Civil Engineering 92, Intro to Civil and Environmental Engineering
Jamie Rector, W 12-1, 534 Davis
“Rector’s ok, not too riveting, although you might need to pay a little attention towards the end of the semester… Very friendly professor. Tries to be helpful and is. Tests are reasonable and sometimes on the easy side. Fun class, but challenging Labs. As long as you do your labs well, you will do well in the class as a whole.”
Text: None

Civil Engineering 93 (Engineering Data Analysis)
Armen Der Kiureghian, TuTh 9-10, 3108 Etcheverry
“I hated this class. When I sought help from the professor, he chastised me on how I needed to study harder for the test instead of actually helping me….Terrible, he is vague, cryptic, and stern. Be prepared do learn all the material on your own. His monotone puts me to sleep. I had the same experience of being chastised for not putting in enough effort when i went for extra help, but i did get the sense he really cared that i pass the class. But that is no consolation, he is real bad- good luck.”
Text: Probability Concepts in Engineering

Civil Engineering 107, Climate Change Mitigation
William Nazaroff, MWF 9-10, 110 Barrows
“Professor was very clear. He was able to anticipate most students questions and he gives clear examples in class and develops intuitive understanding in most of his students. Most people in the class that I talked to agreed…He gives very good introduction to topics to really motivate things. The exams are all very valid to test your knowledge about the subjects. Do expect to put real work into the class though because his class is not very easy. Highly recommended professor…Amazing professor. He really knows his material. It makes me want to continue in this field. I highly recommend his courses.”
Text: None

Civil Engineering C116, Environmental Aqueous Geochemistry
Garrison Sposito, TuTh 11-1230, 219 Dwinelle
” The smartest man I know…Excellent professor. Very passionate about the subject and full of interesting information. Very friendly and approachable. This class was the bright spot in my otherwise awful schedule…Dazzling intellect and a concern for students not often seen at Cal.”
Text: Soil and Water Chemistry

Civil Engineering 120, Structural Enginering
J Moehle, MW 8-9, 502 Davis
“Very helpful during office hours, class notes are useful and a good mix of new research and fundamental material…He is well-organized with really good and usefull class-notes. His class is never boring…extremely hard professor but forces you to learn the subject. Everything uses the ACI Code as reference, since he was one of the people who wrote the building code.”
Text: Fundamentals of Structural Analysis

Civil Engineering 121, Advanced Structural Analysis
Filip Filippou, MWF 10-11, 60 Evans
“It is obvious that Professor Filippou is in love with himself. CE 121 was one of the most useless classes I took at Berkeley. I should be eligible for a full refund…”Professor Filippou is a master of making easy concepts difficult to understand. ” Amen to that…The class is hard but he is always very helpful during office hours, and really cares about the students’ learning.”
Text: None

Civil Engineering 130, Mechanics of Materials I
Shaofan Li, MWF 11-12, 106 Stanley
“Professor Li is very clear during lectures, and is very straightforward about the course. He’s also a very nice guy… I love his analogies (Comparing Beam Stability to a person with someone with Schizophrenia)…Uses the same tests year after year. Does some homework problems for you in class. Not a hard class. He is hard to understand and moves quickly. If you have to take CE130 it is a must to take Li.”
Text: Engineering Mechanics of Solids (2nd Edition)

Civil Engineering C133, Engineering Analysis w/ Finite Element Method
Tarek Zohdi, TuTh 1230-2, 3108 Etcheverry
“Going into this class, I thought I was going to hate it. Zohdi turned out to be a great professor. Very clear explanations, very clear expectations of students, no regular homework sets, interesting lectures and real world examples. Easily one of the best professors I’ve had at Cal…Zohdi is easily the BEST professor I’ve ever had in Berkeley. Crystal clear explanations, repeats everything to the point you have no choice but understand it. Excellent board use…Awesome professor. There is no way you can dislike this guy.”
Text: None

Civil Engineering 140 (Failure Mechanisms in CE Materials)
Claudia Ostertag, TuTh 11-12, 502 Davis & TuTh 1230-2, 406 Davis
“Best instructor I had at Cal. Tests are difficult, lectures are detailed. Nothing tricky about the class, but you are expected to know what you are talking about (can’t bullcrap your way through).”
Text: None.

Civil Engineering C154, Intro to Urban and Regional Transportation Planning
Karen Frick, MW 11-1230, 112 Wurster
“Loved this class! So extremely easy and she was always so nice about it. If you have questions, she’ll help you in a second and she genuinely tries to get to know everyone. Don’t buy the book or the reader, just study from the slides…LOVE THE CLASS! Prof. Frick is super nice and helpful during office hour, if you are cee major, make sure you take this class with her. exams are fair and not hard. Study her powerpoint presentation before the exams, they help a lot.”
Text: None

Civil Engineering 165, Concrete Materials and Construction
Paulo Monteiro, TuTh 8-930, 502 Davis
“About the only professor in the department with personality. Awesome professor…great personality. his lectures always never stay on track, usually talking about something else for 1/3 of the time. very excited about concrete and homework/exams very fair.. very easy class, not a lot of work is required just show up and pay attention during lecture.”
Text: Concrete

Civil Engineering 167, Engineering Project Management
Iris Tommelein, TuTh 11-1230, 3108 Etcheverry
“Professor Tommelein is a great professor, she is one of the few within CE that cares about teaching and about her students. Very helpful in office hours and willing to take extra time to help the students.”
Texts: Construction Contracting, Project Management

Civil Engineering 60 (Structure and Properties of CE Materials) & 140 (Failure Mechanisms in CE Materials)
Claudia Ostertag, TuTh 11-12, 502 Davis & TuTh 1230-2, 406 Davis
“Best instructor I had at Cal. Tests are difficult, lectures are detailed. Nothing tricky about the class, but you are expected to know what you are talking about (can’t bullcrap your way through).”
Text: From bookstore

Civil Engineering 70, Engineering Geology
N Sitar, TuTh 1230-2, 502 Davis
Ratings N/A
Text: Understanding Earth
Engineering 7, Intro to Computer Programming for Scientists
Section 1: Alexandre Bayen, MW 12-1, 100 Lewis
“Professor Bayen is one of the most enthusiastic professors I have had the pleasure of taking a class with. As I meet more and more faculty in his area of research, one thing I constantly hear is how bright he is, and I totally agree. He has a great presentation style and a sense of humor that will keep lectures interesting.”

Section 2: Tad Patzek, MW 1-2, 100 GPB
“He expects too much though and can mistakenly find something to be easy. It would be better for him to stay in the real world and not teach…he has a lot of difficulty explaining an idea in laymans terms and ends up just technobabbling about the math, which makes no sense. I stopped going to lecture as it just made things worse. His online reader is confusing as well and goes too much into the math theory rather than the relevance to programming….DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH PATZEK!!! YOU WILL REGRET IT FOREVER AND EVER!!! AND EVER!!! HEED THIS WARNING LEST YOU ROT IN ETERNAL DAMNATION!!!”

