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Learner Reviews & Feedback for How Things Work: An Introduction to Physics by University of Virginia

4.8
stars
2,843 ratings

About the Course

An introduction to physics in the context of everyday objects....

Top reviews

IP

Mar 29, 2022

Loved this course I thought it was a great course for the Introduction to Physics. It was easy enough to understand and Lu had a strong passion for what he was teaching. All in all great course. 10/10

E

Sep 25, 2023

Wonderful course, I enjoyed every second. It opened my eyes to get insight and understand many topics on which I wasn't clear. Completely different to all previous experiences. Would highly recommend.

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51 - 75 of 867 Reviews for How Things Work: An Introduction to Physics

By Elias M

Oct 4, 2017

A very clear, and well thought out course. I am brand new to physics and this was a fantastic way to get started. It walked me through information carefully, and I never felt lost or confused at any time. The questions and quizzes were well timed and relevant to the content, and really helped solidify information.

The only negative I can mention are some small issues with production, particularly with sound editing, but considering this was a volunteer operation and not part of a full time job I think it is perfectly forgivable.

The teacher clearly knows his stuff and is a really fun instructor, I thoroughly enjoyed this course and hope to see more of his work in the future!

By Marko S

Apr 30, 2017

Good course when you want to get to know some basic mechanical physics. Examples are real world scenarios which makes everything much more relatable and exciting.

Course has very little math in it so it's easier to follow for beginners. But if you want some math exercises and examples then you need to find some other course/book to help you.

I think Louis hasn't visited the page for a while, because he hasn't given any comments in discussion forum for a while. There's some activity in the forum by community, but not the author of the course.

By Ngo T D

Nov 9, 2020

Funny, wonderful, and enthusiastic teacher with real experiments. I think this course is useful for an introduction to physics, but not a too easy course for everyone. It will be at best if you have some ideas about physics, or at least some of the terms, so that you have familiar feeling about how physicists think. With a foundation of natural science, you will learn physics in a systematic way.

By Ranajit P C

Jun 6, 2020

explanation of each topic is very good. i really impress by the basics explained by sir for each topic in very simple manner

By Tomi J A

Aug 2, 2020

A good certificate-level introduction to classical mechanics.

By SREERAM K V S U

May 31, 2020

GOOD

By Jennifer S

Nov 22, 2019

I sometimes felt a bit diminished by the professor. He was talking to us as if we were young kids that did not know anything. The information was good but provided in a way that was rather annoying. Also very onesided course that only provided information through videos. No reading, writing or discussions with other students. I am not sure I learned a lot therefore.

By 吴秀森

Nov 14, 2016

I am from China.I think the courses is easy for a senior high school students. The vidio is too long.it is better to make it short.At all,thank you for your wonderful teaching!

By Eraraya M M

Nov 20, 2020

The course is fun, but the explanation and quiz become not very clear. This introduction doesn't use any notation or math, and it should be at the beginner level.

By Maymoonah B O

Nov 22, 2018

the problem is that you have to pay to submit quizzes otherwise it is very good.

By Alex

May 7, 2020

good if you just got out of a coma

By Elias J A

Jul 17, 2020

It's a good "intro" but really nothing more than that. Very elementary; grade-school. There's an attempt at passion made but it comes off cheesily and a bit forced, and things are kept veryyyy simple -- I feel like this could be a great course, but for teenyboppers and their moms, not those seeking an online university experience.

By shahad a

May 12, 2020

no basics and the teacher did not explain everything and every detail to solve all these kinds of questions. if you think me a scientist to give me these questions then I will not need to join this course. you gave me difficult questions and if you explain enough to me then they become much easier. by the way, science is cool but why u make people hate it by making it difficult.

By Yensu A

Apr 21, 2022

I saw some logic flaws in the very first assessment. This, on top of the fact that the professor is trying to sell his own books for profit, I cannot endorse this course.

By Jorge A

Jul 19, 2021

not free

By Ann L

Mar 18, 2022

Lou teaches this physics class by using real life examples that make it relatively easy to understand. There is little math involved, which was a huge plus for me because it's been forever since I had any math. He does a great job with the videos and the quizes are based on things that he taught in the videos. I bought the book too and waited until I got the book before starting the class but the entire course is only the first 75 pages of the book (so you could probably do without the book unless you're serious about taking more physics). If you are interested in taking more physics and want to buy the book: know that it is well written and also easy to understand. I am very glad that I took this class...I learned a whole new vocabulary; I learned that many words that I thought I knew, I didn't really understand (ie Torque, angular acceleration, the difference between acceleration and velocity etc). I also learned a lot about how things work. I'd highly recommend this class... Enjoy...

