PHYSICS 17
Elements of Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisites: courses 1A, 1B, and 1C (or 1AH, 1BH, and 1CH), Mathematics 32A, 32B. Enforced corequisite: Mathematics 33A. Photons, photoelectric effect, uncertainty principle Bohr atom, Schrödinger equation, hydrogen atom, Gaussian and Poisson distributions, temperature, entropy, Maxwell/Boltzmann distribution, kinetic theory of gases, laws of thermodynamics, black body radiation. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
It's a shame that you can't read a review by the floor, blackboard, etc. That's essentially who he gives the lecture to. No, really. He is extremely boring. You'll discover nothing from lecture that you can't get from the course reader (a statistical mechanics text by Wein which is very dry but all there) or textbook (Modern Physics by Serway, well written, interesting, and all there). What all other reviewers said is true: he is unengaging, his writing is some cryptic squiggle-language (no known cipher exists), and even if you go to his office and stand one foot away from him he still won't look you in the eyes. Poor guy. Just be lucky that you have him for some easy class like 17 (easy if you read the book) and not some more nuanced class like in the 115 series. Unfortunately, you'll have to digest the foundations of modern physics without any enthusiasm from the teacher.
It's a shame that you can't read a review by the floor, blackboard, etc. That's essentially who he gives the lecture to. No, really. He is extremely boring. You'll discover nothing from lecture that you can't get from the course reader (a statistical mechanics text by Wein which is very dry but all there) or textbook (Modern Physics by Serway, well written, interesting, and all there). What all other reviewers said is true: he is unengaging, his writing is some cryptic squiggle-language (no known cipher exists), and even if you go to his office and stand one foot away from him he still won't look you in the eyes. Poor guy. Just be lucky that you have him for some easy class like 17 (easy if you read the book) and not some more nuanced class like in the 115 series. Unfortunately, you'll have to digest the foundations of modern physics without any enthusiasm from the teacher.
2 of 2
