Arnold is the best professor in the department hands down and he does a great job with this class. I believe this is the most difficult of the core physics major classes but Arnold makes it worthwhile. He is very good at explaining complicated concepts (the entire course) simply and also has a talent for writing tests that evaluate your conceptual grasp of the material, rather than your ability to work through difficult calculations in a 50 minute class block like some other professors. If you are on the fence between taking this class or optics for the physics major, do yourself a favor and take this.

Professor Arnold is a fantastic and fun lecturer. The topic is definitely challenging and hard, but I learned so much in this class, and the exams and homework are very reasonable with materials that are covered in class.