vol-4-the-quantum-of-change/paperback/product-20504332.html","price":{"cents":1645,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":478,"first_name":"R. J.","last_name":"Wilkes","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Washington","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"full disclosure: i only read the first 2 chapters, at which point i determined the book would not be useful for undergraduate classes. \nHowever, the table of contents for the multivolume series certainly covers all topics in commonly used textbooks, and more.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The physics content is generally accurate, although in some places readers might be misled about the universal acceptance of some opinions presented as facts. The flat, black and white statements the author prefers do not let the reader know that many topics in QM are still works in progress. One example is the statement that the term \"quantization\" is obsolete - i believe we are still trying to \"quantize\" gravity although the task might better be described as \"attempts at unification\".","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The material covered is likely to be relevant for a long time, although some topics like quantum computing and entanglement are subjects of intense current work and may become obsolete. It would be good if the author could add warnings in such places, as opposed to parts like the discussion of \"uncertainty\" relations or \"wave-particle duality\" (btw, a term the author scorns but one that has been used so long its use will not stop) which are unlikely to be overturned or significantly revised within a decade.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"the text is very well written, but assumes readers much more sophisticated (in terms of vocabulary and tolerance for complexity) than contemporary undergraduates. I think the proper audience for this book  would be adult education students (for example OLLI course-takers, in the USA): people of considerable education and broad cultural knowledge who are interested in making the effort to learn something substantial of the \"quantum weirdness\" they have heard so much about in popular media.\nWithout reading the preceding volumes it is hard to determine if all terms used have been previously defined, but it is always good practice to locally repeat definitions of terms that are not commonplace and may have been defined far away within the text, such as dispersion relation, vector potential, etc.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"the style and terminology are both quite consistent. The author's style will certainly be taken as annoying or arrogant by many readers. the point of view is that of an all-knowing informant who is delighted to demonstrate how much more he knows than you. One might say that authors ought to be all-knowing, but Einstein and Feynman wrote books for public consumption that seemed much less \"superior\" in tone.\nthe level of depth and complexity fluctuates but that is not a problem in my opinion.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The chapters are well defined and are nicely divided into sections.\nBTW, I could certainly see the value of taking chunks from this book as helpful supplementary readings for a class. Unfortunately the author chose the no-derivs version of cc, so snipping out useful bits is not allowed, much less the broader type of community editing that might transform this very personal opus into a practical textbook.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The material is presented in a logical and well organized sequence.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"interface was fine; i prefer reading on paper so printed it out and this worked well.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammar was excellent and very clear.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"People mentioned in the parts i read are all white european or american males, mostly dead. This is hard to avoid due to the time period when the physics concepts discussed were discovered (17th through mid-20th C). \nThere is no explicitly offensive material, other than personal value judgements presented in the same context as biographical facts (eg, Feynmann as a failed aspirant to the accomplishment level of Pauli!)","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The author has taken an approach that seems unique, emphasizing the startling aspects of QM in order to ensure the reader's attention.  The first chapter is a list of statements most readers will find counterintuitive, which is clearly the author's goal. \nThis approach makes for an interesting book, on the lines of Hofstadter's Godel/Escher/Bach, or for that matter the Feynman lectures (famously intended for freshmen but actually useful by seniors). However, it may give readers an exaggerated view of the \"weirdness\" of quantum theory.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-adventure-of-physics-vol-iv-the-quantum-of-change","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:23.000-06:00"},{"id":158,"title":"The Adventure of Physics - Vol. V: Motion Inside Matter - Pleasure, Technology, and Stars","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":1990,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Curiosity about how bodies, images and empty space move leads to many adventures. This volume presents the best adventures about the motion inside people, inside animals, and inside any other type of matter – from the largest stars to the smallest nuclei. Motion inside bodies – dead or alive – is described by quantum theory. Quantum theory describes all motion with the quantum of action h, the smallest change observed in nature. Building on this basic idea, the text first shows how to describe life, death and pleasure. Then, the text explains the observations of chemistry, materials science, astrophysics and particle physics. In the structure of physics, these topics correspond to the three ‘quantum' points in Figure 1. The story of motion inside living and non-living matter, from the coldest gases to the hottest stars, is told here in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one sur- prise that makes the reader think. Also numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.' Clar- ifying things – and adhering only to the truth – requires courage, as changing the habits of thought produces fear, often hidden by anger. But by overcoming our fears we grow in strength. And we experience intense and beautiful emotions. All great adventures in life allow this, and exploring motion is one of them. Enjoy it!","contributors":[{"id":3798,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Christoph","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Schiller","location":null,"background_text":"Christoph Schiller, born in 1960, is European. Raised in Varese, he studied physics at the Universität Stuttgart and received his Ph.D. in physics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in the department of Ilya Prigogine. Christoph Schiller is an innovation manager. He is convinced that exploring and applying physics can provide as much pleasure as anything else in life - and he explains why in the present text. He started the Motion Mountain Textbook project in Yokohama in 1990, wrote most of the text in Eindhoven and is finishing it during his business trips."}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":13,"url":"http://www.motionmountain.net/index.html","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-26T13:13:13.000-05:00","name":"Motion Mountain"}],"formats":[{"id":26,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.motionmountain.net/#chocobot:~:text=Download%20the%20files%20separately%20here%3A","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":27,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/shop/christoph-schiller/motion-mountain-the-adventure-of-physics-vol-5-pleasure-technology-and-stars/paperback/product-20504398.html","price":{"cents":2177,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":null,"textbook_reviews_count":0,"reviews":[],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-adventure-of-physics-vol-v-motion-inside-matter-pleasure-technology-and-stars","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:23.000-06:00"},{"id":159,"title":"The Adventure of Physics - Vol. VI: The Strand Model - A Speculation on Unification","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2008,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book is written for anybody who is intensely curious about nature and motion. Have you ever asked: Why do people, animals, things, images and empty space move? The answer leads to many adventures, and this book presents one of the best of them: the search for a precise, unified and final description of all motion. The wish to describe all motion is a large endeavour. Fortunately, this large endeavour can be structured in the simple diagram shown in Figure 1. The final and unified descrip- tion of motion, the topic of this book, corresponds to the highest point in the diagram. Searching for this final and unified description is an old quest. In the following, I briefly summarize its history and then present an intriguing, though speculative solution to the riddle. The search for the final, unified description of motion is a story of many surprises. For example, twentieth-century research has shown that there is a smallest distance in nature. Research has also shown that matter cannot be distinguished from empty space at those small distances. A last surprise dates from this century: particles and space are best described as made of strands, instead of little spheres or points. The present text explains how to reach these unexpected conclusions. In particular, quantum field theory, the standard model of particle physics, general relativity and cosmology are shown to follow from strands. The three gauge interactions, the three particle generations and the three dimensions of space turn out to be due to strands. In fact, all the open questions of twentieth-century physics about the foundations of motion, all the millennium issues, can be solved with the help of strands. The strand model, as presented in this text, is an unexpected result from a threefold aim that I have pursued since 1990, in the five previous volumes of this series: to present the basics of motion in a way that is up to date, captivating and simple. In retrospect, the aim for maximum simplicity has been central in deducing this speculation. While the previous volumes introduced, in an entertaining way, the established parts of physics, this volume presents, in the same entertaining and playful way, a speculation about uni- fication. Nothing in this volume is established knowledge – yet. The text is the original presentation of the topic. The search for a final theory is one of the great adventures of life: it leads to the limits of thought. The search overthrows our thinking habits about nature. A change in think- ing habits can produce fear, often hidden by anger. But by overcoming our fears we gain strength and serenity. Changing thinking habits thus requires courage, but it also pro- duces intense and beautiful emotions. Enjoy them!","contributors":[{"id":3799,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Christoph","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Schiller","location":null,"background_text":"Christoph Schiller, born in 1960, is European. Raised in Varese, he studied physics at the Universität Stuttgart and received his Ph.D. in physics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in the department of Ilya Prigogine. Christoph Schiller is an innovation manager. He is convinced that exploring and applying physics can provide as much pleasure as anything else in life - and he explains why in the present text. He started the Motion Mountain Textbook project in Yokohama in 1990, wrote most of the text in Eindhoven and is finishing it during his business trips."}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":15,"url":"http://www.motionmountain.net/index.html","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-26T13:13:33.000-05:00","name":"Motion Mountain"}],"formats":[{"id":31,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.motionmountain.net/motionmountain-volume6.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":32,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/shop/christoph-schiller/motion-mountain-the-adventure-of-physics-vol-6-the-strand-model-a-speculation-on-unification/paperback/product-20504448.html","price":{"cents":2174,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":null,"textbook_reviews_count":0,"reviews":[],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-adventure-of-physics-vol-vi-the-strand-model-a-speculation-on-unification","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:24.000-06:00"},{"id":378,"title":"University Physics","edition_statement":null,"volume":"Volume 1","copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"University Physics is a three-volume collection that meets the scope and sequence requirements for two- and three-semester calculus-based physics courses. Volume 1 covers mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves. This textbook emphasizes connections between between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result.","contributors":[{"id":3896,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jeff","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Sanny","location":"Loyola Marymount University","background_text":"Dr. Jeff Sanny earned a BS in Physics from Harvey Mudd College in 1974 and a PhD in Solid State Physics from the University of California–Los Angeles in 1980. He joined the faculty at Loyola Marymount University in the fall of 1980. During his tenure, he has served as department Chair as well as Associate Dean. Dr. Sanny enjoys teaching introductory physics in particular. He is also passionate about providing students with research experience and has directed an active undergraduate student research group in space physics for many years."},{"id":3897,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Samuel","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Ling","location":"Truman State University","background_text":"Dr. Samuel Ling has taught introductory and advanced physics for over 25 years at Truman State University, where he is currently Professor of Physics and the Department Chair. Dr. Ling has two PhDs from Boston University, one in Chemistry and the other in Physics, and he was a Research Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, before joining Truman. Dr. Ling is also an author of A First Course in Vibrations and Waves, published by Oxford University Press. Dr. Ling has considerable experience with research in Physics Education and has published research on collaborative learning methods in physics teaching. He was awarded a Truman Fellow and a Jepson fellow in recognition of his innovative teaching methods. Dr. Ling’s research publications have spanned Cosmology, Solid State Physics, and Nonlinear Optics."}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":284,"url":"https://openstax.org/details/books/university-physics-volume-1","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","name":"OpenStax"}],"formats":[{"id":660,"type":"Online","url":"https://cnx.org/contents/1Q9uMg_a@11.28:Gofkr9Oy@17/Preface","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":661,"type":"PDF","url":"https://cnx.org/contents/1Q9uMg_a@11.28:Gofkr9Oy@17/Preface","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3621,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.amazon.com/University-Physics-Textbook-William-Moebs/dp/1998109038/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8\u0026qid=\u0026sr=","price":{"cents":7999,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":18,"reviews":[{"id":849,"first_name":"Lawrence","last_name":"Davis","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Umpqua Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Generally yes. Covers the topics typically covered in the first term of a calculus based introductory (200-level) physics course. I did not see an obviously located index, however the digital format of the book is searchable. However, this feature does not completely replace an index because some students buy a printed book. There is a glossary at the end of each section, but not a global glossary.