Halliday, Resnick and Walker Review of the Fundamentals of Physics

Physical basics extension from

 Through Halliday, Resnick and Walker are a college-level physics introductory textbook.

It covers the basics of mechanics and electromagnetism and covers a two-course university entry sequence typical of physics. The next few chapters will cover relativity and nuclear physics, but this book does not provide a thorough introduction to modern physics [most universities use it as a third course].

Target Audience

According to the preface to the book, the target audience is students who are preparing for science and engineering careers. This book is usually used for introductory courses for freshmen, and sophomores and seniors do not attend these courses very often.

This book does not apply to [usually not suitable for] a more general audience class

prerequisites

This article uses calculus, I think you need to have a good understanding of the entry calculus to make the most of it. A particularly ambitious or talented student may be able to learn calculus at the same time, but I would recommend any student to master the basics of calculus before using this book or taking the course as a center.

There is no previous physics background, but I think this book can be tricky or advanced for a student who has never encountered these ideas before.

My experience with this book

I have used this book among college students and used it as a reference. I think it is well written and gives a lot of details and mathematical explanations in the conceptual elaboration section of each chapter. I particularly like the way this book handles equations during the fair - not just doing a bunch of math operations, having a full verbal explanation of what is happening, helping you connect equations to concepts.

I think this book is not very good at preparing people to solve problems and apply concepts. The explanation of the sample question seems clear, but I found that something is missing in the philosophical or abstract way of solving the problem, which made me feel inadequate when setting up the problem. For me, this is not a problem, because I can find a competent professor and a community of students who solve my problems. But I think this flaw may make this book a bit difficult for those trying to use it for self-study.

Version creep

Like many popular mainstream textbooks, this article suffers from what I call "version creep". This process releases more versions of this version through this version, and the version is more frequent, not just the most corrective and improved. Good version. Version creep is driven by the profit motives of the publishing industry.

This book is currently the 10th edition released in 2013. I think buying the latest version is not necessary. If you are willing to buy an older version, such as version 5 or later, you can save a lot of money. Even if you only return one version, you can save a lot of money.

Another way to save money is to buy a ring or loose-leaf copy instead of the usual hardback. These copies are still very expensive, with the latest version being around $145 and the new book being nearly $300.

In summary

This is a solid textbook for an entry-level physics course in the first two universities with an ergonomic background for engineers or science majors. It is not suitable for a more general audience lacking a calculus background and is deeper than the depth required by students who are not planning to pursue a career in science. It is also affected by version creep, and buying [or designing an older version of the course] may make sense to save money.

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