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There are couple of weaknesses in this text that stand out in my mind. First, there is a section in each chapter that quizes you on conceptual questions but there are no answers in the back of the book making it difficult to be certian about your work. Second, the web page associated with this book is riddled with errors and is not much of a tool. In spite of these problems I would recomend it to someone just starting physics.
This is a great physics textbook for those preparing for the MCAT on their own, or for those in an algebra-based physics class. Compared to Giancoli's text, it is fantastic. Why?
1. Plenty of example problems while reading, fully explained in an intelligent and careful manner. Not two or three per chapter, but sometimes ten or more. Again, with exhaustive descriptions.
2. Clear, concise text that truly educates you as you read. Not a rehashed summary of familiar concepts, with important "givens" left out. Some text book authors are simply capable of writing text that teaches (Ege is a great example, for Organic Chemistry). Some should not be writing at all. To be good at physics problems, you first have to understand the concepts. Really understand them. This book explains them the way they need to be explained.
3. Excellent diagrams and tables. At first, I thought the ubiquitous graphics were just eye-candy, as they are (as always, refer to the worst example) in Giancoli's book. But every diagram is useful, and clearly explains a concept.
4. Student Solutions Manual. The most frustrating thing about physics seems to be the unavailability of solutions manuals to go with textbooks. Why this is so, for a field of study that relies so heavily on detailed explanations of problems, makes no sense to me. For all of the other sciences I've studied for preparation for medical school (including calculus), I've easily been able to get my hands on manuals detailing all problems and their solutions. In the realm of physics, though, there seems to exist an elitist attitude that only instructors should have these 'magic books', from which they will dole out a solution or two to desperate students. How colossaly stupid. This textbook is somewhat subject to this failing, in that the Student Solutions Manual contains answers to "selected" problems (roughly 21% per chapter). However, the fact that it has a solutions manual at all lifts it above the other offerings, especially -- you guessed it -- Giancoli's horrible book, which offers no manual to speak of (the "Study Guide" is a useless piece of garbage with no solved problems; don't buy it). In addition, though the solutions manual lacks all the answers, the ones it does have are well-explained and well-drawn, similar to what's in the text. Hopefully one day a physics textbook author will decide to stop treating students like monkeys and publish a great book that educates via giving as much information as possible, not rationing it. This is surely an antiquated practice whose time should end now.
For a fuller understanding of some of the concepts, I also recommend buying a calculus-based text to supplement this one. "Fundamentals of Physics" (same publisher -- Wiley) is a good (and popular) book. I like the 5th edition more than the 6th (it seems less cluttered), although the Student Solutions Manual for the 5th is out of print. If your calculus is rusty, there's hardly any in the first half of the book, and what is there is not complicated -- standard derivatives and integrals. It's a good book to have for gaining a very solid understanding of the concepts, although of a level above what's needed for the MCATs.
Finally, the best review book for MCAT physics is called just that: NOVAs "MCAT Physics". Schaum's outline for pre-Med physics is so lousy, it's amazing. What's even more amazing is how uneven the quality of education materials is. You really have to look around, unfortunately.
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Unfortunately this is a bit of trend throughout the book and at the very least makes it frustrating. However, once you allow for this, (and it's a big allowance to make) the book is very handy.
It has bundles of scripts that anyone involved in web work will find interesting and useful. You can quibble with some of these (the login scripting for example) contra other books such as Professional ASP.NET, but I suspect this is a byproduct of committee authorship.
The book is clearly aimed at the learner so don't expect Enterprise quality insights into server management. Given the huge range of architectures and technologies available to the developer, producing any 'true' learner book is a considerable challenge. If you need a book for coursework alone, then this will probably meet most of your needs. If you earn your living with the .NET and its companions, then you need some supplementary texts.
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ISBN-0-8273-7038-5
It is considered the bible of the hvac industry- highly recommended!
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John Green seems to stay one step ahead by pre-empting any questions the reader has, and all the points he covers are backed up with code. Often the author will give several alternative approaches to solving a particular task programmatically, and also explain which approach is more effective / efficient and why.
Although some explanation of basic programming techniques are covered in the "Primer in Excel VBA" chapter, this book is probably best suited to readers who have some programming background (although you don't have to be a pro either).
My one criticism is directed more at Wrox Press than John Green, and is the reason I have only given four stars not five. As has been already mentioned in other reviews, the index is very poor, and is little more than an extended Table Of Contents - a trait in common with other Wrox books I have read. Finding that "golden nugget" in this is a gold mine of information is very time consuming. For example, trying to find the section on the EVALUATE or CALLER methods from the index won't yield much success unless you already know that they are covered in "Chapter Three: The Application Object Model" - this is what you look up in the index - crazy! Finding other entries in the index is just impossible since they are not there.
My suggestion is buy this book, but as you read it through for the first time, use a highlighter on any points that you think may be of significant interest.
A typical sentence/paragraph from the book:
"The fact that two incommensurable collections of miscellaneous objects cannot in themselves provide the material for a quantitive analysis need not, of course, prevent us from making approximate statistical comparisons, depending on some broad element of judgement rather than strict calculation, which may posses significance and validty within certain limits.
Sure.
This is the first book in years I gave up reading in the middle.
Until someone rewrites the book for humans - avoid!
Plowing through this book will pay off, but you may not enjoy it. The reader should be advised, however, that according to Keynes' good friend (and opposing theorist) Frederich Hayek, shortly before his death Keynes told Hayek he disavowed this book in general. Hayek's account can be read in "Hayek on Hayek."
Lord Keynes is a member of Cambrige School of Classical School in the early twentith century. Professor A. C. Pigou, Alfred Marshall were his teachers, and William Jevons, Francis Edgeworth, J. Robinson and Frank Ramsey were his colleague and friends. Surrounded with so good an academic environment and endowed with his own talent (Also heavily influenced by philosopher Moore), Keynes is the most important and influential economist in the 20 century. In his thought, economist should not only sit there and work out mathematical problems, but go outside and do something. Economist should not only just observe the "Storm" appear and pass by but find solutions to overcome the economic problems for the nation and people. Some people disagree so much with Keynes's economic thought that they thought Keynes was a criminal of the concept of "Gonvernment inteferes people". I think they miss something and I'm sure that the miss will be reduced if they know exactly what kind of person Lord Keynes was and exactly what the core concept of his economic thought is.
Anyway, this book is just like what Paul Samuelson ever expressed, you'll get something (maybe very many things) from this classic. If you read it carefully, maybe you will get something different from the macroeconomics textbook and those chapters which are about Keynesian thoery in that textbook. You will be stunned with Keynes's mind, his way of watching things, his thinking, etc.. This book requires very good logic and a mind of willing to think.
"In the long run we are all dead." True, go read this book and seize the concepts of the most important economist in the twentieth century.