College Physics, Volume I

by Anthony J. Buffa and Jerry D. Wilson

This reader-friendly book presents the fundamental principles of physics in a clear and concise manner. Emphasizing conceptual understanding as the basis for mastering a variety of problem-solving... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0130475998
• ISBN13: 9780130475992
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Pocket Guide is Handy

The Student Pocket Guide for College Physics is a handy little book. I would have given it 5 stars, if it had more formulas in it. It is really great for lab and to read before lecture, so you get a heads-up on what your professor is going to be discussing. It is far from a necessity but I am happy I got it, and I have gotten a lot of use out of it. In fact copy has gotten pretty dog-eared from toting it around. In short, it is kind of like CliffsNotes or a SparkNotes book for your physics book.

Best Algebra Based Physics Text

Physics is a difficult subject. This text does an admirable job of making a difficult subject easier. There are advantages and disadvantages to disallowing the writer to use calculus in writing the material. Some formulas require calculus to derive and so must be either taken on faith as true, or the derivations looked up in a calculus based test. Fortunately the times when this issue comes up are few enough to not seriously hamper the flow of the book. This book may be read as a first book on Physics. I strongly recommend the book Conceptual Physics by Hewitt for a running start at the subject. Members of the lay public interested in physics may read both of these texts, as they are at introductory level and contains material on classical as well as modern physics. The units are in SI ( metric ) which simplifies the math. The Wilson and Buffa text has Color photos of natural phenomenon and situations that illustrate the physics under discussion. There examples are intermixed throughout showing how to work problems involving the principles involved. I believe this book is an important part of a well rounded education. Physics is NOT an easy topic. If it were, then Newton would have developed theories on relativity and gravity waves. This book does what it was designed to do, that is assist beginners in starting their journey. I read the book. I found it to be fun.Katherine RogersYes, Real girls do physics.

Pretty Easy to Understand

One of this book's authors is a professor at my university. While he himself did not teach my physics class, he definitely conveyed our school's philosophy of "learn by doing" through the use of numerous pictures, diagrams, and straightforward exercises at the end of each chapter. I thought the book explains the general ideas and concepts of physics very well, without requiring a calculus background to understand the material.

Good start for studying physics

For someone looking to get an overview of basic physics, this book is great. The problems in the back of each chapter start out easy then become more and more challenging. In several chapters there are photos of some physics instructors doing experiments we all want to do; one of the best is an experiment where someone is sitting in a chair holding a very large CO2 fire extinguisher and... rockets off! It does a very good job of explaining Newton's laws. (every action has an equal and opposite reaction) If you purchase this text, make sure to get the associated study guide. It not only provides a review of each chapter, it goes through step by step problem solving on slected odd numbered problems. The only caveat is that some of the wording is vague; there was an attempt to explain physics without calculus. As a result, some subjects must be taken on faith. If life sciences is your major then this text does a great job of explaining physics.