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book is generally accurate. Inaccuracies are not related to content, but rather to typographic errors and such. More importantly, a site exists where errata can be submitted by users and those submissions can be seen by users. https://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/university-physics-volume-1/errata","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text is written and arranged in similar fashion to standard texts on the subject, which have not changed much over a decade or more. The main updates are links to Phet simulations and other resources, however if the locationsURL of these resources changes then those links will be broken until updated.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Overall, the language and format appears to be less technical/formal than some standard texts, such as Halliday. Most students these days supplement the text with other resources such as video lectures and simulations, and open courseware, which I encourage. However, this means convincing students to read the text in-depth is even more difficult than in the past. The less formal language may help with this, and students comprehend the material at a level such that student outcomes will be affected by the slight reduction in rigor. Certain sections dealing with common misconceptions, such as centrifugal force, were given specific treatment with careful language, which is important.\nThe writing style often uses the word \"this\" in a paragraph of text with \"this\" referencing a concept described in a previous sentence or paragraph, which might possibly lead to confusion for students. ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"This appears to be the case. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Yes, it is extensively subdivided, even using headings, textbox background color, and text size/font to organize information. At times it appears to be overly differentiated, possibly to the point of distraction, but that may be a personal issue. Students might appreciate the level of differentiation. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in the same general order as standard textbooks on the subject. Some sections within chapters are ordered differently. This appeared to be purposeful, but at times possibly convoluted, such as calling chapter 10 Fixed axis rotation and then including rolling motion at the beginning of the Chapter titled Angular Momentum before any discussion of angular momentum is presented. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Generally the figures, links, graphic quality are sufficient with few exceptions. I found the quality to be generally higher than OpenStax College Physics, which had some issues with low quality graphics. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Generally appeared acceptable, I am not an expert on grammar. See comments in the Clarity categories. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I did not notice anything offensive, however there did not appear to be a significant representation of a variety of ethnicities represented in graphics and diagrams. Gender representation was somewhat more level. I did not read every chapter problem. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Planning to adopt starting fall 2017, I will be asking students for their opinions on the text. ","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":871,"first_name":"Chadwick","last_name":"Young","position":"Professor of Physics","institution_name":"Nicholls State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is the first in a 3-volume set.  It covers all of classical mechanics along with waves and oscillations.  It is appropriate for a calculus-based physics course in a 3-semester sequence.  Combined with the other volumes, it can be adapted to use in a 2-semester sequence.\n\nThe book does have an excellent index in the PDF version.  Online, it has searchable content, but I could not find an index.  The table of contents, however, should be sufficient for a student to use it as a reference book.\n\nThe book does have a glossary for each chapter, giving the meaning of bolded words throughout.  These definitions are concise and accurate.\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate.  I’ve reviewed chapter 4, which is on 2-dimensional motion.  The authors give a nice treatment of vectors, projectile, and circular motion.  I like how they bring in more advanced topics, like Brownian motion, as they present these ideas.  Instead of dealing with generic vectors, like many textbooks, the authors present only the displacement, velocity, and acceleration vectors.  I prefer to present vectors mathematically first, without physical context, but I’ll try this next semester.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This is a solid, introductory, calculus-based physics text.  I expect these basics of physics to last long beyond what anyone can envision.  The pedagogy, too, is up-to-date.  The students get lots of practice as they work through each section.  However, I’d love to see Concept Coach and/or Tutor implemented for this book.  Physics is difficult without deliberate and spaced practice.  These tools can help the student to master physics.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Of course, the book does use appropriate language, which will be unfamiliar with most students.  However, the vocabulary builds in each chapter, and the text has links back to previous material when it is referenced in the chapter.  Of course, the PDF doesn’t have the same linkable text.  Again, the glossary does offer good, simple definitions of bolded words.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This book is consistent.  It uses terminology from chapter to chapter, but it always refers back to technical terms in previous chapters with handy links.  The framework, too, builds in each chapter.  Students learn skills—vector math, eg.—that they continue to use in the ensuing chapters.  Of course, physics is a particularly good subject for such building.  The reason I love physics is because it is consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Like many physics texts, this book is divided into appropriate and small sections.  Chapter 4, for example, is divided into 5 sections.  A professor can assign a particular section per day as the students (or before) cover the material in class.  Indeed, these sections do not disrupt the reading but, instead, provide convenient breaks that allow the reader to pause and reflect.  At the end of each section, the authors have included conceptual questions and practice problems so the reader can ensure their own mastery of the material.\n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As I stated previously, I might not present these topics in this particular order.  For example, I like to cover centripetal forces with rotation.  However, these issues are very minor.  The authors follow a putative order for presenting the topics; this order is used by many textbooks.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues here.  The OpenStax folks have their game together.  Figures are clear and well-labeled.  The online interface, which I prefer over the PDF, is easy to use.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn’t notice any grammatical errors.  It has, in my opinion, better writing than some other standard books (Halliday, Serway, Tipler, etc.).  ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Of the 6 cartoon figures, all were white, and 2 were women.  However, the people presented in these figures are small and not a big part of the text.  In fact, 4 of the characters were partially obscured by masks or sporting equipment.  The book does not take extra measures to make minorities feel included.    \n\nThe text is not offensive in any way (unless someone hates physics!!).  \n","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Great book!  I intend to use it next year.  I'd love to see some online tools like Tutor or Concept Coach, even if for a fee.  I'd likely use them in my course.","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1156,"first_name":"Dexian","last_name":"Ye","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook (university physics volume 2) covers two units of introductory physics, thermodynamics and E\u0026amp;M, although usually we do not combine these two units in a one-semester course in our institute. The electricity and magnetism part can serve as a standalone textbook for a one-semester calculus based university physics course. All the topics in a similar course I offered for many years can be found in this textbook. Volume 2 ends at the discussion of Maxwell's equations and the E\u0026amp;M waves. It is very easy to adapt the material in the textbook to a common university physics course to cover electricity and magnetism. There are many wonderful examples to show the students how to apply the concepts discussed in the text. And the sets of homework are particularly useful for the teachers and students. However, if your course is designed to manage homework online, for example, LON-CAPA, you probably need some time to write the codes in order to use the homework problems. In my course, I continue with diffraction of waves and ray optics. If the authors can change the outline of the contents to include optics in volume 2, that will be wonderful.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The concepts and examples in this textbook are accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"For a university physics course focus on electricity and magnetism, the content is similar to most of the textbooks in the market. The contents presented in this textbook are up-to-date and require a minimum amount of updates.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The concepts are clearly explained with sometimes good examples to go with them. The text is easy to read. For a student took calculus courses, there is no difficulty of understanding the mathematics used in the examples and the equations.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The connections and the framework of the topics presented in this textbook are standard, thus it is very consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The layout of the textbook is very clear. All the modules can be readily adapted and divided into smaller reading sections and lecture notes.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"It is a very clear structure of the topics. This structure is common and similar to other commercial available textbooks.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The equations in the textbook are highlighted and hyperlinked. So, it is very easy to navigate.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors so far.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Some of the cartoon drawings are not high quality. For example, Figures 6.3, 6.4, 6.6, 6.7, it is not easy to see the 3-d drawings of the pictures. If the pictures were drawn using a professional software, the textbook would be beautiful. Similar thing is the equation, particularly when a vector is involved.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1572,"first_name":"Braxton","last_name":"Boren","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book strikes an effective balance between rigor and breadth. It introduces key concepts slowly enough to help many beginners become comfortable with Physics concepts without being overwhelmed. It also allows for a dependable reference for more advanced students, who can cover the material more quickly but will not be bored by the presentation. I worked some of the advanced challenge problems given throughout and they seemed to be sufficiently rigorous for an advanced student to challenge herself or himself.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content seems thorough and accurate throughout. The one not-quite error I found was in the chapter on sound which presented resonance pipe antinodes occurring at open ends and nodes at closed ends. This is true but only for displacement, not pressure, which is at least misleading since all of sound covered up to that point dealt with pressure, and the diagrams didn't clearly state what was being measured.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This is the best free general physics textbook I have found so far, and it provides examples and application points which point to relevant technology and cultural phenomena, but usually in a general enough way that it does not require a separate update every 5 years. One exception is the photo of an early iPhone as an example of GPS - it already looks a bit dated given the pace of cell phone updates, and I expect it will seem moreso to students as time goes on, given the familiarity of this generation with the latest in smartphone technology.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"I liked the text pretty well. A couple of times it seemed they were glossing over something or leaving something as a challenge problem without fully grounding it in theory, but this was the exception rather than the rule.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The book is pretty consistent, although the order of presentation of subject necessitates some fluctuation on that count. Later chapters on waves and sound go back and forth between being a bit over-didactic, introducing lots of concepts, and then being extremely mathematical, referencing concepts such as kinetic and potential energy of the wave, introducing lots of equations. I expected the book overall to be more consistently math-y throughout, but the use of text blocks to introduce other applications was not uncalled for, and I think many students would respond positively to it.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I am considering using part of this textbook for a graduate course on acoustics that I teach. It will need to be supplemented with other sound-centric materials since even this book's chapters on sound focus more on physical acoustics than perception of sound or musical sound. Still, there were some diagrams and sections that were better than some texts I have used in the past, and since it's free I don't have to worry about students paying $200 for a text they only read part of.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I would have restructured the order of some of the concepts, probably waiting on waves until after a more thorough introduction of Newtonian mechanics and E/M. But these are always contentious issues in physics education.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Once I increased the text size, the online version was fairly easy to read. Sometimes I did not care much for the format, layout, text-to-space ratios, etc, but those may be different in the pdf version. Some of the photo figures likewise do not seem to be neatly formatted.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't notice any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"In the sense that physics is trying to study the universal, so too does this book. There are some unavoidable cultural references in the application points, but those seem considered and not focused on any one place or people group.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"In general, this is a good book for intro physics classes. I will probably not make it my only textbook for my acoustics course, but I may use it so supplement some wave concepts here and there.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1800,"first_name":"John","last_name":"Shaw","position":"Lab Manager/supplemental faculty","institution_name":"University of Delaware","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"University Physics, Volume 1 by Ling, Sanny and Moebs covers the typical topics found in a first semester physics course.  The example problems are well worked out.  Students who are familiar with traditional textbooks should have no problem using this one.  There are concepts of vector manipulation and use of spherical and cylindrical coordinates that are missing.  Overall, if an online homework system is not needed, this is a decent textbook for beginning students.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"There are no major errors, but some items are a misleading.  E.g., Figure 3 in section 4.1 is disorienting by having North and East directions both point radially outward from the Earth.  The explanation of torque and angular momentum is typically not robust and the examples are confusing.  I would suggest rewriting this section or supplementing it.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content of the book is about physics over a century old (300 years in most cases).  The material is not going to change but I suspect that interactive online resources will supplant the text pasted online that is here.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The examples are clearly explained.  In an online setting, interactive applets or at minimum some animations would help a lot.  The 3D diagrams could be replaced with non-static images (either slow rotating gif or user controlled POV).  I think that’s a missed opportunity.  The “solutions” to some problems are simply answers, not a step by step solution that would be helpful to students.  I also dislike the large number of derived equations presented in lists.  This gives the impression that memorization of the equations is important, not applying the simple principles and doing the necessary algebra, trigonometry or calculus.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in its use of terms and variables.  However, summations are done early in the text without indices (Newton’s Laws) but are fixed in the section equilibrium.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"There is little ability to skip around as most of the material builds on previous chapters.  This is inherent in introductory physics, anyway.  It is possible to skip around a bit.  E.g., you could cover parts of universal gravitation right after Newton’s Laws and return to potential energy and Kepler’s laws when covering those concepts.  Same would be possible with covering momentum prior to work and energy.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization is similar to that in many other texts, nothing surprising.  The introduction of momentum/Impulse should be done with Newton’s Laws and then collisions handled after the introduction of KE.  This is a problem with most texts, anyway.  The material generally flows smoothly.  There are appropriate hyperlinks to other material in the text.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The interface is easy to use.  I think it would be better to embed interactive examples rather than hyperlink to external material.  But because it is easy to click and see some related material (within or external to the text), there is some advantage to the interface over a paper text.  ","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"None noticed except the summation indices (e.g. in the net force eqn.).","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The topic is culturally neutral as is this text.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"I would recommend the text if there is no requirement for an online homework system.  I will also list it in future as an additional resource for the students.  This would also be helpful to anyone needing to refresh some of the more basic concepts.  If cost is a primary concern on textbook adoption, this makes a good choice.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1867,"first_name":"Paul","last_name":"McKenna","position":"Senior Lecturer/Learning \u0026 Teaching Lead","institution_name":"Glasgow Caledonian University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is very comprehensive covering every aspect of a major physics first year at any University. It is well orgainised and follows a traditional logical order, ie. units \u0026amp; dimensions, mechanics, heat, E\u0026amp;M,Optics \u0026amp; Modern Physics etc., There are a great number of original questions and problems, with a range of difficulty, and an Instructors manual is available to registered instructors. There are also slides and a students solutions manual.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"There are no discernible errors in the text and each topic is dealt with in the professional way you would expect of a physics text.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The books contents are standard basic (but comprehensive) physics. There is plenty of room for expansion within the text. but perhaps a pitful is its comprehensiveness and there fore size, for all three volumes 2500+ pages, altough that will last most courses getting on two full years. Includes discussion, some questions and problems on Higgs boson for example.   ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"the volumes are somwhat dense in parts with small text but none the less very readable. there are plenty of two tone diagrams and full colour pictures to aid the reader. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"the team of authors over the three volumes have provided a consistency of approach in nomenclature and units etc.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"this could be improved upon a bit. It is quote cumbersome to edit the book and extract pieces that are not whole sections or whole chapters. an more eaisly editable form would be welcomed.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book follows an very familiar traditional flow that will be familiar to all physics majors. It would be best, stating the obvious, to start at the begingin and following the book through in chapter order. This is more to do with the subject matter than the book.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no problems with the layout or interface of the material.  All equations and diagrams are clear and pristine in theit native form.\nHowever they do not so easly lend them selves to editing.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Overall the texts are written in a clear style free from any gammatilcal errors","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"N/A","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This would be the best resource I have ever found - IF - it was easier to edit and use in a bespoke way.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1885,"first_name":"Don","last_name":"McGlinchey","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Glasgow Caledonian University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Excellent and detailed coverage of mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves at early years university study.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"A well established text where errors and inaccuracy is not apparent on first read through.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Text covers the fundamental of physics which will not date and examples and questions are relevant and current. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written with a use of language and clarity that makes it accessible to students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Formatting, layout, etc. are consistent within chapters and throughout the book. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters have a structure that would allow individual sections to be assigned and chapters could be delivered in alternative ordering.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The physics content in the text follows a logical and coherent order.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I have not found any problems with the book's interface [using pdf version].","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have not found grammatical errors in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I have not found anything in the book that would be considered culturally insensitive or offensive. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2192,"first_name":"Darrell","last_name":"Lim","position":"Faculty","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text follows a very common theme when it comes to how the content is covered: first start off with basic math, then go into kinematics, then dynamics, followed by work and energy, then momentum. They add in rotational aspects of all mechanics scattered about a few chapters, which I personally wouldn't do. But, I do understand the ideas behind not thinking of rotational motion as it's own entity to study, but rather apart of other concepts in physics. All in all, though, courses often stop at momentum, but this text delves into various applications of theory starting from Static Equilibrium and Elasticity (Chapter 12).","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"It’s hard to be biased in a science textbook. I found no bias and the content seems accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The section on Units and Standards talk about the redefining of the kilogram using fundamental constants. This indicates that the text is regularly updated.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I really appreciate their strict use of symbols to form accurate equations, whereas some textbooks might leave them out. For example, the line consistently place on top of the velocity symbol, v, indicates the average of that quantity and not simply the quantity at one point in time. This is important to fostering student understanding through consistency. They do make the assumption (which was explained in text) with t0 being zero very early on. I would feel it be helpful to linger the t0 symbol for a while before making such assumptions so the students knows that the t0 doesn’t simply disappear for no apparent reason. \nI think this book is clear to the reader in a hurry, but not too much in a hurry. Some sentences are a little hard to understand if the context isn’t clear.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"One note on consistency is that this text uses a lot of content (especially in the early chapters) and images that were used in the OpenStax College Physics text. I actually really liked this as this can serve as an alleviation of students’ cognitive dissonance when taking University Physics after completing College Physics. Also, the image choice is quality, and so should be used multiple times in the same subject. I like how the two texts, in a way, talk to each other with respect to content. \nThe gray Example box is especially well put-together. In each box, there is a question, strategy, solution, and significance section. This is consistent throughout the text, although very few times the significance part is left out.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text has four types of non-lecture box-types within the reading: Learning Objectives, Examples, Check Your Understanding, and boxes that highlight an important equation or concept. The first three boxes give the reader the opportunity to preview the material in an organized fashion, learn from examples (if the generalized instructions don’t make clear sense), and reviewing what was learned. The last box highlights what’s important for problem-solving and is easily re-accessible for later use. This is a very helpful pedagogical tool. \nI would like to see more boxing of useful equations and concepts. For example, on the section of Significant Figures, they write out the rule in text form without any highlighting of the short description of the rule itself. I’m not sure if that was purposefully done for pedagogical means, but I would have listed the rules for finding significant figures in an easily viewable manner.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The flow is common in many textbooks. I generally want to group like-concepts together, but I understand that many textbooks are going in the direction of explaining concepts as they come along and use them right away. This is a new and potentially promising procedure for texts. I found it interesting to talk about common types of forces AFTER going over all of Newton’s Laws. I would have had trouble doing any example problems for Newton’s Second Law, for example, without first going over types of forces that students will encounter. They used DRAG and FRICTION in their examples, and then only talked about FRICTION briefly in the next few sections. I found that a little displeasing.\nOn another note, I find that oscillation and waves are usually coupled with optics and electricity/magnetism. However, in the three-volume set here, oscillation and waves are in Volume I while Optics are in Volume III.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"As far as interface goes, I found no flaws in the images, text, and equations.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I find nothing offensive in this text. The text makes human examples very impersonal (in a good way) and doesn’t really give names to them. Example, they refer to a person walking on a train in Example 7.7 as “person”.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I am thinking of using this text for future calculus-based class I teach. Though there are very few issues with the text that I, personally, would like changed, the overall quality is on par with texts that students have to purchase.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2403,"first_name":"Klebert","last_name":"Feitosa","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"A typical course in introductory physics must cover a pretty standard set of topics. This text does a very good job at visiting all of them, following a standard presentation sequence that begins with a chapter on units and measurements and ends with a comprehensive discussion of wave mechanics. It often connects the subject with contemporary applications, with some relevant topics treated in the problem set, including examples of bio-inspired problems. In some cases it goes beyond the standard text, for example, when incorporates detailed calculus derivations and the presentation of advanced topics such as relativity (at the end of the chapter on gravitation) and Poiseuille and turbulent flows (in the chapter on fluid mechanics). The only major absence is the treatment of wave optics, which is discussed at length in volume III, where electromagnetic waves and  modern physics are discussed.\r\n\r\nA comprehensive list of problems is included at the end of each chapter. The problem sets are conveniently divided into conceptual questions and regular problems, both grouped according to the chapter sections. A set of additional problems and challenge problems complements the problem set. Answer keys for some of the problems are provided in the back of the book.\r\n\r\nThe text has an index with essential physics terms and a basic table of contents. An extensive glossary appears at the end of each chapter, which is convenient. \r\n","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"This text deals mostly with mechanics, oscillations and wave mechanics. The reviewer has not found any significant problems related to accuracy either in the text or examples proposed. The few issues found are listed below.\r\n\r\nOne minor issue found in the text is its use of the term “weight” for the action of the force of gravity on the object. Despite of being the practice in old physics textbooks, this choice can easily become a difficult conceptual problem for students for two main reasons. First, students normally associate weight with mass and this can be confusing. Second, while the action of the force of gravity on an object is always mass x acceleration of gravity, regardless of the situation, the sensation we normally describe as weight is associated with the normal force. This is particularly evident in problems that involve loops. In a roller coaster, for example, the passenger experiences greater \"weight\" at the bottom of the loop due to the normal force, which is larger than the force of gravity on the object to provide enough centripetal acceleration. Instructors must be aware of the issue and warn students about the subtleties associated with the use of “weight” for the force of gravity.