University Physics

Reviewed by Dexian Ye, Associate Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University on 4/11/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 5

This textbook (university physics volume 2) covers two units of introductory physics, thermodynamics and E&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&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.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The concepts and examples in this textbook are accurate.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

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

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

The connections and the framework of the topics presented in this textbook are standard, thus it is very consistent.

Modularity rating: 5

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/Structure/Flow rating: 5

It is a very clear structure of the topics. This structure is common and similar to other commercial available textbooks.

Interface rating: 5

The equations in the textbook are highlighted and hyperlinked. So, it is very easy to navigate.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I found no grammatical errors so far.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is not culturally insensitive.

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.