Engineering 10, Engineering Design and Analysis
Sections 1, 2, 4: No info
Section 3: Raymond Seed, MWF 10-11, 145 McCone
” Talks fast, odd mannerisms, thinks alot of himself. Khaki pants blue shirt, navy/red tie – everyday. Has an overly inflated opinion of himself and engineering as THE only important major on earth. Way to eager to have you think he is a good guy. Pompus. Tough teacher, know his stuff though, but a jerk.”
Text: Concepts in Engineering

Engineering 24, “Time, Money, Love in the Age of Technology”
Americ Azevedo, M 1-2, 45 Evans
” He seems like he’s straight out of the 60′s. Very whimsical man and very interesting to listen to. Take this class if you’re into philosophy… I came away from it with a new outlook on life…An amazing, thought provoking, inspired man. He cares about his students. Take this class and go to his office hours. You won’t regret it.”
Texts: None.

Engineering 28, Basic Engineering Design Graphics
Sarah McMains, MW 3-4, 60 Evans
“In lecture, she simplifies the material too much, like she’s teaching to little kids. You don’t realize it’s a problem until you start the homework, and you’re like ‘how the eff do you do this.’ Would not recommend…DAAAAAAAMMMMMNNNN!!!!! She is a hotty. She kinda looks like Dobby (from Harry Potter) though…Darth McMains. Homeworks took way too long. Did not inform us on how to do required material, extremely long midterms. All around poor teacher. Take it with any other professor. She is also extremely stingy when it comes to any kind of grading.”
Text: Visualization, Modeling, And Graphics For Engineering

Engineering 36, Engineering Mechanics I
Shaofan Li, MW 1-2, 4 LeConte
“Funny guy. His lectures were usually pretty clear, but he has horrible chalkboard-management. Gave away many hints for homework sets and sometimes tests (as a sort of reward for those who attended lecture). Overall, decent experience. I’d recommend…This guy is frickin crazy “Who said dat!” By far the best mechanics teacher. This guy will fill up the board about 50 times in a half an hour, don’t worry if you don’t understand no one does. Shaofan works it up there sure to be covered in sw”
Texts: Vector Mechanics for Engineers

Engineering 39B, Intro to Computational Engineering Science
John Verboncoeur, Tu 330-5, 203 Wheeler
“One of my all time favorite Professors. Is willing to help with homeworks and projects. Grasps the interest of students…great teacher, makes subject very interesting. His lectures are kinda unorganized, and he doesn’t follow the book so you need to attend.”
Text: None

Engineering 45, Properties of Materials
R Ramesh, MWF 12-1, 10 Evans
“Very good professor! He didn’t write the exams…the head GSI did most of it. Tests weren’t too bad either. Very easy to get a B…need to work a little harder for the A… This guy came from Maryland… therefore he’s very helpful and actually cares about students. Several times he taught class on Saturdays to make sure we understand! Very concerned for your learning and very approachable…Ramesh is just simply not consistent enough – his lectures are often very pointless and he is not good at explaining the concepts we are learning. As previous people have said, he just goes through the book – but is isn’t helpful because you end up with a lot of material that he hasn’t at all synthesized, making midterms seem random.”
Text: Introduction to Materials Science for Engineers

CS 39J, The Art and Science of Photography
Brian Barsky, Fri 12-2, 405 Soda
“Man was this an awkward class. Barsky himself seems like a pretty righteous dude, and the class had its good moments, but not as many as I had hoped. It wasn’t miserable, but I wouldn’t recommend it per se…very cool prof and class he’s knowledgeable and enthusiastic…”
Optional texts: Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) 7.0 Studio Techniques, Basic Photographic Materials and Processes, Photography: Revised Edition, A Short Course in Photography, Photoshop CS2 Bible, Photography, Perception and Imaging

CS 39K, Information Technology Goes to War!
Randy Katz, W 4-6 310 Soda
“His presentation style was fairly boring, basically he read from PP slides all day in a slightly monotonous voice…Absolutely riveting! Great Project too!..Great lecturer!”
Texts: None.

CS 61A, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
Brian Harvey, MWF 2-3, 1 Pimentel
““You should have programming experience before taking this class…This class opens up lots of different perspectives about programming…you should have programming experience before taking this class….Pretty dry, but then the entire course can be so…you should have programming experience before taking this class… Great professor, great lecturer, and very nice guy. He will make sure to answer all question during lecture before continuing. The class itself wasn’t too hard, but you HAVE to think like a programmer. Prior programming RECOMMENDED! The midterms are certainly fair as long as you take the time to look at the practice midterms in the reader.”
Texts: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs – 2nd Edition, Instructor’s Manual t/a Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Simply Scheme – 2nd Edition

CS 61BL, Data Structures and Programming Methodology
Mike Clancy, W 5-6, 4 LeConte
“Clarification: by L I mean the six-hour lab vers of CS61B that is Clancy’s pet creation. He’s very nice and willing to help if he happens to be wandering through your lab or if you go to his office hours. However, he assigns A LOT of ridiculously hard homework and projects are difficult. One hr/wk lectures ineffective. Tests reasonable…A very cool professor who gets to know his students very well. Makes course material very interesting. Definitely recommended!”
Texts: Head First Java, 2nd Edition, Pragmatic Unit Testing in Java with JUnit

CS 61C, Machine Structures
Dan Garcia, MWF 3-4, 2050 VLSB
“Good lectures, interesting personality, and shows CG clips before class. Like most CS classes, projects take some time. The midterm is challenging, but doable. There is a nice policy where you can overwrite your midterm grade if you do well on the final…Lecture was always exciting, but occasionally got off topic and ran out of time. I didn’t find the concepts in lecture too difficult, and didn’t read much out of the main book, but lots of reading out of the C book. projects really long and hard, but prof was nice: regrades, Slip days, dropped low hw…Passionate about the subject and overall a good professor. However, his exams kill. Make sure you understand EVERY little concept that he goes over; even if he says only 1 word about it, there might be a full problem on this thing on exams.”
Texts: C Programming Language (2nd Edition), Computer Organization and Design

CS 70, Discrete Math and Probability Theory
D Wagner, MWF 11-12, 155 Donner
Text: Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications

EE 20N, Structure and Interpretation of Systems and Signals
B. Ayazifar, TuTh 1230-2, 277 Cory
“Hardest Prof. I have ever had at Berkeley… challenged me to the limits and beyond…He is funny, helpful and unusually clear and I say unusually because EE classes are hard to understand…He’s brilliant, articulate, personable, and an excellent lecturer. Truly one of the best. BONZAI!”
Text: No Text Required

EE 40 (Intro to Microelectronic Circuits)
V Anantharam, MWF 1-2, 10 Evans
No info given.
Text: Electrical Engineering: Principles and Applications

EE 42 (Intro to Digital Electronics) & 100 (Electronic Techniques for Engineering)
Bernhard Boser, TuTh 8-930, 145 Dwinelle
“Really terrible. It’s incredibly hard to extract useful information from his unorganized lectures…envelope…useless lectures. He ends up on tangents that no grad student would understand…gets angry when his class does badly on his poorly written exams.”
Text: Electric Circuits (8th Edition)

Physics 105, Analytic Mechanics
Edgar Knobloch, MWF 8-9, 3 Evans
Avg GPA: 2.88, 35% A, 40% B, 9% C, 9% D, 7% F
No reviews.

Beate Heinemann TuTh 8-930, 9 Lewis
No reviews.
Texts: Classical Mechanics

Physics 110A, Electromagnetism and Optics
Mike Crommie, TuTh 930-11, 3 Evans
Avg GPA: 3.0, 33% A, B, C respectively
“He does not do a good job of choosing text books, or homework assignments, usually lectures are written at 2 am the night before the class. Nice guy, and helpful in office hours, but boardwork needs to improve.”
Texts: Introduction to Electrodynamics

Physics 110B, Electromagnetism and Optics
Mark Strovink, MWF 10-11, 180 Tan
Avg GPA: 3.26, 45% A, 43% B, 8% C, 4% F
“Does his job well, perhaps the best in the department. the most efficient in conveying knowledge. If he is teaching a classand you have the option of taking it, do so. However, do not take the class lightly. Grades to 7:8:5, meaning A(+0-);B(+0-);C,D,F…He prepares for lectures in ahead, and his HWs would surely lead students to understanding the materials he teaches. I was impressed his HWs more than his lecture although his lecture is very well organized with neat writings on a blackboard. By the way, you would not use the Optics book much, so you do not have to buy it if you don’t want it…Easily the best professor of my undergraduate career. Go talk to him in OH; he has plenty of entertaining (and usually applicable) stories. Very difficult conceptually, but you are trying to actually learn something, aren’t you?”
Texts: Introduction to Electrodynamics, Introduction to Optics

Physics 111, Modern Physics and Advanced Electrical Lab
Section 1: Joel Fajans, MTWTF 1-5, 286 LeConte
“He’s extremely arrogant, and very rarily in the lab. Thinks you’re an idiot. Will be happy to talk about his MIT education, but in reality i’m not very impressed with him.”
Texts: The Art of Electronics, Microelectronic Circuits: includes CD-ROM

Section 2: William Holzapfel & Yury Kolomensky, MTWTF 1-5, 283 LeConte
Holzapfel: “Very enthusiastic. Explains very good. Lecture’s are very organized and are a big help with the lab reports.”
Kolomensky: “Simply Amazing. He will go out of his way to help you.”
Texts: Experiments in Modern Physics, Second Edition, An Introduction to Error Analysis

Physics 112, Intro to Stat and Thermal Physics
Section 1: X Huang, MWF 8-9, 220 Wheeler
Avg GPA: 3.42; 50% A, 42% B, 8% C
No reviews.
Section 2: John Clarke, TuTh 8-930, 180 Tan
“Very nice guy and explains clearly to detail, his midterms were at about the same level as the homework so they were actually doable and they make you feel good about physics… but his final was unspeakably hard, feel like I could have a different evaluation because of the final…He is very clear and his lecture notes are very helpful. His tests are about the same as the homework level. A very insightful and fair professor.”
Avg GPA for upper-div: 34% A, 43% B, 16% C, 3% D & F each
Text: Thermal Physics (2nd Edition)

Physics 132, Contemporary Physics
Melvin Pomerantz, TuTh 930-11, 35 Evans
Avg GPA: 37% A, 36% B, 26% C, 1% F
“He is truly one of the most caring professors I’ve ever met at Cal. His class definitely emphasizes understanding the concepts rather than just knowing how to do problems. Focus on his powerpoint notes and he explains things very well in office hours. Overall, he is a wonderful old man – very genuine and kind…Perhaps the best professor I’ve had at Berkeley. The tests are not very hard. He puts half application problems, and half book problems on the test. As a person, he is an extremely caring and kind person. He truly cares about his students. If you’re going to take his class, I highly recommend getting to know him. He’s awesome!”
Text: Modern Physics

Physics 137A, Quantum Mechanics
Both sections: L Hall, MWF 9-10, 180 Tan; TuTh 930-11, 70 Evans
Average GPA: 39% A, 33% B, 26% C, 2% D
“He is fair and a great lecturer. Homeworks were very demanding each week, often 10-15 hours of work for a problem set. Tests were pretty hard. Overall a cool professor…He was an excellent professor in quantum mechanics; very clear, showed interest, and encouraged students to ask questions. There was never a dull moment in his class. He can be demanding; the final exam was the hardest test I’ve taken at Cal yet…He was an excellent professor in quantum mechanics; very clear, showed interest, and encouraged students to ask questions. There was never a dull moment in his class. He can be demanding; the final exam was the hardest test I’ve taken at Cal yet…An amazing lecturer. Heavily encourages questions during lecture and answers them as much as possible (within the time constraint). His exams can be difficult.”
Text: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (2nd Edition)

Physics 137B, Quantum Mechanics
Section 1: Richard Marrus, MWF 9-10, 70 Evans
Average GPA: 59% A, 29% B, 10% C, 2% F
“Amazing lecturer; rigorous presentation that is never vague or evasive. He is always accurate with things and he’s nice and funny. (His stories are some of the funniest I had ever heard.) Midterms and final were challenging, but at the same time very doable and very fair. It simply entailed much independent studying…He was a decent teacher, but if you asked a good question, his response during class was usually “you don’t want to ask that”…Marrus is a nice old guy, he curves generously. He does have trouble answering questions in a manner that is easy to understand, and in understanding the questions from the students. Mostly he has trouble coming down to the level of the students…”
Text: Quantum Mechanics (2nd Edition)

Section 2: Charles Wohl, TuTh 930-11, 9 Lewis
Average GPA in 137B: 2.9; 36% A, 36% B, 18% C, 3% D, 8% F
“Overall, good professor and decent lecturer. It is sometimes difficult to follow what point he is trying to make, but he makes a good effort to address every student’s questions. Also, he wrote AWESOME lecture notes for this class – it helped a lot to read them beforehand, and then go to lecture for reinforcement…Wohl=”ALEGEBRA MONKEY”…I took Wohl in the summer. The class was fast paced but Wohl demystifies some of the math and concepts. He also had some entertaining lectures. I would take him again.”
Text: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (2nd Edition), Schaum’s Mathematical Handbook of Formulas and Tables

Physics 139, Special and General Relativity
D English, TuTh 2-330, 385 LeConte
No ratings.
Text: Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein’s General Relativity

Physics 141A, Solid State Physics
Ivo Souza, TuTh 8-930, 2 Evans
Avg GPA: 3.62, 67% A, 29% B, 5% C
“Even though I came in with an excited attitude to take this class, Prof. Souza made it a nightmare. In my opinion, it is excusable for a prof. to be mediocre as long as he tries. This guy doesn’t care AT ALL about students, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he really doesn’t care about physics…His lectures are bad regurgitations of an already bad textbook, really no point in attending (not to mention he cant even answer questions). He often tries to be a hardline professor, but he comes off as being mean (ex. won’t let you miss a homework even if you have a good reason). All told, a very bad experience (he’s not even a very nice guy).”
Text: Introduction to Solid State Physics

Physics 141B, Solid State Physics
Joseph Orenstein, MWF 11-12, 385 LeConte
Avg GPA: 55% A, 33% B, 9% C
No ratings.
Texts: Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics: Volume 1

Physics C161, Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology
Adrian Lee, MWF 3-4, 88 Dwinelle
Average GPA: 3.22, 40% A, 43% B, 16% C, 1% D
“Overall a pretty good professor. his lectures are clear and well organized. he’s really nice in office hours, and exams are hard but fair…extremely friendly and enthusiastic, very approachable, challenging but fair tests, sometimes not great at explaining more difficult material, but overall an awesome professor…Like a big, warm, cuddly, physics teaching teddy bear. Entertaining classes, though reading the book is very important to follow him through some of the harder materials.”
Texts: Introduction to Cosmology, High Energy Astrophysics: Volume 2, Stars, the Galaxy and the Interstellar Medium

Physics 177, Principles of Molecular Biophysics
C Bustamante, TuTh 8-930, 70 Evans
Avg GPA: 3.08, 44% A, 40% B, 4% C, 4% D, 8% F
No ratings.
Texts: Molecular Biophysics: Structures in Motion

Astronomy 24, Space, Time, and the Cosmos
Alex Filippenko, Th 1-3, 544 Campbell (One of the best teachers in Berkeley, of course)
Texts: A Briefer History of Time, The Fabric of the Cosmos Required, What Your Astronomy Textbook Won’t Tell You Recommended

Astronomy 39, “Life in the Universe?”
Marc Davis, Tu 230-4, 544 Campbell
“REALLY nice, very smart & experienced… but has had a stroke, so his handwriting is very hard to read, and his lecturing is completely disorganized, makes frequent mistakes, goes off on tangents, & the midterms are badly worded/confusing. read the book & go to discussions and you should be fine. he’ll explain anything if you take the time to ask….Davis is a very nice guy, and you know he likes and loves what he does, but as a teacher who is responsible for upper level education he lacks in clarity, structure, and fails to present the material in an interesting yet alone comprehensible manner. I LOVED astro. b4 this class, but not nemore. Lots of useless homework/reading.”
Text: Rare Earth, What Your Astronomy Textbook Won’t Tell You Recommended

Physics 7A, Physics for Scientists and Engineers
Steven Boggs, MWF 11-12, 1 LeConte
Average GPA in 7A: 2.92, 29% A, 40% B, 27% C, 2% D & F each
“Great lecturer, very clear and neat. Tests range from straightforward to very difficult, but if you are comfortable with the math (multivariable calculus, differential equations) most of the material will make conceptual sense, even if some of the questions do not. A very good professor…Very boring lectures, but that’s physics. Does his best to make the material interesting. Some of the demos are cool. With the exception of the first midterm, tests are hard. The class is heavily curved so it is possible to do far less than stellar and still secure at least an A-. Do not take this class at 8 AM…The first midterm was easy enough (mean in the 80s), the second was killer (mean in the 40s). My advice is to work on understanding concepts at a deep level, and focus primarily on the hardest problems in the book. Better screw up in the comfort of your own home than on your final. Boggs is great, and if you’re not, at least he curves!”

Alessandra Lanzara, TuTh 8-930 & TuTh 11-1230, 1 LeConte
Average GPA: 2.71, 24% A, 38% B, 31% C, 7% F
“Was a fair professor. The accent was not bad compared to other professors. Does make an effort to go at the student’s pace if enough people voice their opinion. If you have a problem, voice it because she will listen. Midterms are not easy but the curve makes it all better…Great teacher…the accent may be a little hard at first…pay attention to examples she gives in class they are sometimes very similar to her test…She’s the type of professor that if you treat them with respect they will in turn respect you…Prof. Lanzara’s lectures were pretty straight-forward. The midterms are hard (OK though) but the final was much much harder. But do all the problems in the book and you should be fine. A word of advice – check out old exams from other colleges like MIT, Cornell, Caltech, etc. I saw a few very similar problems on her midterms.”
Text: Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Volume 1

Physics 7B, Physics for Scientists and Engineers
Richard Packard, MWF 8-9, 1 LeConte
“Wow… prof. packard is awesome, and he teaches in a way for the student to actually understand. His class was at 8 in the morning and every time I went I never went to sleep, thats how great the lecture was. I definitely recommend taking him…Great lecturer. He goes over the most important topics in class, and goes over them in great detail. I love how when he goes over a concept, he tells a story about it: about its discovery, or an interesting use of the concept in technology. This means he does not lecture on parts of the reading, but he takes questions on them. Also great demos…Great lecturer, tries very hard to clarify difficult concepts. good demos done in class. he tends to digress a lot but that just made the class more interesting. midterms aren’t very difficult, the second one was actually pretty easy, final wasn’t bad since 3 of the problems were taken from the homework. overall, excellent professor.”
Average GPA: 3.16, 40% A, 41% B, 17% C, 1% D & F each

Alex Zettl, TuTh 2-330, 1 LeConte
Average GPA: 2.86, 35% A, 32% B, 21% C, 7% D, 5% F
“Awesome professor! Great lectures with really cool demos. Lectures are organized and handwriting is neat. Tests are extremely hard, really takes some thinking as well as creativity. But overall it was a good experience…you have to pay attention in this class, but it’s not hard to. he goes over material nice and slow and has one of the most presentable drawings and handwriting i’ve seen in years. the tests are extremely difficult, so, prepare to study; he wants his students to know what they’re doing. just work, and you’ll do fine…Man, such a good teacher. I think he is the best professor in the Physics department. So please take his class. You might regret if you don’t have him!”

Texts: Physics for Scientists & Engineers Vol. 2, Portable TA (Volume II)

Physics H7B, Physics for Scientists and Engineers
Irfan Siddiqi, TuTh 930-11, 2 LeConte
Average GPA: 3.08, 38% A, 46% B, 8% C, 8% F
“Good professor. Follows the material in the book and explains it very well.”
Texts: Electricity and Magnetism, Vol. II

Physics 7C, Physics for Scientists and Engineers
Robert Lin, MWF 11-12, 4 LeConte
Average GPA: 2.88, 30% A, 37% B, 27% C, 4% D, 2% F
“Physically, he looks like the turtle master from Dragon Ball Z. Psycologically, he is a funny chinese guy without a thick accent. Overall good guy…His lectures focus a lot on proofs and complicated math. The example problems he does in class are very difficult to follow. Discussion sections are much more helpful than lecture. I feel like he’s almost too smart to be teaching intro physics because when he answers questions, it tends to only confuse me more…Nice guy, no accent. Lectures are mostly derivations that are not useful. Discussions are a lot more useful. Labs were mostly worksheets. Midterms/Final were on the diffcult side (hey what do you expect, it’s physics) but still reasonable, and the curve ensures that if you do the work, it shouldn’t be too hard to end up with a B.”

M Battaglia, TuTh 8-930, 4 LeConte
Average GPA: 2.76, 17% A, 58% B, 16% C, 8% F
“Overall, horrible class and definitely worth waiting to take if Marco is the only one teaching it that semester. His tests were completely different than anything we’d seen in HW or class. I learned nothing from his lectures and wasn’t prepared for my upper division classes that were based in the quantum from this class…Accent takes some getting used to. Lectures were interesting, and he was good at connecting the topics together. Tests were difficult, but he’s very helpful if you ask him questions. Some test questions were on topics from lecture that weren’t in the textbooks. He’s friendly in office hours and will walk you through problems or concepts…Class was ridiculous. the mean on one of our tests was like a 30%. Only savior was looking at previous midterms for hours (book was not too helpful in this class). Avoid!!!…Really cool class, in my opinion. The material was really dense, so I suppose there’s no easy way to teach it. Battaglia is a particle physicist, and he incorporated his research into his lectures/tests. ‘Twas really hard at first, but you can learn alot from his class.”
Texts: Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, Volume III, Modern Physics

Physics H7C, Physics for Scientists and Engineers
Leroy Kerth, MWF 9-10, 2 LeConte
Average GPA: 3.16, 44% A, 35% B, 18% C, 2% D & F
“Writes very faintly on blackboard. Can do strange things like get the direction of a magnetic field wrong and claim that “direction doesn’t matter”. Can’t answer questions well and tends to be condescending about them anyway. Thank goodness for the GSI… The Chalkboard bit is true, and sometimes he can seem a little muffled and confused in lecture, However I have found to be very approachable and very helpful during office hours.”
Texts: Schaum’s Outline of Optics, Modern Physics

Physics C21, Physics and Music
Saul Perlmutter, MW 1-2, 1 LeConte
Average GPA: 3.59, 74% A, 19% B, 4% C & F
“Took Physics & Music in spring 07- was his 2nd semester teaching ever. Very enthusiastic and spoke more quickly when he got excited so sometimes difficult to follow. He obviously loves teaching which made the class better. Lots of demonstrations and prof and GSIs helpful in answering questions…Awesome teacher, really loves teaching and is a very smart man. “Physics and music” is a really easy class. just go to class and do the homework and there’s no way you can’t pass. good way to get physic breadth out of the way.”
Texts: Measured Tones

Physics 24, “Space-time, Relativity and the Universe”
Christopher McKee, W 10-11, 395 LeConte
“He was a very kind and clear lecturer. He seems to care about his students and adjusted homework to a reasonable amount. His exams were challenging but he seems to grade fairly. The only thing was that he went through a lot of material within a single semester…One of the easiest professor in Berkeley.”
Text: Space-Time Physics (buy from UC Bookstore)

Physics 24, From Mythbusters to Science Fiction
Robert Jacobsen, W 11-12, 395 LeConte
“Actually teaches the physics of situations, not the math. Lectures always interesting… Lectures are for the most part useless except for that they give you the general headlines of what you should know. In reality though you have to know much more than what is lectured…amusing guy, likes to go off and talk about things that may or may not be totally related, but are fun to learn. however, i find him to be a very scary guy when facing him one on one.”
Texts: None, but you might think of buying this.

Texts: Biology, Study Guide for Biology, Investigating Biology Lab Manual

Biology 1AL, General Bio Lab
Michael Meighan, M 5-630, 1 Pimentel
“Truth to be told. I do not recommend taking this class if you are pre-med so AP out of it if you can. However, if you really want to learn something BUT DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE GRADE then by all means take this class…He explains things well and covers an enormous amount of material in a short perid of time. His tests are extremely difficult. GO TO OH and WATCH HIS REVIEW!..Mike, although a generally nice man, prides himself of writing “difficult”, but useless tests. His lectures up to the first midterm were somewhat satisfactory, but were quite poor for the second half of the course…

Texts: Biology, Study Guide for Biology, Investigating Biology Lab Manual

Biology 1B, General Biology
L.J. Feldman, MWF 8-9, 2050 VLSB
“Feldman is a wonderful teacher with a committment to undergraduates. He genuinely cares about students and learning the material. Go talk to him during office hours, and you might actually start to like plants…I LOVE PLANTS. tricky midterm with only 32 questions (miss two answers and you cant get an A), but all very reasonable questions. he is totally accessible and visits all the lab sections…If you go to lectures/watch the webcasts and take notes you can get an A without touching the book. Wants students to understand concepts, so he asks a lot of hypothetical questions on midterms…He writes everything down clearly and you just need to memorize what he writes. Test seems easy but when you get it back you may find that you made a few mistakes.”
Texts: Biology

Chemistry 1A, General Chemistry
Either section: Heino Nitsche, MWF 9-10 or 1-2, 1 Pimentel
“Heavy accent and cannot explain anything. You learn by doing the homework (which is tedious) and reading the book… His tests were poorly written, but I was able to manage the class because of Discussion and I had a bad-ass GSI…Chem 1A would definitely be challenging if you haven’t taken it in high school; however, it is totally doable. Like the people said before, take advantage of the extra credit, study with your peers, and look at his old tests. They are really helpful…As someone else has already mentioned, take advantage of the gimme points! There are around 400 of them (you get extra credit for going to lecture!). Your GSI is definitely the key to a high grade, so pay attention and ask questions in lab.”

Texts: I-clicker for Chem 1A

Chemistry 1B, General Chemistry
Richard Saykally, MW 10-11, 120 Latimer
“Weird class. He tried to get us interested in studying crystals by saying that they would improve our sex life. The material is very simple, but he likes to add random tangents. Textbook is awful! Office hours are useless because he just talks about his kids…Fun guy, fun class. Saykally gives interesting lectures and tries to incorporate recent advances in chemistry into the course material. As lower division science courses go, this one isn’t too hard. Tests are usually fair…Good, interesting lecturer. Included lots of information about modern scientific applications. He also blew things up a lot. First 3 mid-terms weren’t hard and followed his practice tests closely. However, his final was very difficult. Tip: facts in lecture that don’t seem important (e.g. the entire C-N-O cycle, energy use statistics) will show up!”

Texts: I-clicker for Chem 1A

Chemistry 3A, Chemical Structure and Reactivity
Both sections: Jean Frechet, TuTh 8-930 at 2050 VLSB, TuTh 2-330 at 1 Pimentel
“Professor Frechet is a great teacher who makes the material interesting and easy to remember with somewhat lame (but weirdly funny) jokes mixed in with the material. His accent is never a problem, and though his handwriting may be a little hard to decipher at times, he posts the notes online so you have time to figure it out…Prof. Frechet does an excellent job of teaching ochem. It’s a hard subject no matter what, but a bad prof could make it impossible. Frechet explains concepts well and his exams are apparently much easier than Vollhardt’s. He is also friendly, has a great sense of humor, and isn’t at all overbearing. He’s on Wikipedia…His tests were hard but fair. He actually writes out notes in class in multiple colors even though he’s color blind, and they were easy to follow; much better than power point. A great prof and I heard he’s “easier” than some other o-chem profs but I think it’s b/c he’s more helpful, not exactly easier.

Texts: Student Lab Notebook, HGS Molecular Structure Model Kit: Organic Chemistry : With Instruction Manual, Organic Chemistry: Structure and Function, Organic Chemistry, Study Guide/Solutions Manual, ACS Model Kit & Guide (not sure, check if this is the actual one)

Chemistry 3B, Chemical Structure and Reactivity
Steven Pedersen, TuTh 8-930 at 1 Pimentel, simulcast at 10 Evans
“Put off taking this class to get Pedersen if you have to. Don’t bother with the text, but always go to lecture. He really does teach the concepts, and he’s even funny sometimes. One of the best professors I’ve had. Not easy, but excellent… I had all three of the main Ochem professors (Frechet, Vollhardt, and Pedersen) for different classes and there’s no doubt that Pederson is #1. His lectures are very clear, and he’s the only one who can lecture the hardest subject in a way so that anyone can understand. So if you are going to take a hard class, this professor is the one…if you work hard it is easy to get a B, but unless you are exceptional, it is very difficult to get an A. he’s funny, nice, extremeley smart, barely uses text, emphasizes amino acids more than other o-chem professors (which is good for bio people). ONLY real flaw is that he rushes certain parts of the course and takes other parts very slow.”

Physics 8A, Introductory Physics
Section 1: William Golightly, MWF 3-4, 1 Pimentel
“This class was unbelievably boring, it seems to me he would take forever copying a sample problem from the book to the board and then go through the solution in half a second. His meek presentation style does not help raise interest…One of the best profs I’ve ever had. I dreaded taking physics before, but Golightly’s such a great profs that I don’t hate physics as much now. Very clear and helpful. His demos are interesting too, especially when they fail…Professor Golightly is the sweetest physics professor. He’s dorky and enthusiastic. The tests are pretty easy because they are almost exactly like the review sheets…He is definitely dedicated to his students. Exams are pretty easy. But just be aware that he can only give out so many A’s, so you’ve got to work hard.”
Text: Volume 1 of Essential University Physics

Section 2: Michael DeWeese, TuTh 1230-2, 1 Pimentel
“He is inexperienced, and it shows. He spends a lot of time on demos, and sometimes gets flustered. However, that being said, he is extremely enthusiastic and wants it to be fun for his students. His midterms are relatively easy, and the text good enough to learn what he doesn’t cover well in lecture…He has a great personality and is actually pretty funny. Besides the occasional jokes, his lectures are boring, because they are so hard to follow. He’s pretty unorganized, isn’t all that great at explaining, and doesn’t spend time on concepts that need to be explained. However, his midterms were pretty straightforward and relatively easy…Horrible teaching. Does not know what he’s doing on the board. Confusing textbook, confusing homework, confusing lectures. Straight up horrible…Deweese is a first year professor and it is quite noticeable in his teaching, however he is really nice and the homework and the book are great teaching tools….he allows you to have cheat sheet and for never having taken physics, the first midterm seemed easy compared to the other class. there is no curve, so everyone is pretty friendly!!!!!”
Text: Volume 1 of Essential University Physics

Physics 8B, Introductory Physics
Section 1: Jan Liphardt, MWF 3-4, 4 LeConte
“This class was the easiest science class I have ever taken. Lecture is pretty useless and boring. Discussion was the most helpful-if you have a good GSI. He assigns 45 problems from the book for each exam and chooses around 8-10, which makes it easy to get a good grade if you do the problems. There’s no curve, but it’s really not needed…He assigns you exam problems in advance and then picks a few, changes them and that is your test. About 50 problems per midterm and 140 for the final, so the days before the tests are painful. You don’t learn any physics since the problems are so difficult you just memorize them. Lecture is useless, but his demos are cool. Discussion can be helpful…Absolutely horrible. Teaches 8b at a 7b level. Despite 8b not being a calculus based class, his teaching style depends almost entirely on calc. derivations. Lecture is pointless and his unenthusiastic comportment makes this class almost unbearable…this class got a lot better about halfway through. he started to use powerpoint and he put his slides on the web (mostly). also stopped deriving everything. the book we used was useless.”
Text: Volume 2 of Essential University Physics

Section 2: Robert Jacobsen, TuTh 11-1230, 1 Pimentel
“He has very good intentions of giving students an ‘intution of physics’ and puts a lot of emphasis on conceptual understanding. That aside, his lectures are boring and often involve demos that don’t really help. His tests are inconsistent in difficulty, and don’t involve much math (do not mistake no math as being easy)…Don’t freak out if he says he don’t curve– he tests very fair and if you are an A student you’ll get an A if you are a B student you will get a B not matter what. And do the homework it is one the exams…I really liked having him for 8A but he wasn’t nearly as good for 8B. There was a fairly large discrepancy between what he talked about in class and what he tested on the midterm. He expects you to be able to do problems completely unlike any you’ve seen before, in a high-pressure test environment. I would do all the practice problems and understand them but when I only had so much time there wasn’t much I could do for those really hard problems.”
Text: Volume 2 of Essential University Physics

Math 114 (Second Course in Abstract Algebra)
Martin Olbermann, MWF 1-2, 71 Evans
No info given.
Text: Reader at Copy Central

Math 121A (Mathematical Tools for the Physical Sciences)
Shamgar Gurevitch, TuTh 1230-2, 75 Evans
Average GPA: 3.34, 62% A, 20% B, 11% C, 3% D, 3% F
No ratings. However, I did grade for him (for this class), so I can personally attest he’s very generous with late homework and make-up tests. If you want a professor who holds your hand through this class, this is your dude.
Text: Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences

Math 121B (Mathematical Tools for the Physical Sciences)
Vera Serganova, MWF 12-1, 71 Evans
Average GPA: 3.38, 56% A, 25% B, 19% C
“Very fun, awesome lecture. Also a very fair grader. I don’t mean easy, i just mean fair. Very willing to answer questions…She goes too quick most of the time but possible to follow if you take good notes. Tests were very hard in the sense you have to apply what was covered… I couldn’t understand anything she was saying and gave up the 2nd week of class…he goes fast at times, but if you make the effort to read ahead you should be fine. GO TO OFFICE HOURS!! Grace rains over her head as she willing accepts late homework and extra-credit assignments. Her class is challenging, but not insanely difficult.”
Text: Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences

Math 125A (Mathematical Logic)
Leo Harrington, TuTh 11-1230, 3 Evans
Average GPA in upper-div: 2.63, 22% A, 33% B, 37% C, 7% F
“True, his handwriting is not great, but it’s better than mine. Also, he says pretty much what he writes. So keep your ears open, and he’ll answer your questions…his handwriting is horrible! you won’t be able to read anything. but then again he was extremely knowledgable in his field…. I’m guessing office hours would be helpful…He can’t communicate by words, board, or anything. My worst class ever.”
Texts: Notes at Copy Central

Math 126 (Partial Differential Equations)
Alexandre Chorin, MWF 10-11, 4 Evans
Average GPA: 3.29, 71% A, 12% B, 6% C, 0% D, 12% F
“Very nice guy. Easy going. He seriously knows his stuff. Goes to lecture without book/notes and teaches it straight from memory (theorems and proofs). Tests are straight forward. Homeworks are doable…Very nice teacher. Generally clear, though at times gives in to handwaving. Test grading is peculiar in that his midterm was worth 5 points. I sure hope the final is not worth 10 . Very helpful.”
Texts: Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction

Math 128A (Numerical Analysis)
Ming Gu, MWF 12-1, 277 Cory
“You won’t learn numerical analysis from his classes… he assumes you know absolutely nothing and will go at an alarmingly slow pace. 1/3-1/2 of his class didn’t attend lecture for good reason. Insists on using horrible text. Not very encouraging in OH either. But easy test. Avoid if possible…his tests are relatively easy, which screws up the curve. I attended lectures for the first 2/3 of the course and didn’t go anymore after the 1/3 (since I never looked at my lecture notes anyway). The class in general was horribly, horribly organized (I cannot emphasize this enough!). Beware!”
Texts: Numerical Analysis

Math 128B (Numerical Analysis)
W Kahan, MWF 11-12, 5 Evans
Average GPA: 2.71, 35% A, 24% B, 29% C, 12% F
“I actually had him as an academic advisor. He gives it to you straight without holding anything back. Which is good to some people. But don’t look to him for encouragement. I would avoid taking undergrad courses with him. He may be better for Graduate level work…One of the best teachers I’ve had in my life.”
Texts: TBA

Math 130 (Classical Geometry)
M Wodzicki, TuTh 1230-2, 85 Evans
Average GPA: 2.53, 24% A, 36% B, 24% C, 16% F
“This professor must never be allowed to teach mathematics again. His obsession with math history really detracts from his teaching…He was a great teacher and cared a great deal about the student’s understanding. His tests were very fair if the homework was done for understanding. He was easy to access and talk to in office hours…”My name is Wodzicki, please do not mispell it! Welcome to Math 113. [blah blah blah blah blah]“”
Text: Projective Geometry: An Introduction

Math 135 (Theory of Sets)
Thomas Scanlon, MWF 11-12, 75 Evans
“Prof. Scanlon is a total babe. And his teaching methods aren’t bad either. All in all, he’s a friendly guy who genuinely wants us to understand the concepts presented in class. *sigh* and that darn bow tie…When I went to lecture (I made myself go once a week), I would leave more confused than when I came in. I relied entirely on the book. Horrible teacher. Hard tests as well…An overall great professor, who makes witty jokes few truly appreciate. Considering it’s a boring subject, he tries his best to make it interesting. Class was not very difficult at all.”
Text: Elements of Set Theory

Math 142 (Elementary Algebraic Topology)
M Aldi, TuTh 330-5, 4 Evans
“Excellent professor. Very clear with his lectures, very good handwriting. He makes sure that you understand everything, and is extremely helpful during office hours. Tests are fair, and reflect the material well.”
Text: Basic Topology

Math 151 (Secondary School Curriculum)
Ted Slaman, MWF 2-3, 47 Evans
“Homework is sporadic and often pointless; exams are difficult, with medians under 50%. Uses the textbook he wrote with another professor, but often ignores proofs in the text for his own class presentation. The class is lethally dry in the beginning, and improves only near the very end of the class, making you wish for a two-semester sequence.”
Text: Notes at Copy Central

Math 152 (Secondary School Curriculum) & Math 160 (History of Math)
Hun-Hsing Wu, TuTh 11-1230, 31 Evans & TuTh 2-330, 71 Evans
“I love Professor Wu’s teaching style. His lectures are very organized and engaging. He makes sure the students understand before moving onto next subject. Homework is related to the test, and with reasonable amount. Often criticizes high school math education in the states, and it gives much motivation to me as a future teacher!”
Text: Notes at Copy Central

Math 172 (Combinatorics)
James Sussan, TuTh 8-930, 85 Evans
No info given.
Text: Introduction to Enumerative Combinatorics

Math 189 (Mathematical Methods in Classical & Quantum Mechanics)
Dan Voiculescu, MWF 3-4, 5 Evans
“Incredibly aggravating professor. Very easy problem sets and exams but a horrible educator. Entirely uninteresting…Very knowledgeable about his subjects, but fails to clearly articulate and convey information to students. Average attendance in lecture is approximately one quarter of total enrolled students. Exams alternate between mindless computation and abstract application of theorems.”
Text: TBA

Section 2: Jan Riemann, TuTh 330-5, 2 Evans
Average GPA: 2.77, 32% A, 32% B, 23% C, 6% D, 6% F
“New teacher, didin’t know how hard to teach class, eventually he made it easier. However, he is not very clear and does not explain in depth about how to formulate proofs. Part of the problem is the large amount of material, and scarce class time and his english is not very good…he is a new teacher and gave us very hard homeworks and mid-term at the beginning of the semester. but the difficulity of works change to much more normal now. His explanation is good and clear. you can learn a lot and know how to think about math if you pay attention in his class.”
Texts: Real Mathematical Analysis

Section 3: E Gasparim, MWF 3-4, 75 Evans
No info given.
Texts: Principles of Mathematical Analysis

Section 4: Dagan Karp, TuTh 11-1230, 71 Evans
“Dagan is an awesome dude. A clear lecturer, and pretty much the most laid back professor I’ve ever encountered. Only complaint: class may have been a little too easy. What follows in the field of analysis isn’t as neat and tidy as it happens in Ross, the text the Dage chose. But that’s a fault of the text–Dagan is still totally groovy.”
Texts: Elementary Analysis

Math 110 (Linear Algebra)
Section 1: Maria Ratner, MWF 10-11, 3 Evans
Average GPA in upper div: 1.81, 15% A, 11% B, 41% C, 7% D, 26% F
“She’s the harshest grader ever…no curves. It would be really hard to get an A in her class. But her lectures are awesome…Incredible teacher. She knows the material extremely well. Her lectures are crystal clear and memorized (she uses no notes!). She is very nice and approachable at office hours…She holds students to a high standard, but her lectures are so perfect that a textbook is barely necessary. I probably could have gotten a better grade with a different professor, but I definitely would not have learned nearly as much as I did!”
Texts: Linear Algebra and Its Applications

Section 2: M Aldi, TuTh 930-11, 87 Evans
“Excellent professor. Very clear with his lectures, very good handwriting. He makes sure that you understand everything, and is extremely helpful during office hours. Tests are fair, and reflect the material well.”
Texts: Linear Algebra (4th Edition)

Section 3: M Velasco, TuTh 8-930, 71 Evans
No info given.
Texts: Linear Algebra Done Right

Section 4: John Krueger, MWF 3-4, 71 Evans
Average GPA: 2.51, 27% A, 31% B, 20% C, 12% D, 10% F
“Teacher never showed any enthusiasm. Never asked for class participation, nor showed any interest in if student were understanding. He talks to the chalkboard from the second you walk in, until after the class is over, never changing his plan if students are struggling…Unresponsive, unhelpful most of the time. I think this is mainly becuase he is a new professor, he seemed extremeley tense/nervous while lecturing. Midsemester he reprimanded students for not ‘participating’ yet he seemed annoyed when anyone asked a question.”
Texts: Linear Algebra (4th Edition)

Section 5: Lek-Hang Lim, TuTh 330-5, 75 Evans
“I attempted this course last semester with a different professor and could not understand the course! This is my second attempt at Math 110 and this new Professor Lim is EXCELLENT! I am actually understanding this stuff because Prof.Lim is very clear & thorough, & lecture notes are “perfect”. I would definitely recommend taking Math 110 with Lim.”
Texts: Linear Algebra (4th Edition)

Math 113 (Intro to Abstract Algebra)
Section 1: Shamgar Gurevitch, TuTh 330-5, 71 Evans
Average GPA: 3.79, 79% A, 21% B
No ratings. However, I did grade for him, so I can personally attest he’s very generous with late homework and make-up tests. If you want a professor who holds your hand through this class, this is your dude.
Texts: Algebra

Section 2: C Mok, MWF 3-4, 2 Evans
No info given.
Texts: A First Course in Abstract Algebra, Seventh Edition

Section 3: Arthur Ogus, MWF 1-2, 75 Evans
Average GPA: 2.48, 24% A, 42% B, 12% C, 4% D, 19% F
” He is definitely very very very very hard. For me anyway. But yes, he is one of the nicest and most helpful professors in OH, too bad i found that out kind of late in the semester….He’s an excellent lecturer who is thorough and challenges his students….very hard and unhelpful. Leaves you on your own. I have to retake the class!!!”
Texts: Abstract Algebra

Section 4: Marius Wodzicki, TuTh 930-11, 71 Evans
Avg GPA: 2.53, 24% A, 36% B, 24% C, 16% F
“This professor must never be allowed to teach mathematics again. His obsession with math history really detracts from his teaching…He was a great teacher and cared a great deal about the student’s understanding. His tests were very fair if the homework was done for understanding. He was easy to access and talk to in office hours…”My name is Wodzicki, please do not mispell it! Welcome to Math 113. [blah blah blah blah blah]“”
Texts: A First Course in Abstract Algebra, Seventh Edition

Math H113 (Intro to Abstract Algebra)
Alexandre Givental, TuTh 930-11, 85 Evans
Average GPA: 1.89, 6% A, 22% B, 28% C, 40% D, 0% F
“Seems to prefer vague analogies to proof; homework is rarely applicable to tests; difficulty of class varies from day to day; bad board etiquette. Not interested in group theory, which makes him an unusual choice for 113…If you want a professor who is impossible to understand, who goes straight out of the book so you have no other sources of information, at the end you will spend hours in your GSI’s office hours trying together trying to decipher what he was talking about. Oh yeah and the class is not curved, have fun…Avoid at all costs!”
Texts: Topics in Algebra

Math 185 (Complex Analysis)
Section 1: Martin Olbermann, MWF 3-4, 4 Evans
No info given.
Texts: Notes on Complex Function Theory

Section 2: Paul Vojta, MWF 10-11, 71 Evans
Average GPA in upper div: 31% A, 19% B, 35% C, 8% D, 8% F
“Office hours consist of a student asking a question, followed by a 5-second silence, followed by at most five words spoken by Vojta, followed by more awkward silence, and finally repeat (number of repititions depend on how many students are present)…Out of touch with undergrad students. Terrible at answering questions. If he’s your only choice…well, you can wait a semester… Told us that material wouldn’t be on a test, then put it on said test.”
Text: Complex Variables and Applications

Section 3: M Velasco TuTh 1230-2, 71 Evans
No info given.
Text: Complex Analysis

Math H185 (Complex Analysis)
W Kahan, MWF 9-10, 5 Evans
Average GPA: 1.91, 18% A, 18% B, 27% C, 9% D, 27% F
“This teacher doesn’t care who’s in his class. He will teach nobody if nobody there is bright enough to do his scary problems. He doesn’t teach at all. He just tells everybody to read ahead and then uses class time to talk about things that are above everyones head. Everybody failed the first midterm and he said ‘he was disappointed’ in the class.”
Text: TBA

Astronomy 24, Space, Time, and the Cosmos; Alex Filippenko, Th 1-3, 544 Campbell (One of the best teachers in Berkeley, of course)
Texts: A Briefer History of Time, The Fabric of the Cosmos Required, What Your Astronomy Textbook Won’t Tell You Recommended

Classics 24, Indiana Jones…The Archeology of Mythology; Kim Shelton, W 9-10, 202 Wheeler
“Freshman seminar about myths of archeology. She runs sites in Nemea and Mycenae so really interesting to talk about what archeology is really like. Assignments due every week usu writing responses about different readings but able to do them w/o reading. Just talk in class and you’ll be fine”
Text: Archaeology Essentials

Computer Science 39J, The Art and Science of Photography: Drawing With Light
Brian Barsky, Fri 12-2, 405 Soda
“Man was this an awkward class. Barsky himself seems like a pretty righteous dude, and the class had its good moments, but not as many as I had hoped. It wasn’t miserable, but I wouldn’t recommend it per se…very cool prof and class he’s knowledgeable and enthusiastic…”
Optional texts: Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) 7.0 Studio Techniques, Basic Photographic Materials and Processes, Photography: Revised Edition, A Short Course in Photography, Photoshop CS2 Bible, Photography, Perception and Imaging

Economics 24, Reading Freakonomics
Paul Ruud, M 5-6, 111 Kroeber
“Ruud is rude. He’s very unhelpful during office hours. However, he grades really nicely…awesome cool professor. he’s real…lectures are worth every minute. has a genuine interest in maximizing student understanding. helps students ask better, more intellident questions during lecture, as opposed to “i don’t get it” type questions.”
Texts: No book is listed, but judging from the title…I’m guessing you need this one.

Linguistics 24: Language and Politics in Southern Africa
Sam Mchombo, Th 10-11, 123 Dwinelle (easy-going guy!)
“He hands out readings (works that he wrote) however we never even discussed them. Each class was just sort of open to anything. Just one essay at the end..It was just a seminar, but I was struck by how disorganized it was… I’m not sure if his other classes are more organized…There’s a reason Professor Mchombo gets nothing but rave reviews from his students: He’s the very definition of a great guy and he’s very knowledgeable. You won’t find a nicer friendlier professor (or person) on campus. Fun class, learned a lot, wanna take it again. Mchombo for President!”
Texts: None reported.

Natural Resources 24, Global House Environment Theme
Peter Berck & James Bartolome, Th 5-6 in Foothill Classroom A
Berck: “He is a very funny guy, however his lectures are kinda boring and hard to understand… Professor Berck is a wonderful professor, but his lectures can be very difficult to understand…Very funny, kind, sharp guy. Immensely experienced and knowledgeable. Sometimes doesn’t communicate well with students in terms of understanding what their problems are, what they aren’t getting.”
Bartolome: “JB is a hottie…Impossible to follow, plus you can’t read his handwriting.”
Texts: none reported

Nutritional Sciences 24, Papers with the Prof
George Chang, Tu 11-12, Unit 2 Towle Residence Hall L3 Seminar Room
“Don’t go to lectures – they are boring and pointless…Lectures are pointless, mostly just him going off on some random tangent completely unrelated to the course…Do not go to lectures: they are random and completely irrelevant to the test material. Guest lecturers were interesting and informative…his lecturing skills are poor and he’s definitely a weirdo, but he means well and is a nice guy”
Texts: None reported

Physics 24, From Mythbusters to Science Fiction
Robert Jacobsen, W 11-12, 395 LeConte
“Actually teaches the physics of situations, not the math. Lectures always interesting… Lectures are for the most part useless except for that they give you the general headlines of what you should know. In reality though you have to know much more than what is lectured…amusing guy, likes to go off and talk about things that may or may not be totally related, but are fun to learn. however, i find him to be a very scary guy when facing him one on one.”
Texts: None, but you might think of buying this.

Portuguese 24, Travel Narratives from the Atlantic
Ana Martinho, Tu 11-12, 111 Kroeber
No rating info.
Texts: None listed.

Psychology 24, The Relationship between Body and Behavior
Karen De Valois, W 11-12, 3105 Tolman
No rating info.
Text: Exploring Psychology

Sociology 24, Sociology of Discrimination
Samuel Lucas, W 5-6, Unit 1, Room L20
“He is a very unclear lecturer, he’s from the demog department so he only brings in graphs/tables…has little knowledge of soc theory and doesn’t answer questions well…He’s very enthusiastic and not at all interested in a homogeneous education path for his students. I would recommend his class just for his lectures and his jumping around on tables…An insecure man who should not be teaching what could be such an informative course. How does he still have a job?”
Texts: None listed.

Spanish 24, Barcelona: A Cultural History of a City
Jesús Rodríguez-Velasco, W 12-1, 180 Barrows
“Always came to class with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Very funny. Love the Spanish accent…Knows his stuff and the class is very enjoyable. At times he can seem intimidating but he likes participation….Estaba en su seminar sobre la cinema espanola… buen clase, peliculas interesantes, y es un profesor muy animado y agradable. Tiene mi recomendacion!”
(I’m pretty sure that last recommendation is good.)
Texts: Barcelona