\r\n\r\nIn the problem set, there were a few issues spotted and listed below:\r\n\r\n1) In chapter 2, which introduces vectors, a number of problems involve forces.  This is great, except that forces have not been defined yet. It may be a good idea to at least talk a little about the concept before assigning these problems.\r\n2) Problem 4.26 illustrates a common bothersome thing: the right-hand-side of the equation has incorrect units, unless t is a unitless quantity, which is not stated in the problem and incompatible with t being associated with time. This happens fairly frequently with their “calculus-like” problems.\r\n3) Problem 5.27 it is quite confusing when asks to find the ill-defined quantity “the acceleration of a system.”  The main problem here is that the concept of a center of mass has not yet been introduced, which would be necessary to solve the problem properly.\r\n4) Problem 9.27 is a bit silly. It asks to find an average force using the concept of impulse of an object of known mass, but to do so requires first finding the acceleration (which we are told to assume is constant); so, one can answer the question half-way through the problem.  Not incorrect, but kind of silly.\r\n5) Problem 9.36 has a remarkably misleading illustration.\r\n6) Problem 12.38 again has a picture that is quite misleading.\r\n\r\nThese are some issues that have been spotted in this review. It is quite possible that there are others, most likely in the problem set. Nevertheless, it is important to note that OpenStax has a transparent process of review and correction of errata. In their website one can find a list of past errata changes and the current version of the text.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Apart from the fact that the physics covered in the book has not changed for the past 200 years, and yet it is still relevant, the text tries to maintain its relevance by using contemporary applications both in the examples and in the problem sets.  Examples of this effort is found in several places, for example, Section 6.4 on drag force and terminal speed, which includes a discussion of contemporary applications for reducing aerodynamics and hydrodynamic drag, and Section 8.5 on sources of energy, where a discussion of energy uses and clean energy is presented. Often times contemporary applications problems appear in the Example Problems, such as Example 9.9, 10.3, and 11.3, or in the Challenge Problems section.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This text is written in a clear way and its prose is perfectly appropriate for the audience it is intended for--college students with background in algebra, trigonometry and some basic concepts of calculus. It often describes the historical context of physical principles it introduces. One example is the discussion of dynamics in Section 5.1 right before forces and the history of Gravitation in section 13.1. It includes several opportunities for the reader to see the direct application of the theory developed in the text with appropriate examples. The examples always end with a section discussing its significance, feasibility and physical meaning. The text also includes “check your understanding” sections (followed by a with a distinguished icon), where the reader is invited to think about small variations of the example to test his or her comprehension of the problem. \r\n\r\nOther aspects that improve the readability of the text and enhance its clarity are:\r\n1) Clear and helpful images and diagrams. \r\n2) Yellow boxes highlighting important equations\r\n3) Blue boxes highlighting important concepts or strategies.\r\n4) Use of bold face for jargon and technical terminology, whose definitions are provided in the glossary at the end of each chapter.\r\n5) Several external links to simulations and other media to enhance understanding.\r\n","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"For this review no problems were found with internal consistency of the symbols, equations or terminology provided in the text.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"As expected for a text in introductory physics, there are serious difficulties with modularity. The chapters follow a logic exposition of concepts that naturally builds on previous chapters. In this sense the textbook is not modular and each chapter develops concepts found in previous ones. On the other hand, the chapters themselves are well organized and it is easy to select sections from a chapter for a course with a specific goal. The fact that a large portion of the problem sets follows the chapter divisions it is also very helpful, since one can easily select the problems relevant for the sections in consideration. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The presentation of the text is clear and follows a typical sequence of subjects in standard introductory physics textbooks.  Nice aspects of its organization are:\r\n1) Chapter outlines in the beginning of every chapter.\r\n2) A description of the learning objectives in the beginning of each section.\r\n3) Subsections within the sections for further organization of topics.\r\n4) Clearly selected areas for examples with clearly divided subsections that help navigate the solution.\r\n5) Chapter reviews that include glossary of terms, key equations and summary.\r\n6) Practice problem sets divided in “conceptual” and “problems” grouped by the same sections found in the chapter, plus additional problems and challenge problems.\r\n7) Inclusion of “unreasonable results” problems designed to challenge students to evaluate the physical reasonableness of the assumptions and calculations.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The textbook can be accessed in the following platforms: physical hard copy, PDF files that can be downloaded from the site, interfaced in a web browser, iBook version for apple devices, and app for android.\r\n\r\nThe PDF version has hyperlinks in the table of content that greatly helps navigation. It also has hyperlinks for the external content. Other than that, the PDF is identical to the hard-copy version of the textbook.\r\n\r\nThe presentation of the book in a web browser has a few features that distinguishes it from the PDF version. It has a table of content navigation window that can be deployed for faster navigation, a search tab that is really handy to find specific content in the text, and forward and backward buttons to transition between sections of a chapter. It also contains tabs at the bottom with specific information about Download versions, Errata History, Attribution and Full Reference Information. Finally the web version contains a slightly better design than the PDF version, with examples showing in different backgrounds and an improved rendition of equations. The text is filled with hyperlinks to sections references in the text and external links. One downside, however, is the fact that bold face words do not have hyperlinks to their definitions in the glossary. Overall the presentation in a web browser is superior than in the hard-copy version and it is obviously easier for navigation.\r\n\r\nThe iBook version of the text is the one that has the most pleasing visual presentation of the text. Several items of the text are available as separate windows that pop up or scroll down. They are: example problems, figures, list of learning objectives, special sections on problem solving strategies, and solutions to “check your understanding” challenges. Another great feature of the iBook version is the ability to highlight the text and write notes. This can be a game changer for classes that require reading as an integral part of the learning experience. Finally the problem section has a number of resource boxes at the bottom of the page including chapter figures, chapter formulas, units and symbols, mathematical formulas, and conversion factors, among others. These are available as appendices in the regular textbook. This is by far one of the most helpful features in the iBook version. On the downside, the iBook version is not free, but can be bought for less than ten dollars.\r\n\r\nOpenStax also offer an Android App for the book. The book in the app looks and feels like the web browser version of the book. There is none of the nice features available in the iBook version. Some of the equations have a few typesetting problems and the text is better displayed in landscape than in portrait direction.\r\n\r\nIn all of these interfaces, the images, texts and diagrams appear clear and sharp, with no distortions. All the hyperlinks tested work as expected.\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"In this review, no grammatical errors were found.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The text is mostly gender neutral and has no culturally insensitive or offensive language. The problem sets are gender inclusive and uses both “he” and “she” pronouns as well as illustrations of both male and female characters. However, the same cannot be said about race, ethnicity or backgrounds. The overwhelming majority of people depicted are Caucasian and there are only a few examples of people from different races. No people from different ethnic groups are depicted in the illustrations.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This book also comes with an array of features for the instructor. They are:\r\n1) PowerPoint Slides\r\n2) Instructor solutions guide (note that it is not the complete solution for the problems but only the correct answer with a few comments)\r\n3) Canvas Course Cartridge\r\n\r\nIn addition OpenStax offer a browser extension - Insert Learning - that allows instructors to customize the text by inserting questions, discussions, notes and additional media. This is a feature that can really enhance the textbook.\r\n\r\nOverall University Physics I from OpenStax is a very good book, rich in resources, created with deep concern for quality content and seamlessly integration in electronic platforms. Its minor flaws are nothing compared to the advantage of being cost free or very low cost. It is well worth adoption.  \r\n","created_at":"2018-11-25T14:50:14.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-11-25T14:50:14.000-06:00"},{"id":2440,"first_name":"Jogindra","last_name":"Wadehra","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Wayne State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Almost all the universities offer a two- or three-semester long calculus- based course in physics.  Typically, this course is taken by undergraduate majors in science and engineering.  The book by Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny and William Moebs covers all the appropriate subject materials that are needed by science and engineering majors.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"All the basic concepts and ideas of physics are described accurately in this textbook. Majority of these ideas and concepts have been known for more than a hundred years.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"It is highly unlikely that basic notions of physics, as known at the level of this textbook, will change and become obsolete during foreseeable future.  It is a fair assumption that this textbook will stay quite relevant for a reasonable period of time. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Even though the book is written in a very clear and straighforward language, there are certain places where much more information is provided than is necessary to explain and understand basic laws and principles of physics.  For example, a student taking his/her first course in physics might not appreciate idea behind Fermi calculations of Chapter 1.  In fact, all the ideas presented in Chapter 1 can be covered in one lecture period.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book seems to be consistent in terminology.  While using this book in the classroom, no inconsistencies were discovered or found.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter in the book is divided into various subsections.  Furthermore, each subsection starts with a list of Learning Objectives.  This modularity makes it easy for the instructor to take out certain subsections in the class if time is limited.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is organized into 17 chapters and the contents of each chapter are outlined in the beginning of each chapter.  Depending on the available time, it is possible to omit a certain chapter without losing the flow of lectures.  In my own case, while teaching this course I was able to omit chapter 14 (Fluid Mechanics) without losing my continuity to the next chapter.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Even though there are no significant interface issues, it appears as if some material has been taken from other sources (such as internet) without cleaning it up for this textbook.  For example, the last column of Figure 1.4 labels a heartbeat with symbols P, Q, R, S, and T, which are never explained.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The language in the prose of the textbook is mostly free from any grammatical errors.  The reading of the book flows very easily and smoothly.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not see or find any part of the textbook that can be considered culturally insensitive or offensive.  All laws of physics apply equally across all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Overall, I like this first-semester textbook of physics.  However, in my opinion, the textbook has very few challenging honors-level problems.  Majority of the problems are one-step plug and chug kind of problems.  At our university, we offer two separate sections of calculus-based physics, one for regular students and the other for honors students.  It would be nice to include some additional multi-step problems that can be assigned only to honors students.\r\n\r\nA personal note:  Last year when I received a paper copy of this textbook from the publisher for teaching my class, it came in a total black-and-white format.  Various figures in that edition were in several shades of gray.  Now, for review purposes when I opened the pdf version of the same book online, I was pleasantly surprised to see it in color.  I assure you that coloring of various parts of any textbook is simply wonderful.\r\n","created_at":"2018-12-04T15:35:21.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-12-04T15:35:21.000-06:00"},{"id":3246,"first_name":"Andy","last_name":"Hollerman","position":"Professor","institution_name":"ULL","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Some of the drawings are too basic.  I don't want the authors to go overboard here and try and duplicate other for cost books.  They need to improve the drawings some while keeping them simple.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"I found quite a few typos in the text.  The physics is well presented.  They need to fix the typos.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Book material is very up to date and relevant. ","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"This book is a bit wordy.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"There needs to be an edit to make the material more consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Chapters can be taught out of order.  This book is modular.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization is normal.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is good.","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"There are many typos in the book and problems.