Product Description

Thirty years ago, this best-selling text defined the “conceptual” approach to introductory physics. Today, the Ninth Edition shows how text and media can be integrated to bring physics to life for non-science majors. Hewitt's text engages students with analogies and imagery from real-world situations to build a strong conceptual understanding of physical principles ranging from classical mechanics to modern physics. With this strong foundation, students are better equipped to understand the equations and formulas of physics, and motivated to explore the thought-provoking exercises and fun projects in each chapter. Icons in this new edition direct students to The Physics Place Web site where they will find interactive and animated tutorials, video demonstrations, and hundreds of problems and activities. Each new copy of the text includes a Practicing Physics Workbook. This new text-media combination gives students more of what they need - whether it's animated explanations or interactive exercises - to make the connections between the concepts of physics and their everyday world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1513239 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 238 pages

About the Author

Paul G. Hewitt was a Silver Medalist flyweight Boxing Champion for New England States at the age of 17. He was then a cartoonist, sign painter, and uranium prospector before beginning his physics studies.

Conceptual Physics was first published in 1971, while Hewitt was teaching at City College of San Francisco. He has also served as a guest lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and most recently at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Currently, Hewitt enjoys teaching at the City College of San Francisco and at San Francisco's science museum, The Exploratorium.

Customer Reviews

This is a fabulous introductor Physics textbook.
Hewitt's book is considered the high school industry standard conceptual physics textbook. Unlike most high school physics textbooks, Hewitt's book has very little mathematics in it, focusing instead on the teaching of important concepts in Physics. It is therefore an excellent choice for Physics courses geared toward younger students (freshmen) and/or students whose mathematical backgrounds or abilities are somewhat limited. That is not to say that Hewitt's book cannot be used by students who are strong in math; there are a number of qualities which make the book an excellent read for any student. The innumerable fascinating examples of physical concepts illustrated by everyday phenomena, the careful attention paid to the historical development of ideas in physics, countless cartoons and diagrams, and the quality of writing in general make Hewitt's book a very interesting read, which can be effectively supplemented by mathematical problems drawn from other sources for more mathematically sophisticated students. I myself supplement Hewitt's book with Jennifer Hickman's "Problem-Solving Exercises in Physics for more mathematical content. Hewitt clearly does not believe in asking students to calculate anything until their grasp of the conceptual foundations of physics are well in hand; the excercises at the end of Hewitt's chapters are mainly conceptual questions which are answered verbally rather than by calculation. The author is very selective in including only the most interesting mathematical problems, so the few problems which are included are generally excellent. If you are a conceptually oriented Physics teacher, this book is defintely for you. It's one of few science textbooks I've ever seen which is lively and interesting enough that a curious person might read it for pleasure.

Good things donot come cheap
This book is a true conceptual physics book and unlike other books of similar category does not evade the explanations anywhere.Much of the book give a reasonable treatise of both descritions and equations so you donot completely missout.However popula science book one might be, physics and maths donot escape form the equations and in this book you fine them as foot notes some times and thus they are there for the needy.It is not cheap even in the second hand market but a good one to have.
for those interested, I recommend the books by NCERT borad in India. their books are one of the best I have seen in physics and mathematics.written by the eminent professors and teachers of the country, theyare true master pieces and cost you less than 10£ all together-- brand new.