Release of Volume II
Volume II of my book,”IIT
JEE Physics,Problems and Solutions” , published by Notion Press has
just been released. This covers the topics I described earlier, viz.
electricity, magnetism, sound,light and modern physics. It has
solutions to 450 problems from Irodov's book, and another 85 problems
besides.100 pages of notes are included. Together with volume I
(already published) covering statics, dynamics, thermodynamics and
liquids, and containing solutions to another 400 problems from Irodov
and 30 other problems, along with another 100 pages of notes, the two
volumes together present a comprehensive and excellent resource for
higher secondary students preparing for the IIT Joint Entrance test
in Physics.
Volume I itself has entered
its second edition; the principal change being a rearrangement of the
layout that allowed an increase in font size of the mathematical
expressions to improve reader experience, and the addition of Notes
and worked-out problems on heat transfer.
My publisher has arranged an
author page for me at https://notionpress.com/author/g_ganguli.This is a gateway to multiple
on-line book-stores. If you have purchased either volume, please
leave a review at the Amazon platform.
With this, the compilation
and publication of the late Dr. R.G.Chatterji's papers is complete.
It has been an eventful eighteen months since I decided to take up
this task , based on my conviction that this would make available a
significant resource of incredibly high quality to students
preparing for the IIT JEE examinations; and that this was the best
way to honor the legacy of this remarkable teacher.
Arranging,formally presenting
and double-checking the solutions scattered among several manuscripts
was an onerous task. This was possible because I have experience in
the matter, having coached Higher Secondary school students for the
IIT JEE Physics paper in the past before the demands of Corporate
life intervened. My wife patiently bore the many hours I literally
tore off from family time and lavished on the project. Thank you,
Indrani.
The final issue was the
publication itself. Kolkata, the city where I live, has a robust
publishing industry, but no one was interested in backing an unknown
author in a specialized genre. Fortunately I was able to contact
Notion Press, Chennai who have been very professional and very
helpful in the way they handled the publications.
The A4 size selected for the
book made both volumes easy to convert to an e-book format . Also,
the books themselves are compact and easy to handle.
The quality of what has been
produced fills me with satisfaction. The time and effort spent has
been huge but something of real value has been produced.
A few pointers.
There are other books
available on this topic. Two things make these volumes stand out.
First,the method. There are
always more ways than one to solve a problem. Dr. Chatterji was a
born teacher and always addressed the needs of his students. He chose
methods that were simple and intuitive , and he seldom used
mathematics beyond the Higher Secondary level. Where there was
simply no other option,he explained the particular concept in very
simple and useful terms in his notes.
Second, the notes. When he
taught, he would devote a fair amount of time to review, distill and
encapsulate the necessary physics and maths theory and present it as
notes for the students in a manner that was concise,accurate, yet
easily retained ; because these concepts,results and expressions are
vitally necessary for problem-solving at this level. In these
volumes as many as 200 of the 900 pages or so are devoted to notes,
making them quite unique.
I personally believe that the
notes presented in the books are extremely important and well worth
the study, and will repay the student many times over for his or her
effort to master them.
How to use these books.
If you are a student, and want
to prepare for the IIT JEE Physics paper, it is possible to do so
using these books. Start by asking yourself the following questions
:
1. At the start of Class X,
would you ( and your teachers and class-mates) say you are quite good
in Maths and Science?
2.Do you really have the
ambition to enter IIT and the capacity and willingness to work very
hard for this goal?
The answer to both questions
must be a resounding “yes.” Because, let's face it, you will have
to invest a considerable amount of your time and effort for this.
There is no short-cut. Be certain of your motivation before you start
the journey.
The books have been designed
for self-study; as work-books rather than books of reference. They
must be complemented by a copy of “Problems in General Physics”
by A.E.Irodov, available as a free download from
https://archive.org/details/IrodovProblemsInGeneralPhysics or an
inexpensive hard copy from an on-line store. This renowned
publication of international acclaim, now in the public domain, is
widely considered to be the very best question bank of problems in
Physics available anywhere. It is particularly suitable for
preparing for the IIT JEE Physics paper, and is the source of 850 of
the 1000 problems to which solutions are presented. Any higher
secondary school student who is able to independently solve most of
the problems in the
books will be in an
excellent position to tackle the tough IIT JEE Physics paper. The
concepts and expressions are readily available in the Notes- but of
course, for a deeper treatment of the theory you will have to consult
your favorite Physics text book.
The preparation is thus simple
in principle. Start
with the problems,not the solutions. Work out each problem with pen
and paper in sequence, starting with the beginning of Volume I and
ending with the end of Volume II. Check your work with the solutions
provided. Refer to the notes and use them frequently,
This is not as difficult as it
sounds. The greatest help you can give yourself is to form a
study-group of 4-8 motivated and serious students . Meeting once a
week for two hours,and sharing the work-load, the group can present
solutions to 12-16 problems on the black-board to each other and
answer questions from the others on the presentation. Home-work for 4
hours a week will be necessary ,
working out these problems with pen and paper and then checking
the answers using the solutions provided.
Thus through a study of 6 hrs per week over one and a half years the
entire material can be meaningfully covered and assimilated. The
compact solutions and the encapsulated notes make this eminently
doable.
Although the solutions are self-explanatory, during the preparation of a subject like this, questions will inevitably arise. It is here that each group will
benefit immensely by the presence of a mentor. I hope Higher
Secondary Physics teachers will be motivated to help talented
students fulfill their IIT dreams and set up study groups in their
locality. I shall try to support such initiatives by teachers and
groups, wherever they are,whatever their size,if they get in touch
with me, in whatever way I can. Those interested can leave a comment on my blog.
The future
I would like to set up a web
site so that any questions on any part of the content in these books
can be asked and answered on line. The idea is to give more control
to each reader to learn at his or her own pace. This is an ambitious
project; one that is not going to happen any time soon. But it can be
done. I invite anyone with a constructive idea about it to leave a
comment in this blog.