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"This book could become a classic!","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"I want there to be one more good edit for typos and to improve the drawings and sketches before I adopt this book for class.","created_at":"2019-11-01T14:04:32.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-11-01T14:04:32.000-05:00"},{"id":3282,"first_name":"Wayne","last_name":"Fischer","position":"Student Success Coordinator/Adjunct Instructor","institution_name":"Treasure Valley Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is comprehensive covering the traditional aspects of a classical physics first year at any College or University. It is well organized and follows a traditional logical order, ie. units \u0026 dimensions, mechanics, heat, E\u0026M, Optics \u0026 Modern Physics etc., There are a great number of original questions and problems, with a range of difficulty, although most of the problems are too simple and repeat the same basic concepts.  ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"So far all problems I have worked through are accurate and up to date examples.  I have only found one typological error in an example problem, but the answer was correct based on putting the parentheses in the correct place.  I submitted the errors via their site where errata can be submitted by users and those submissions can be seen by users. https://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/university-physics-volume-1/errata","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The section on Units and Standards talks about the redefining of the kilogram using fundamental constants. This indicates that the text is regularly updated.  There are also problems using modern objects such as drones or contemporary cars which helps make the problems more engaging.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"In general, the book is lucid and accessible.  Sometimes the steps for calculating the calculus problems are not detailed enough so that for a student who is currently learning calculus it is tough for them to follow the logic and steps.  There are times when the book is a little too simplistic and feels like Middle School level of reading, and then there are times when the reading is dense and needs to be explained more clearly.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is very consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"There is little room to skip around as most of the material builds on previous chapters. This is normal in any introductory physics course and tough to avoid. So hard to imagine how to do it otherwise.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book follows the basic pattern of most introductory physics books.  It would be nice to have an overview of calculus for students that are currently taking calculus while taking the physics class.  Also seems like gravity should be introduced during the discussion of Newton's Laws of Motion.  Fine overall though.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The Interface has been great.  However, the PDF sometimes has confusing to read equations in the way they are written but looks fine on the online format.  I wish there were links to videos or demonstrations of solving problems.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammar is fantastic overall for the book.  Found only one-word choice that should be the opposite of the word used.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The topic is culturally neutral and has no offensive terms used in it.  And it attempts to use female and male genders in problems, although one example had them mixed up.  ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The book is good overall for a basic classical physics class using Calculus.  There are times when it is too simplistic and not enough depth with examples, and the homework has been too simple.  I also found all the problems already worked out on Slader, so it makes it hard to use if you don't want the students to know what the answers are before attempting the homework problems.  Works great with Canvas cartridge and has Powerpoints and can link up with other LMS homework systems.  Also, there a separate lab needs to be developed to go along with the book, although there are links to demos that could be used as a very simple lab experience.","created_at":"2019-11-13T16:14:34.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-13T16:14:34.000-06:00"},{"id":3446,"first_name":"Andrew","last_name":"Park","position":"Physics Instructor","institution_name":"College of Alameda,  Peralta Community College District","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers all topics covered in first-semester engineering physics in sufficient detail.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I haven't seen major errors in one semester (Fall 2019) of using this textbook as the sole required textbook for my class. Students are encouraged (through extra credit) to report errors and I have not seen many reported. N.B. as with all books, there are typos and minor errors; no other publisher has as open and transparent process for errata report and review as OpenStax does.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The organization of the textbook is completely standard for engineering physics (and Volume 1 happens to match exactly with the first semester at my school).","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"It is certainly accessible---the textbook is on the longer side compared to other similar textbooks, which might suggest that a future edition (or a derived version) might be able to shorten some sections without losing content---but the content that exist are accessible and comprehensible.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Yes---and in minor cases where they weren't (e.g. consistent use of theta or phi for angles), I submitted errata reports, some of which have already been acted on.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Yes---I particularly like the organization of Units 1 and 2. While at my college, both units are covered in the same semester, not all colleges cover engineering physics sequences in the same order, and the separate organization of Units 1 and 2 makes it more likely that entirety of Unit 1 can be taught in one semester (and the \"floating topics\" in Unit 2 might fit in a different semester/quarter).","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Yes, the ordering of topics is completely standard for engineering physics (of course, some have experimented with nontraditional ordering, including Feyman's lectures at Caltech, but it's good to have a \"vanilla\" textbook as a starting place).","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The online version has recently undergone a significant upgrade (and I think it's an improvement over the old version---I personally agree with the trade-off made between usability and making past versions more readily available). The PDF version has always been fairly usable (there were always some minor issues regarding where line/paragraph breaks are relative to the page, but those are only minor distractions, except perhaps to the graphic designers).","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed very few grammatical errors in one semester of using this textbook for my class.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The figures and examples do try to be inclusive of all genders, ethnicities, and cultures. While physics as a discipline continues to struggle with gender representations and authentic inclusion of underrepresented minority groups, this textbook is no worse than any other textbook currently on the market.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is a great textbook that is a great resource to all teachers and students of calculus-based general physics. Physics education is an area in which we are always trying to improve (and sometimes make a progress in; sometimes fall behind in certain areas), and while this textbook breaks no new ground, it gives a wonderful, traditional starting place---and its open license means would-be pioneers don't have to re-make the whole wheel; just improve on parts that have been pain points for you and your students.","created_at":"2019-12-31T20:22:15.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-31T20:22:15.000-06:00"},{"id":3595,"first_name":"Catherine","last_name":"Whiting","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Bates College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers all topics typically found in an introductory level calculus based physics text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content of the text is accurate, but there are frequent errors in the solutions manual.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content of the text is up to date and the open source nature of the text makes it easier to update than traditional texts.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The presentation of topics is made in a clear, accessible, and approachable way, including many visuals and examples.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"There are a few instances where the choice of symbols is confusing, but otherwise the text is consistent in terminology.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I used this text for readings in my class, but my presentation of topics in the course differed immensely from the organization of the text (which is similar to most traditional physics textbooks).  Yet, it was relatively easy to assign subsections of the text for readings and jump around to different chapters without requiring content from previous chapters.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in the traditional fashion for introductory physics, i.e. mechanics first and then conservation laws.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Many of my students used the app feature and appreciated the ability to use links to different sections of the text rather than flipping through pages.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors that I noticed.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"There are only a few cultural or historical references, most of which are typical for an introductory physics course.  The images and cartoon figures of people are overwhelmingly male.  Much more effort could be made to include examples and figures of people from a variety of races and ethnicities.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I surveyed my students on their thoughts on this text.  Overall, they preferred this text over a traditional paid textbook.  In addition to the low cost for a print copy or no cost at all, the students appreciated the app and pdf formats, so that it was easily accessible.  They found it was clear and easy to read, but perhaps not as comprehensive and detailed as other texts.  I found that the presentation of topics and examples were better than traditional physics texts, but the homework problems were typically too easy (or too challenging) and I did not appreciate the Unreasonable Results type of homework problem.  There are still many errors in the solutions manual.  The benefits to the students outweigh these issues and I definitely plan to use this text in future courses.","created_at":"2020-02-26T14:10:09.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-02-26T14:10:09.000-06:00"},{"id":4868,"first_name":"Lane","last_name":"Seeley","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Seattle Pacific University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook covers all of the topics which would typically be covered in a typical, year-long, introductory physics course. In fact, the book includes significantly more topics than a reasonably paced course should cover.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"My most pressing concerns with the presentation of work and energy ideas in this textbook are the significant emphasis on “non-conservative” forces which do not conserve mechanical energy. While this language is common in physics textbooks, I personally do not think that it is pedagogically useful. Mechanical energy, like any other sub-category of energy, is not a conserved quantity. Total energy is a conserved quantity. Mechanical energy is merely constant for some systems under some conditions. Mechanical energy happens to be constant for idealized problems that many physicists particularly fancy (pendula, Atwood’s machines, etc…) To mistake a quantity which is constant under certain circumstances for a conserved quantity undermines the awe-inspiring idea of conservation. \r\nWe are planning to adopt this text but create supplementary chapters to replace the current work and energy chapters (7 \u0026 8). This modularity is a significant advantage an open-source textbook.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The book could be more responsive to research in physics education. The three textbooks written by Etkina, Knight and Mazur all reflect a much more significant influence of PER. Perhaps the most significant finding of PER (physics education research) is that students do not learn physics passively. They must be actively involved in the learning process in order to increase their conceptual understanding of physics concepts. Therefore, a textbook should encourage students to enter into an active internal dialogue about physics question and ideas. This text does raise some questions for students to think about but many of them are surface level or rhetorical questions: “What external forces act on him? Can we determine the origin of these forces?” These questions are unlikely to inspire deep thinking on the part of a student. I would encourage the authors to include more engaging elicitation questions and explicitly encourage students to take time to think about these questions before reading on.\r\nI really appreciate the authors effort to provide readers with learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter. That said, it is important that learners realize what they should be able to do with the ideas in the chapter. For example, in chapter 5 the LO’s are: distinguish between kinematics and dynamics; understand the definition of force; identify simple free-body diagrams; define the SI unit of force, the newton; and describe force as a vector. I would suggest that a student would read these and interpret them as: memorize the definitions for kinematics and dynamics; memorize the definition of force; recognize something called a free-body diagram when someone shows it to you; memorize the definition of the Newton; and memorize that a force is a vector. Instead, I would recommend that the authors provide learning objectives which would foreground student agency such as: identify the forces on an object in a real-world situation and use a free body diagram to represent those forces; or describe each force as an interaction between two objects and identify the two objects involved in everyday force interactions; etc…\r\nAnother significant finding of PER is that students often think the physics they learn about in physics classes does not apply to real-world situations. Ideally, a textbook should re-enforce the idea that physics ideas can be applied to real scenarios. The very first figure in the introduction to forces (5.3) presents some problems. The figure shows a situation in which two ice-skaters are pushing on a third skater. The third skater would experience a net force and, therefore, an acceleration. But hold on. Both skaters are pushing with straight, locked arms. Based on the figure, it seems more likely that they are holding the skater in place, not causing her to accelerate. The physics says the third skater is accelerating but the figure suggests she is being held in place. Who could blame students for wondering if physics concepts actually describe real stuff happening? It might be better to provide a real photograph of an object which is actually accelerating. I did appreciate some of the later examples such as rock climbing, running and tendons which made explicit connections to interesting, real-world, phenomena.