[PHYS W3007] Electricity and Magnetism
- Departments: Physics
- Professors: Gustaaf Brooijmans, Matthew Lightman, and Abhay Narayan
Abhay (he'll threaten to take off points if you call him professor), is easily the nicest professor I've ever had at Columbia. While his HWs and Quizzes are VERY HARD, he drops the lowest few of each. He's very approachable for a beginning lecturer, and is willing to push off HWs and quizzes for holidays, something almost no other professor would do. His tests are standard for physics - very hard - and his teaching is pretty standard as well - from the book. He's a great guy, took the class to the faculty house for lunch (don't expect this every year), and it was a pleasure to meet him.
Workload:
Standard for a physics class, 13 HWs (2 were dropped)
about half as many quizzes (some were dropped)
and a hard midterm, final
Simply put: Matt is a brilliant TA! Not only can he answer pretty much any question you have about E+M, he is extremely nice and very approachable. His recitation sessions are for those who wish to have a deep and complete understanding of E+M. Also, he does more examples than the professor does in class, which also helps with learning how to approach certain problems. If you have him, be thankful because not many TA's are in the mood to help undergrads...
Workload:
N/A
His accent is totally understandable, he's entertaining, he explains things well. What more could one want? While I'm not a huge fan of E&M I looked forward to going to class and feel like I've gotten a reasonable amount out of it. The TA did the homework during recitation, so it was possible to get through the class with no work at all (although I wouldn't recommend this... you'll get screwed on the exams).
Workload:
Weekly problem set (consisting of four Griffiths problems of varying difficulty), two midterms, final.
Prof. Westerhoff is a competent lecturer and is always very well organized. No, he is not particularly animated and teaches with a no nonsense style. This, of course, is very much in tune with the material. Don't expect to be fascinated by the material in the way that you might expect from an introductory course. In other words, this is not a course you shop around for. If you're reading this review, then you are probably either a physics or applied physics major, in which case you won't have a choice in deciding whether or not to take this course. Thankfully, Westerhoff gets the job done as efficiently and as painlessly as the material permits. Note that he does not curve exams and grades on a scale that he himself deems fit. You have to more or less know your stuff to get an A, which isn't particularly easy since the material can get pretty involved. Also, the diffuculty of his exams can fluctuate significantly, so be wary.
Workload:
problem sets every week. two midterms and a final
Directory Data
| Dept/Subj | Directory Course | Professor | Year | Semester | Time | Section |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Philip Kim | 2012 | Fall | MW / 11:40-12:55 PM | 1 |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Abhay Pasupathy | 2012 | Spring | MW / 9:10-10:25 AM | 1 |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Abhay Pasupathy | 2011 | Spring | MW / 9:35-10:50 AM | 1 |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Alberto Nicolis | 2010 | Spring | MW / 9:10-10:25 AM | 1 |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Alberto Nicolis | 2009 | Spring | MW / 9:35-10:50 AM | 1 |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | 2008 | Spring | MW / 9:35-10:50 AM | 1 | |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Gustaaf Brooijmans | 2007 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Gustaaf Brooijmans | 2005 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Gustaaf Brooijmans | 2004 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Stefan Westerhoff | 2003 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |
| PHYS / PHYS | PHYS PHYS W3007: Electricity-Magnetism | Stefan Westerhoff | 2002 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |