What do you think?
Rate this book
College Physics: A Strategic Approach
I'm including the student workbooks (volumes 1 & 2) with purchase.
ISBN:
978-0-321-59632-1
978-0-321-59633-8
ISBN:
978-0-321-59632-1
978-0-321-59633-8
1096 pages, Hardcover
First published November 24, 2006
13 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 28, 2009
Interesting thing about this book: it uses 'her' as the default (unmarked, whatever) pronoun sometimes. About half the time, I think. I wonder if this is deliberately to try and reduce the perceived masculine bias in physics, or just in general to try and change the way we use language.
It's an interesting issue - on one hand, maybe we shouldn't be quibbling about such a small, unimportant matter. Maybe we should be trying to prove ourselves in other ways, ways that would show us to be equal to men, ways that would force everyone to respect us equally by showing them that we deserve it.
On the other hand, how are we ever supposed to be equal if we are discriminated against in the language we use every day? Children growing up, learning to speak, are indoctrinated from their first overheard conversations to think that males are more important than females. How much of an effect does this have, though? It's hard to know, but I think it's more than you might expect. Language is so important, more so than I think a lot of people realise. It shapes the way we think, the way we behave, our actions, thoughts, feelings. It is everywhere and few things escape its influence.
You may or may not have gathered that I think it's terribly important, extremely important, crucial even. Partly why I think this is because my one year's worth of introductory linguistics was enough to convince me that language is practically everything. Partly because I'm a feminist. Partly because the first time I encountered someone who used the feminine pronoun as the default (Edward DeBono), it really shocked me. It stood out so much. And that scared me. Because if it seemed so unusual, there must be something wrong here.
But even if you agree that it is important, what then do you do? Do you use awkward blends like s/he, she-he, h'orsh'it (this was actually a serious suggestion, according to Limits of Language)? Do you go half and half like in the textbook that this review is ostensibly about? Do you use 'they', 'them' or 'their' instead, and watch in dismay as your grammatical constructions get increasingly messy? Do you use 'she'/'her' all the time, muttering something about it being time for those damn men to get a taste of their own medicine? Or just because men can cope with a microscopic amount of language discrimination when they are favoured in so many other ways? What do you do?
Incidentally, this is an excellent textbook.
It's an interesting issue - on one hand, maybe we shouldn't be quibbling about such a small, unimportant matter. Maybe we should be trying to prove ourselves in other ways, ways that would show us to be equal to men, ways that would force everyone to respect us equally by showing them that we deserve it.
On the other hand, how are we ever supposed to be equal if we are discriminated against in the language we use every day? Children growing up, learning to speak, are indoctrinated from their first overheard conversations to think that males are more important than females. How much of an effect does this have, though? It's hard to know, but I think it's more than you might expect. Language is so important, more so than I think a lot of people realise. It shapes the way we think, the way we behave, our actions, thoughts, feelings. It is everywhere and few things escape its influence.
You may or may not have gathered that I think it's terribly important, extremely important, crucial even. Partly why I think this is because my one year's worth of introductory linguistics was enough to convince me that language is practically everything. Partly because I'm a feminist. Partly because the first time I encountered someone who used the feminine pronoun as the default (Edward DeBono), it really shocked me. It stood out so much. And that scared me. Because if it seemed so unusual, there must be something wrong here.
But even if you agree that it is important, what then do you do? Do you use awkward blends like s/he, she-he, h'orsh'it (this was actually a serious suggestion, according to Limits of Language)? Do you go half and half like in the textbook that this review is ostensibly about? Do you use 'they', 'them' or 'their' instead, and watch in dismay as your grammatical constructions get increasingly messy? Do you use 'she'/'her' all the time, muttering something about it being time for those damn men to get a taste of their own medicine? Or just because men can cope with a microscopic amount of language discrimination when they are favoured in so many other ways? What do you do?
Incidentally, this is an excellent textbook.
August 1, 2023
hated that my professor didn't teach well so I was stuck with 1000 pages of physics overstimulated vomit and I'm so mad about it imma put this on my goodreads to be petty
March 15, 2021
4.5
My friends make fun of me for having a favorite textbook, but I'm serious. This textbook makes physics, from Newton's laws to antimatter, digestible, logical, and applicable. My favorite parts are the little boxes describing how physics is used in medicine, biology, astronomy, and more. The most important strategies for solving physics problems are included, along with simple and understandable derivations of equations. Clean, elegant graphics and diagrams add valuable visual comprehension. I cannot recommend this book more and I want to own a copy.
The only criticism I would offer is that I noticed that the illustrative images are kind of problematic. I'm pretty sure every single image depicts white people, and men are usually depicted in the active roles. While this may sound like nitpicky and SJW criticism, the research shows that these details can have a measurable impact on students and contribute to stereotypes.
Note: I read the online version offered through Pearson, which has the added benefit of including video examples and reducing the anxiety induced by page numbers. Props to CSU for providing videos.
My friends make fun of me for having a favorite textbook, but I'm serious. This textbook makes physics, from Newton's laws to antimatter, digestible, logical, and applicable. My favorite parts are the little boxes describing how physics is used in medicine, biology, astronomy, and more. The most important strategies for solving physics problems are included, along with simple and understandable derivations of equations. Clean, elegant graphics and diagrams add valuable visual comprehension. I cannot recommend this book more and I want to own a copy.
The only criticism I would offer is that I noticed that the illustrative images are kind of problematic. I'm pretty sure every single image depicts white people, and men are usually depicted in the active roles. While this may sound like nitpicky and SJW criticism, the research shows that these details can have a measurable impact on students and contribute to stereotypes.
Note: I read the online version offered through Pearson, which has the added benefit of including video examples and reducing the anxiety induced by page numbers. Props to CSU for providing videos.
April 25, 2023
It’s good but not great. There’s a wealth of examples and practice problems which are very helpful, but I didn’t always feel the explanations of concepts were very helpful. It was better than I expected considering I was very nervous to take physics.
May 6, 2021
Considering I never wanted to take physics, I actually enjoyed the way this book approached the subject. The descriptions of how physics informed or applied to various other disciplines certainly made me appreciate it more.
November 19, 2025
A great textbook with a wealth of resources attached. The expense of texts like these are misunderstood, the authors went to extreme lengths to ensure extensive material is available to both students and instructors. -- that being said, did it need to be a 1000pages? probably not. (review for 4e)
April 24, 2014
Over all a good book, but some material in this book are written confusing specially chapter 16. I had to read chapter 16 ,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30 I love then all. This was my physics II book. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️I will miss my book,since it is end of semester but I still get to keep it until rest of my life. I have Learned a lot from it
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews