MIT Subject Evaluations

8.231: Physics of Solids I
Fall 1998 Summary

Lecturer: Professor Thomas Greytak

Enrollment: 12
Number of students commenting: 8

8.231 provides a basic introduction to solid-state physics. The eight class members who responded to our Fall 1998 summary enjoyed the class greatly overall.

Professor Thomas Greytak, the lecturer for this course, was described as outstanding by his students. They found his lectures clear, simple, well-structured and elegant. One commented that he made it clear what information was important; others liked his enthusiasm and his ability to answer questions, even researching those he did not know the answer to. While one class member felt he was good at showing methods of problem solving, another thought he did not challenge the class with difficult questions.

A decent portion of the students generally liked the content of the class as well; one felt it was a "good basis for the understanding of solid-state physics." While two class members commented that the course nicely unified past classwork, another wanted to see more quantitative rigor. Additionally, some wanted the class to have more specific examples. Many also had specific portions of the course they enjoyed, or wanted to get rid of.

The major change some students wanted was to have the homework graded, or at least count for something; they felt that this would provide a greater incentive to actually do the work. Other than that,while some class members had a few minor changes that they wanted to see implemented, overall the class and the instruction were greatly enjoyed by all.

A few quotes from class members:

"I was a little bit disappointed that we didn't get to the more practical subject matter and spent a lot of time on the visualization of less intuitive things."

"The material has wide applicability, and is an interesting application of stat mech, and other more basic parts of physics."

"Greytak has a unique ability to explain difficult concepts clearly and simply."

"Without a doubt, Professor Greytak has been my consistently best professor at MIT."