By Ching N Y

Aug 10, 2020

The course is amazing. I am not very sure about the reason for the different direction of the static frictional force regarding the front and rear wheel, and I have find other online resource to fill that part. Therefore, some emphasis could be added to different that two will be great. Beside, the question regarding the tide and the kinetic energy of the Earth rotational motion is not very easy to understand, I still cannot understand that till now, therefore it will also be great if some explanation or adjustment is added to the Week 6: Wheels chapter. After all, it is a great course, as I am totally new to physic, and I understand almost all the part from the video. Also I love the quizzes in between the video and at the end of each week, they make me know that what I have learnt, and what I have not.

By Larry J

Sep 16, 2015

It has been many years since I've had a physics course. I've got a doctorate in another field. I've been looking into bio-mechanical interfaces and felt that I needed to review some basic physics without all the hassle of a formal course and with the option of skipping around if I felt the material was too basic. The lecture series allowed me to quickly and easily review some basic concepts without a formal structure.

I also have to say Dr. B. did a terrific job of translating some potentially daunting concepts into enjoyable yet serious teaching metaphors. A seriously fantastic job. Obviously, as noted the gradient lecture series has some personal interest and I think that you might consider some introduction to matter.

By Carlos O

Nov 30, 2020

This course is awesome to really understand 'how things work'. This is not a regular physics course, it has not a bunch of formulas, but it is much more focused on connecting important (and basic) physics concepts, so that a solid base can be built to understand from where those bunch of formulas and stuff came from as well as how they are related to each other. It is noticeable that Prof. Lou and his team put a great effort on putting all these together and the result, in my opinion, was great. I look forward to attend the second piece, hopefully covering Relativity and the third one, covering Quantum Mechanics! Thank you for making this available. :)

By Giannina Z

Sep 24, 2020

Excellent course. If you did not go down the path of science in college and the last time you took a Physics class was in high school (and perhaps you did not learn much back then because of a really bad teacher like I did) do yourself a favor and take this course. I always wonder about a lot of things I observe around me, but I never had the time or motivation to take a formal class. The passion Prof. Lou has when explaining concepts each week in layman's terms is truly inspirational. Too bad that the University of Virginia has not provided him with adequate support as to launch a second series for this course. I would enroll in a heartbeat.

By Tami M

Nov 19, 2017

This course is glorious. I never thought my mind could understand physics because throughout school, it was just esoteric. I had MANY questions about theories and their application, but felt like my questions were stupid and clearly I just wasn't cut out for the subject. But now to have those misunderstandings cleared up, to have my eyes opened to physics in my daily world, to get to grips with physics sans formulae - it's almost magical. A very, very masterful crafted course as well - thought-provoking questions, structuring the modules themselves around key, practical questions, the physical illustrations - it's great. Thank you!

By Nafi C

Dec 29, 2020

Lou is amazing. Genuinely, he is a great professor. I've never taken physics and wanted to get a basic understanding of some of it before I ended up taking it in college since I'm Pre-Medicine. Lou makes physics both fun and understandable through his fun teaching videos. Wish I could have him in person as my teacher, haha! Although the content can be very confusing and difficult, that's just the actual physics portion, but there's no real calculation or math in this course, it's more of just understanding concepts and "how" things happen or "why" things act in certain ways. Great course, was lengthy though!

By Maryann X

Jul 24, 2020

I did poorly in my AP Physics class in high school and thought that I would never be able to understand physics. After taking Professor Bloomfield's class, however, I was properly introduced to the wonderful world of physics and began to truly appreciate the subject. Instead of reciting formulas and learning theories, this class teaches you concepts applicable to everything around you. Professor Bloomfield is an exceptional professor who constantly keeps you engaged and entertained in class while imparting you with knowledge that you'll carry with you wherever you go.

By shaurya r

Jul 6, 2020

Professor Louis . A Bloomfield is a very enthusiastic and funny teacher. I love and appreciate his hard work and find his teachings very useful and understandable. He is a very fabulous and fantastic physics professor I enjoyed watching his videos and learned a lot. I could connect very easily with him. Really you are a wonderful teacher/professor. Don't have enough words to describe how much I enjoyed your videos. I am looking forward to continuing with season 2 of How Things Work.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS FANTASTIC COURSE, SIR!

By Dr. S S R

Apr 8, 2020

I would like to recommend the course to anyone who want to understand the world around us. It will definitely change the way you see world around you. The magic is you do not need any math proficiency. One more thing which is commendable is amount of effort the Prof. has made to design the questions. Kudos to Prof. Bloomfield for all the effort he has made to make physics accessible to everyone. One thing I want to suggest is to use more universal terminologies and not limited to people of American origin. Waiting for season 2 :)