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear, accessible and relatively concise.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"I had significant concerns about inconsistencies in the labeling of forces. For example, in figure 5.4 forces are labeled according to the type of force (weight, normal, friction). In figure 5.6 the forces are now labeled according to the other object involved in the force interaction (table, chair, floor) but the gravitational interaction between the person and Earth is still labeled weight which is not an object. These inconsistencies in labeling could be very confusing for a student who is learning about forces for the first time. I would prefer that the authors introduce forces as interactions from the beginning and then label them accordingly, similar to figure 5.16 but with the type of force interaction also included in the labeling.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I do not see any significant constraints to using these resources in a modular fashion.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I am of the opinion that energy should be presented before work. Otherwise, students are merely learning about work because their teacher says it is important. I think that conservation of energy should be used to motivate work as a way to quantify one mechanism of energy transfer. Other than this, I found the sequencing to be logical.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book is fairly easy to navigate in the digital format.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found the writing in the book to be largely free of grammatical errors and typos.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I don't find the textbook insensitive but I do not see much effort to support culturally relevant physics learning. The topics covered in this volume could foster learner engagement with important historically and culturally situated topics like: subjectivity and inclusion in physics, energy equity and energy justice. Perhaps future editions will incorporate these culturally relevant topics.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"We are planning to adopt this textbook in the fall because we think it is the most comprehensive and well written open-source textbooks available for introductory calculus-based physics. As someone who has been actively involved in physics education research for the past two decades, I am a very critical reviewer so please bear that in mind when you are considering my comments above. This author team has made a significant and valuable contribution in creating this open resource. I would, however, recommend that the authors consult with an expert who is well-versed in PER if they undertake a substantial revision of the textbook.","created_at":"2021-04-30T16:41:49.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-04T11:44:40.000-05:00"},{"id":33507,"first_name":"Srbuhi","last_name":"Yolchinyan","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers all essential topics in standard University Physics course, in two big units: Mechanics and Waves and Acoustics. It is possible to cover all these sections during one semester course, because the chapters are not excessively long, but still manage to discuss all important topics in sufficient detail. The example problems are well chosen and help students understand the material, and end of chapter problems give additional practice opportunity to further master the topics.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not catch any inaccuracy while browsing though the chapters, all diagrams and figures are relevant and convey accurately the information that is discussed in the text.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The topics in the textbook are well established and it would be difficult to find a topic that is not relevant or needs an update in several years, all examples and general information is relevant to standard University Physics, now and in future.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is clear and easy to follow. All figures and formulas are explained in sufficient detail, and overall the language in the text is coherent.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent, the only reason I am giving is 4 is because the significant digits in examples and end of chapter problems are not given in clear consistency: in some examples the significant digits are given in less accuracy and the answers are given at higher accuracy, and in others it is reverse. It would be very much advised to give all data in the examples and problems with numbers in scientific notation with clear number of significant digits, and expected to give answers following the standard rules of significant digits.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters are divided into easy to follow sections, that are numbered and easily referenced. The text can easily be divided into sections and assigned in coherent structure.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook is very well organized with all sections clearly marked and numbered. The end of chapter problems are also clearly divided corresponding to each section that is covered in the chapter.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There is no issue with interface, the navigation is easy and all images are correctly displayed.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I could not catch any grammatical error while reading the textbook.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The language and figures in the textbook are neutral and I would not assume any bias or cultural insensitivity towards anyone.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I really liked the textbook, and I am considering to adapt it in my lectures.","created_at":"2021-12-06T13:44:14.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-06T13:44:14.000-06:00"},{"id":33829,"first_name":"Serif","last_name":"Uran","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Pittsburg State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers all areas and ideas of the subject in deepth with examples. It also lists strategy, solution, check your understanding and significance sections. It does not do a good job in significance section in my opinion. There are much better examples that can be given for significance. Index and glossary are nicely listed referring to the section numberin alphabetical order at the end of the text. Incorporating more animations may help understand the  subject.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and error-free as far as I can see. No bias is detected.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content is up to date and necessary updates can be made easily. Basic physics does not change a whole a lot, but applications of it constantly evolving. I like how up to-date the examples are.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text provides good amount of clarity in terminology. However, the context can be better if there were more physical explanations of some of the terms used like dot product and cross product. Even though everything is correct mathematically, physical meaning of dot and cross products were not explained. I like how the vectors are both shown as vector on top of the letters and also bolt.  It is easy to distinguish vectors from scalars.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework. Each chapter follows the same structure. The terminology is appropriately used throughout the book.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is readable and have enough subheadings to allow smaller reading sections. Usually, a student attention span is about 20 minutes. The sections  would appear to take about 20 min or less to read.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a bit different order than usual. The order some of the chapters are presented is a little confusing such as the separation of some of the chapters into two parts for the essentially the same subject matter. Separation of gravitation chapter into a single chapter is a little strange since we use gravity in many examples in previous chapters such as Potential Energy and Applications of Newton's Laws.  I am a little confused as to why there are three University Physics volumes. Typically, introductory physics is separated into two semesters at universities. Having three volumes means second volume will be covered in both semesters.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No interface issues detected. Navigation is smooth and images are clear. The equations are easy to read and follow. Greek symbols display appropriately.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No gramatical errors were detected. It reads clear and no speelling errors were observed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The textbook is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.  The pictures are all appropriate to the subject discussed and examples given are inclusive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"It is a great textbook with in-depth example-problem solutions and opportunities to practice the knowledge learned. I like how the text lists the section learning goals at the beginning. The text also lists Strategy, Solution, Check Your Understanding and Significance segments. These segments help students develop problem solving skills and why what they learn is important. A lot of times, students question the importance or what they have to learn a particular subject. This is the part often instructors ignore when they present the material. Significance segment gives this opportunity. I believe it should be even more expanded in this book. Overall, it is a really well-written calculus based physics textbook that can rival other well established textbooks due to its in depth coverage and problem solutions.","created_at":"2022-05-04T16:39:32.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-05-04T16:39:32.000-05:00"},{"id":34189,"first_name":"Sharma","last_name":"Dipti","position":"Contract/Adjunct Professor of Physics","institution_name":"Bunker Hill Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"It is an excellent free and open textbook for Physics for Engineering based courses and courses where we teach calculus-based Physics. It covers all topics that is taught in the 1st semester of calculus-based Physics courses. It shows algebra and calculus-based mathematics which is a great way to show students how Physics involves Calculus and how it can be different from when we use Algebra.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"No spelling and grammar errors have found in this textbook. It is a great textbook for students in college.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The format of this textbook is standard and professional compared to other calculus-based Physics course textbooks. Everything is organized in good manner and topics followed one after one that is related to each other.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text used in this textbook are easy to follow. English used in it good. All explanations and examples follow step by step solutions and very easy to follow by a beginner. Figures and formulas written in it are consistent with chapters and covers all necessary figures and equations.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Everything in the textbook is consistent with chapters and topics covered in the textbook.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters and topics are in right order and shown in the table of contents. There is a flow connection between chapters. Each chapter is explained clearly with small sections added in the form of figures, tables, examples and step by step solutions. There are sufficient exercise questions at the end of each chapter. The good thing that I like most that at the end of the textbook, there are answers to the questions those are asked at the end of each unit or chapter which helps students to see whether their answers are right or wrong and then discuss with their professors.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of the textbook with each topic and chapter shown in it is excellent. No errors are found, and nothing seems missing either. Flow rate of this textbook is good. All chapters and units followed each other with concepts, equations, figures, and explanations.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book is accessible easily as pdf or online version. No issue is found with interface. The navigation of the textbook is easy.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors are found.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"It is well structured culturally.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This textbook is a good free of cost textbook that can be used as calculus – based Physics textbooks and can be used to teach any calculus – based Physics course. I really like this textbook and adopted it for some of my courses. It shows good connection of Calculus and algebra both with Physics concepts. It covers all topics that is taught in 1st semester of Engineering or calculus-based Physics. It has answers at the end of the textbook for questions given at the end of unit which is very helpful for students to check their answers. Figures and equations are good. Explanation and solutions shown for Physics problems are excellent.","created_at":"2022-11-24T17:24:25.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-11-24T17:24:25.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/university-physics-volume-1","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:37:22.000-06:00"},{"id":379,"title":"University Physics","edition_statement":null,"volume":"Volume 2","copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"University Physics is a three-volume collection that meets the scope and sequence requirements for two- and three-semester calculus-based physics courses. Volume 1 covers mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves. Volume 2 covers thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and Volume 3 covers optics and modern physics. This textbook emphasizes connections between between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result.","contributors":[{"id":3892,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jeff","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Sanny","location":"Loyola Marymount University","background_text":"Dr. Jeff Sanny earned a BS in Physics from Harvey Mudd College in 1974 and a PhD in Solid State Physics from the University of California–Los Angeles in 1980. He joined the faculty at Loyola Marymount University in the fall of 1980. During his tenure, he has served as department Chair as well as Associate Dean. Dr. Sanny enjoys teaching introductory physics in particular. He is also passionate about providing students with research experience and has directed an active undergraduate student research group in space physics for many years."},{"id":3893,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Samuel","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Ling","location":"Truman State University","background_text":"Dr. Samuel Ling has taught introductory and advanced physics for over 25 years at Truman State University, where he is currently Professor of Physics and the Department Chair. Dr. Ling has two PhDs from Boston University, one in Chemistry and the other in Physics, and he was a Research Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, before joining Truman. Dr. Ling is also an author of A First Course in Vibrations and Waves, published by Oxford University Press. Dr. Ling has considerable experience with research in Physics Education and has published research on collaborative learning methods in physics teaching. He was awarded a Truman Fellow and a Jepson fellow in recognition of his innovative teaching methods. Dr. Ling’s research publications have spanned Cosmology, Solid State Physics, and Nonlinear Optics."}],"subjects":[{"id":39,"name":"Physics","parent_subject_id":8,"call_number":"QC21.3","visible_textbooks_count":47,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":285,"url":"https://openstax.org/details/books/university-physics-volume-2","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","name":"OpenStax"}],"formats":[{"id":662,"type":"Online","url":"https://cnx.org/contents/7a0f9770-1c44-4acd-9920-1cd9a99f2a1e","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":663,"type":"PDF","url":"https://cnx.org/contents/7a0f9770-1c44-4acd-9920-1cd9a99f2a1e","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3620,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.amazon.com/University-Physics-Textbook-William-Moebs/dp/1998109054/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8\u0026qid=\u0026sr=","price":{"cents":7999,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":8,"reviews":[{"id":1031,"first_name":"Lawrence","last_name":"Davis","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Umpqua Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Overall, the text comprehensiveness is comparable to other books designed for the Calculus based 200-level physics course. For example,  I was disappointed in the treatment of convection, which was almost entirely qualitative, with one oversimplified quantitative example. However, this is common among similar texts. Considering many of these students are future engineers and physicists, this concept could be given more depth. However, the inclusion/explanation of the Van der Waals Equation of State, and behavior and phase diagrams of real gasses was a nice addition. Previously I have pulled this information from a text different from the main course text.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Conceptually, yes. I did not check example problems or end of chapter problems. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book uses up-to-date terminology and descriptions of topics. There are links to resources outside of the OpenStax system, such as links to Java simulations, which may become broken or give students trouble as the resources move or become out of date. For example, students working on campus computers will know how/not have privileges to add sites to exceptions lists to get around in-house security apps from blocking sites with out of date Java simulations. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book typically uses careful, up-to-date language, with special care taken for concepts that are non-intuitive and/or commonly lead to misconceptions. For example, the description of the zeroth law is similar to other texts, but puts emphasis on a lack of net energy exchange, which puts the student in the right mindset for understanding equilibrium and for examination of the remaining thermodynamics concepts. The in-text links to simulations are useful, for example the Maxwell speeds distribution simulation (the Brownian motion option is especially illustrative). Some links to additional resources led to unfinished pages, which might frustrate students and instructors, for example the link to additional information about the ultraviolet catastrophe:  http://cnx.org/contents/_dS0E2kQ@2/Introduction  ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"As is typical, looking at the chapter organization, you find that capacitance appears on equal footing to Electric Charges and Fields in terms of each getting a chapter.  It would be nice to see an organizational structure that is more consistent with the hierarchy of \"fundamentalness\" but I don't have an immediate solution to offer on this point, so this is more a comment than a critique. ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The level of modularity seems appropriate and is similar to other texts for this course. Volume II appears less modular than volume I, which is a good think in my opinion, because Volume I was modular almost to the point of being distracting. Students like that the problem solving strategies are broken out and highlighted, however this may encourage students to avoid reading the text and only search for the specific information they need to solve HW problems. This is an issue with all texts, however. ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Follows the standard organization/structure/flow found in most textbooks for this course. ","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Some graphics appear to be relatively low quality in the ascetic sense, but not sufficiently low to hinder understanding. The links to additional content, especially simulations, are a fantastic resource and these should be touted and brought to the \"front\" of the interface in order to capture students and draw them into investigating the simulations.  Some links lead to unfinished resources, hopefully those will be updated. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Appears appropriate. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Does not appear to be culturally insensitive or offensive. The microscopic nature of the majority of the content in this volume offers relatively fewer opportunities for depiction of people, compared to Volume I on mechanics for example. The majority of photographs depicted white individuals, however a few other cultures were represented. Considering the current political climate,  conscious care might be taken to make language specifically inclusive, for example instead of using \"desert dwellers\" to refer to people who live in the desert, \"people who live in the desert\" might be used instead. The word \"she\" appears roughly 4 times in the text, 3 of these in one problem. The word \"her\" appears roughly 3 times in the text, one of these in the same problem. The word \"he\" appears many more times, the large majority of these are in a historical context. With these removed, \"he\" and \"his\" appear roughly the same number of times as \"she\" and \"her\". ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2017-02-15T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-15T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1810,"first_name":"Michael","last_name":"Gallis","position":"Associate Professor of Physics","institution_name":"Penn State Schuylkill Campus","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text provides good coverage of the standard material covered in the second semester (of three) of the typical calculus based physics sequence.  I am in the last week of the semester using the text for the Electricity and Magnetism topics.  The text also has good chapters on Temperature, Kinetic Theory, etc. that will be part the third semester’s materials in the calculus based physics sequence.\n\nEach chapter’s coverage is complete at an appropriate level of a University Physics Course.  Derivations are clear, artwork (diagrams, illustrations, etc.) are of professional quality, and there are an abundance of examples to help with the scaffolding that can facilitate student learning.  There are also a good collection of conceptual questions, exercises and problems at the end of each chapter.\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate, and aside from minutia, error free.  Formulas and notation follow standard practice. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The subject material is extremely stable, so it is quite natural that the text be up to date on the content.  The text covers the standard topics nicely, so it is certainly relevant to its target audience.  I had been looking for an appropriate open textbook for the calculus based physics sequence and I was glad to discover this text.\n\nThe additional resources that the text includes, such as links to external web accessible resources such as PhETs make the book more current as a complete resource for students and teachers.  \n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book uses standard notation and terminology for the subject at this level.  From the student’s perspective, the plethora of examples provides sufficient scaffolding to develop understanding and expertise with the material.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book follows standard notation throughout.  It is consistent in the level of difficulty across material.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"Within the context of the typical physics course sequence, the subject material itself does not lend itself to being modular.  The chapters on thermodynamics (usually covered in the third semester) could be used in any order relative to primary coverage topics in Electricity and Magnetism, but within that set of topics the coverage must necessarily continuously build upon earlier material.\n\nI would not say that this book is modular, but for this material, this is a good thing.  There are sections within each chapter that might be considered option and omitted, but the sequence of material is essentially set by topic development and context.\n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in the usual sequence of the material.  Within the chapters, the topics are developed at good pace, with a good selection of examples.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I’ve primarily used the books pdf format, and I have found it easy to navigate using the bookmark functions.  The book’s content (prose, equations, figures and tables) are well formatted in both pdf and web formats.\n\nAlthough figures are provided to instructors in the form of images within PowerPoint files, I’ve found it more convenient to copy and paste directly from the text when creating supplementary materials for the students.\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not come across any glaring grammatical errors.  The book is well written and well edited. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"As an introductory text for rather dry topics like Electricity and Magnetism and Thermodynamics, there’s not much opportunity for cultural relevance.  I did not notice any points of insensitivity and in the (rare) illustrations and examples that involved a human being there seemed to be some diversity of race, gender and ethnicity.\n\nFor a physics text, I suppose it is as culturally relevant as possible.  There is, when appropriate, some mention of relevant societal topics (greenhouse effect in the context of heat transfer, power grid efficiency in the context of transformers and AC circuits).\n","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This review is of the second volume of a three volume set and is reviewed in the context of my current Electricity and Magnetism Course.\n\nA quick glance at the version history shows that the authors have the ability to make minor incremental changes and corrections without waiting for print edition cycles.  Thus minor improvements, corrections and improvements can be made quickly.  I am delighted to see a good open education resource text for the introductory calculus based physics sequence. \n","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2611,"first_name":"Deepak","last_name":"Iyer","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Bucknell University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook is indeed comprehensive, perhaps a little too comprehensive, although this allows the instructor to pick and choose what subjects she wishes to teach. The material covered is basically that of any standard course in university physics, going back to the Berkeley series for example. The treatment is more or less traditional, with ample real world examples, photographs, and illustrations. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I haven't read every page in detail, but the sections that I read were error-free, and the information presented is factually correct.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The content is fairly traditional. Introductory physics courses have not changed in their content for perhaps a century, so the book is certainly current in that sense. It attempts to make connections with real-life applications, and some modern developments, but these are mostly cursory and are not developed in detail. The order of presentation of material, the exposition, are all traditional. In that sense, it serves as a perfectly good replacements to many expensive books, which are also quite traditional.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is mostly well written. In some places there are confusing statements, either due to wording, or due to the concepts being challenging. For example, while discussing temperature, it is introduced as a quantity defined by what a thermometer measures. However, from this definition, the next part on calibrating thermometers makes no sense, unless there's an independent way to think about temperatures. These are opportunities to get into some subtleties which the book ignores. There are some discussions (ideal gases, van Der Waals forces etc.) that get complicated quickly, and are perhaps not too instructive.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The chapters and sections I read were reasonably consistent, there weren't glaring differences in style, notation, etc.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Entire units can easily be skipped. There is minimal cross-referencing between units. With each unit however, the chapters are sequential to an extent, however, with a little work it is possible to skip chapters as well. Some of the examples and notation might have to be setup explicitly to fill in gaps. It would be almost impossible to cover the entire text in a semester - this would really be two semesters worth of material, if any learning has to happen. It will also have to be supplemented with tutorials, demos, problem solving sessions, discussion sessions etc. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"See comment on clarity. The book is organized mostly as a traditional introductory physics text book is. The list of topics is standard. The book, unfortunately, does not attempt anything pedagogically interesting. That said, there are very few texts out there that do that, so this is as good, if not better than the usual non-free texts that people use. Whether this traditional presentation is the easiest for learning isn't clear, and logical flow is often conflated with chronological flow in such texts. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface is quite nice. Text is well typeset, graphics are well selected, appropriately laid out, and well captioned. Each section begins with 3-4 learning goals that serve as a useful guide for both instructor and student. Chapters end with summaries of terminology, equations, etc. Conceptual questions and problems are extensive. Examples and Checkpoints are displayed using easily identifiable visual elements making the text quite easy to follow.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No specific comments. The language is easy to follow and is free from grammatical and spelling errors, as far as I could tell from the sections and chapters I looked at.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"I didn't come across any instances of offensive material, however the book could use some work with representation. Actors in examples are mostly male, scientists that are discussed are all male, there doesn't seem to be any effort to recognize women and other minorities in science in the text. Examples contain references to weapons, etc. without much concern for the ethics behind disconnecting such examples from their real world contexts. But again, nothing vastly different from what you'd find in a standard physics text. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This book is a perfectly good free and open replacement to exorbitantly priced texts published by Pearson, etc. It doesn't live up to the ethical standards that one might hope that a book associated with a movement that is fundamentally about free access and community is, but perhaps thats a tall expectation. I would happily adopt this text as a replacement for existing texts. However, if you're looking for something that is pedagogically progressive, has radically new ways of presenting material, and entering deeper discussions about fundamental laws, then this isn't it.","created_at":"2019-03-04T17:00:26.