WishboneDawn Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 We have Hewitt, both Conceptual Physics and Conceptual Physical Science. My daughter hated them. I think it was partly the tone (but also because she'd rather jump into the math and understand the concepts that way) and I'm sure she isn't the only one out there who wasn't fond of Hewitt. Today I found some references to a book, Understanding Physics by David Cassidy. I did a little more googling and was surprised to find the entire text, student guide and part of the Instructor guide available for download for free! It's quite different from Hewitt, more history and a more mature writing style, not so chummy. You can't print the PDFs but you can either use them as PDFs or use the PDFs to review before buying. I saw copies on amazon for $2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Thanks for sharing. :) My DD feels the same way about Hewitt, but it keeps turning up as the best option for physics first. We'll check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Thanks for sharing this. Do you know if there are answers available anywhere? I looked at the introduction and see that this book is a rewrite of a book on my shelves Project Physics, which I have never used but liked the idea of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 I think the complete IG can be requested from the publisher for free if you're using it in a course. Not sure how they'd handle homeschoolers but it's worth a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Daughter's reading it right now and she says it's a big improvement over Hewitt. Our impressions are: not a lot of distracting pictures, no boxes with extra information, good information on history and straightforward prose that doesn't try to convince you it's fun and interesting (instead it just IS interesting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Anyone else try this one? I just ordered a $6 copy off Amazon to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 I've never seen it mentioned before. I found it on one of this guy's lists. He has two great High School Physics Textbooks lists that I spent hours on and the rest of his lists...*swoon*. He also writes some of the most useful reviews I've seen on Amazon. I might have to start a fan club. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anna~ Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I haven't looked at it yet, but I copied the book over to Notability so I will have it to look at when I have time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 So far I like what I see. It isn't "chummy" or chatty at all, but I really like the tone. My first reading of Conceptual Physics made me wonder at my ability to teach it, and I immediately hunted down every teacher help I could find. The Cassidy book makes me think I can totally keep up with her. Before the study quide questions at the end of chapters there's a list of books for further reading. Love this feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Cassidy won a few brownie points with DD. We found an H.G. Wells novel in one of the further reading lists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 Catherine is still enjoying it too. I actually ordered a British A level Physics text because I think she might be eager to dive into some of the math soon. Definitely a huge improvement over Hewitt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pooh bear Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 My copy arrived yesterday and it looks like it is going to be a big hit here. Thank you for pointing it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 I started working on DD's Understanding Physics syllabus this weekend. May I ask what you ladies are doing for labs? At first glance the major labs look designed for multiple students, but the mini-labs are better suited to one kid. I forgot about requesting the rest of the IG until I saw "suggested syllabi" in the TOC. That would probably come in handy! :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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