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-03-04T17:00:26.000-06:00"},{"id":2855,"first_name":"Himanshu","last_name":"Verma","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Nicholls State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This volume has two units. In Unit 1, it has four chapters covering different topics in Thermodynamics. In Unit 2, it has sixteen chapters various concepts of E\u0026M starting with the basics to Maxwell equations.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I couldn't find errors. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Volume two (this textbook) is very relevant however other volumes may need some updates such as new definition of kilogram and mole.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text has been written in simple language and students won't have any difficulty to understand.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"All three volumes are very consistent. The course contents are divided very nicely that covers three semesters of physics in three different volumes.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Unit two, E\u0026M is spread over sixteen chapters that usually not seen in a physics textbook. Those sixteen chapters build your E\u0026M concept with details and lot of examples.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Each chapter starts with a relevant figure, chapter outline and introduction section. Each subsection has a learning objective, lots of formulas, figures, worked out examples, and reference weblinks if needed. Each chapter ends with key terms, key equations, summary, conceptual questions, and problems in the end. Additional questions in each chapters are challenging and let you think how to apply physics in real world problems (science and technology). ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Nothing confusing at all. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"It is a science (Physics textbook), so obviously nothing offensive in contents.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"As a Physics faculty I have used various textbooks in my teaching career, this one is written in a very organized way. This one just not only gives you the relevant knowledge in Physics but also infuses creativity and curiosity to learn more about what is happening around us, why and how. The textbook equips you well how to solve physics problems providing step by step guidance. The textbook requires a strong understanding of first and second year of algebra and calculus. Seven appendices and index at the end of text provides you readily available information you may need while using the text. The text doesn't cover the laboratory component of Thermodynamics and E\u0026M, a separate lab manual will be needed if the lab course is also taught simultaneously, which is highly recommended.  ","created_at":"2019-04-28T19:16:02.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-28T19:16:02.000-05:00"},{"id":3011,"first_name":"Lynn","last_name":"Norbury","position":"Certified Master Tutor and Supervisor of Science Tutors and Lab Technicians","institution_name":"Central Oregon Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is very broad in the number of topics presented.  It does indeed require journey-level experience with trigonometry and calculus because it does not show how to derive the formulas in use, nor does it break the example problems down to a level approachable by students with less than rigorous math skills.  The index is really helpful because it provides links to the text materials for the subjects indexed.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found no computation errors or typos.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The breadth of topics included surpasses the typical textbooks in use at my institution because it addresses modern physics applications.  For example, there's an interesting passage about the effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in section 13.7 as a diagnostic tool for certain health disorders.  Most Physics texts rely on tried and true examples like refrigeration or heat engines.  This one is more current.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Easy to read and acronyms are properly identified.  I did find an example (ex. 1.11) where the example problem was present in an italicized, serif font, for which the small case l looked like a number one, 1.  In fact, it looks like I have a typo on that previous sentence because of font styles.  In the textbook, the font choice had the effect of causing a subscript representing Aluminum to look like A1 rather than Al.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Very consistent organization.  The chapters start with learning objectives and summarize working equations prior to the end-of-chapter problem sets.  The graphics use a low key and limited color pallet which is complementary to the text as opposed to being distractive due to an over-use of hot colors.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Very user friendly for selecting just a few chapters to cover.  The text uses embedded links to direct students to necessary information covered in other chapters.  For example, there's a link to \"Stress, Strain, and Elastic Modulus\" embedded in the text of problem #105 for Chapter 1.  Chapter 1 is about heat transfer and the link provides the additional information needed to solve a heat transfer problem with heat expansion.  Another embedded link is planted in section 9.6 for further information about \"Condensed Matter Physics\"  These embedded links are helpful and convenient.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Very standardized throughout, even down to the conservative color scheme for graphics and navigational aids.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Almost seamless.  I did learn by trial and error that the problems numbers are also links to the answer key which enables a student to toggle back and forth at will.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text was written in simple, short sentences.  No errors were found.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"It's very male-oriented in its selection of researchers to cite.  Female-led research in Physics may be more scarce than male-led research, but it would be a service to society to represent more diversity.   ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Seeing a breakdown of the methods used to derive the working equations would be greatly appreciated.  I \"get it\" that those methods are covered in math classes, but if a physics textbook provides some additional mathematical methodology, it does a great service to the students.  Not all of our undergraduate students can recreate their calculus or differential equation skills on short notice.  More detail in the answer key would also be beneficial for students.","created_at":"2019-06-24T16:08:22.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-06-24T16:08:22.000-05:00"},{"id":3547,"first_name":"Mazin","last_name":"Khasawneh","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Earlham College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I found the book comparable to other texts assigned for  students who are planning to be  physicists and engineers. Derivations in each chapter are simple and clear, diagrams, illustrations, etc. are of professional quality. One important think I think students will appreciate is the abundance of examples that can facilitate student learning. Each chapter has a collection of conceptual questions, exercises and problems at the end of each chapter to reinforce the concepts and ideas covered in that chapter.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate, with very little, errors. Formulae and notation follow standard practice used in other text books.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The material is concise, so it is natural that the text be up to date on the content. The material covered in the book and the way (and order) is relevant to its target audience. I think that including the additional resources such as links to PhET make the book more current as a good resource for students and instructors.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book uses standard notation and terminology for the subject at this level.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book follows standard notation. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The level of modularity seems appropriate. Students like that the problem solving strategies are broken out and highlighted, ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is will organized; it follows the standard organization found in other textbooks designed for similar courses.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I used the book's pdf format, and I have found it easy to navigate. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Seems appropriate.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not find any thing that could be seen as insensitive to any race, gender or ethnicity. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Just keep the good work!","created_at":"2020-01-29T11:03:22.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-29T11:03:22.000-06:00"},{"id":4538,"first_name":"Yongwen","last_name":"Lampert","position":"Part-time Instructor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers Thermodynamics and Electricity and Magnetism with great details. The index at the end is handy to find particular topics.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The equations and theories are well documented.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The contents are arranged nicely.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The jargon/technical terminology are clearly defined and well explained.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Thermodynamics are divided into 4 chapters and E\u0026M are divided into 12 chapters. Each chapter has smaller sections.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Most of the topics are arranged in a clear fashion, however, I would make some small changes, for example, I would move the section of \"capacitors in series or in parallels\" to a section after a DC circuit is introduced.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface of the book is user friendly.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I don't think the book is culturally insensitive or offensive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This book is a nice substitute for expensive textbooks. The theories are explained in a clear and detailed manner. I like the section titled, “calculating electric fields of charge distributions” – the examples are well organized and explained; it clearly explained the difference between a disk (E = sigma/(2 epsilon)) and a conductive plate (E = sigma/epsilon), which some textbooks failed to compare and distinguish. \r\nThe instructor’s manual provides homework problem solutions including the problems, so it’s easy to provide homework to students. However, the solutions to some of the chapters provides only the final answers and don’t have the detailed analysis, so it’s not quite helpful to provide them to students to help them understand how to analyze the homework problems. \r\nI would organize some of the contents differently in my class:\r\n1. The book introduces the connection of capacitors in parallel and series before an introduction of a circuit. I would provide a through introduction of current and voltage in a circuit before I present the different ways to connect capacitors in a circuit.\r\n2. The chapter of DC Circuits provides plenty homework problems of Kirchhoff’s rules; I wish it had more homework problems for combining resisters in series and parallel before jumping to Kirchhoff’s rules.\r\nOverall, the book is well organized, and the examples and equations are well documented. I’m using it for the first time in my calculus-based class.","created_at":"2021-01-07T22:20:08.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-01-07T22:20:08.000-06:00"},{"id":4796,"first_name":"Robert","last_name":"Dunne","position":"Adjunct faculty","institution_name":"College of DuPage","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text provides an introduction to thermodynamics and electricity/magnetism for students who have completed or currently taking a second semester of calculus. Some of the math, such as line and surface integrals, is somewhat ahead of second-semester calculus students, but that has been true for decades for science and engineering students. I have used both the online and Kindle version (really a PDF, not a true ebook), and both were well-linked on topics. There is an index in the back matter and each chapter has a \"Key Terms\" glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I don't recall any mistakes. The material is basically hundreds of years old and not at a depth where there is any debate. The many illustrations and photographs bring home the concepts and equations. There may have been a few numeric errors in the \"Answers\" in the back of the book, but none stood out.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book covers the basics which, of course, are stable. There are a number of external links to Internet web sites, and these can be broken in the future, but this book will probably be updated by the authors when links break and are noted.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I like the presentation style. Questions are asked within the text, and answers provided. Of course, there are technical terms, but they are standard to the subject matter as well as explained in the book.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is not only consistent in framework and terminology within itself, but also consistent with other similar textbooks.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book is nicely divided into components. Its two major \"units\" of thermodynamics and electricity/magnetism are independent of each other. Within each unit, the book does follow the order needed to base new concepts on those presented earlier in that unit. How modular can a physics text be or a physics curriculum for that matter?","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is consistent with most books on this subject and presents no surprises.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Internal links appeared solid. Images were close to the text they accompany. External Internet links may someday break, but hopefully the authors or their associates will correct those as soon as noticed.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The sentence structure was not overly complex nor so simple as to be boring. I found it to be a comfortable reading experience for a textbook.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I saw nothing that should be taken as offensive to gender, age, race, ethic, or other backgrounds. Was it very progressive in these areas? Not really. It focused on the subject matter as do most physics texts in general.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I believe this text is an excellent candidate to bring home the concepts and provide working examples for most students building a background in thermodynamics and electricity/magnetism. Not every text \"talks\" to every student. We all have differences and learn in different ways. From my perspective, University Physics Vol. 2 fits more in an engineering tract than one for physics majors, but that also depends on the additional laboratory experience included in courses.","created_at":"2021-04-19T16:58:52.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-19T16:58:52.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/university-physics-volume-2","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:37:22.000-06:00"}],"links":{"self":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics.json?page=1","total_pages":5,"total_count":47,"next":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/physics.json?page=2"}}