This book is complicated to understand. The text doesn't explain the concepts very well on how to solve the problems, and the examples aren't explained very clearly either. The reference pages tend to be poorly done. The reference in the front cover is basic algebra and doesn't include basic formulas for kinematics or anything else in the book. You can't learn the material on your own using this book. The illustrations are lacking something important.
This book makes me dislike physics more and more every time I open it.

I've used both Halliday and Giancoli, though the latter I used as a Freshman back in 2002 for first semester physics and the former I used as a post-bac student in 2006/07 when I completed the second semester.

I do have to strongly disagree with previous reviewers that the problems are of a difficulty beyond that of the chapters. I had an amazing teacher, but often I found that a problem wasn't exactly like one he went over in class--which is a good thing as the only way to learn physics meaningfully is to spend long hours working away and trying to figure out a problem until that "aha!" moment. There really is no better way to grasp the fundamentals--and this is extremely important depending on your major (such as engineering).

I also found the text to be lighthearted--something you rarely find in texts these days. There are many problems that made me quietly laugh while in the library, often involving penguins or a jumping armadillo (when I later TA'd physics, my students and I had a discussion on whether armadillo's can actually jump; none of us knew the answer...)

This text really helped me learn physics--I missed two lectures and I was able to still do the problems assigned and understand the material covered on my own, albeit at a much greater investment of time compared to how it would have been had I made it to the lectures. I will agree the text is difficult, but that is the way calculus-based physics should be.

Physics is only ever easy for two reasons--one, because you're following cookie-cutter formulas and the material simply isn't testing your knowledge well enough. Two--because you've labored over and over (or maybe not too long if you're an Einstein) and understand the material and can apply it to a situation you have never seen before, with ease. After you have that understanding, the simple beauty of the physical laws of nature will amaze you.

And then when you take quantum mechanics/physical chemistry you find out a lot of what you learned in introductory physics was basically crap and that the world is much more complicated, and equally more amazing. But the "crap" you learned is good enough for 99.9% of problems you will encounter in everyday life.

It is unfortunate that there exist two groups of people who might read this textbook at some point: Those who enjoy physics and those who need only to pass a physics class (or three) in college. It is easy to appeal to the former, because this book is comprehensive and reads like a novel for the physics-minded. It covers all of the standard topics thoroughly and clearly without getting into overly-specialized topics, hence the title (notice the word 'fundamentals.')

However, sad as it may be, most people are not 'physics-minded.' Even more unfortunate is that almost all criticism will come from disgruntled college students who do not like the textbook because it does not give a fully-worked example for every type of problem ever considered or because they had a hard time in the class. There is a great deeper level of knowledge acquired in finding out for oneself the true nature of a physics concept. The contents of this book allow perfectly for such rewarding study, but let me be clear: YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT. An engineering-based physics textbook may give its readers all the material explicitly and easily, and maybe even completely outline how to solve all of the book's problems, but it really doesn't teach anything that pertains to physics as a pure and THEN applied science.

One final note: Some of the problems in this book are very challenging, and are designed to promote thinking beyond the level required from the content of the book's explanations. However, no one expects you to do the 100-or-so problems at the end of every chapter. The first few problems for every subsection are straightforward enough and sufficient to reinforce the concepts of that section. So don't be deterred by the nature of the problems! You could never look at a problem in this book and still get more than from other elementary physics textbooks.

The Halliday text provides a 'bare bones' approach to its chapter material. The explanations are extremely sparse. Then, the end-of-chapter problems are more difficult than the chapter could possibly prepare a student for. They require equations and concepts that are simply not covered in the written material.

I am currently enrolled in a Physics course using the Halliday, and the instructor utilizes the problems themselves as a teaching tool--but if I happen to miss a day of class, the text is completely useless as a learning aid. Avoid this book--and classes taught with this book--at all costs.

This remains one of the most worthless technical texts I've ever run into - going back to at least the Second Edition of 1981. As a stand-alone, the text provides a survey of basic concepts in mechanics, wave theory, thermodynamics and electrodynamics. The example problems are pathetic and reflect a dismissive attitude towards the average undergraduate student who needs to learn how to APPLY the various physical laws to solve problems. Unless you have an excellent instructor who supplements heavily with problem solving and application, the problems will be a struggle. However, with the ready availability of solutions manuals these days on the internet, the shortcomings of the text are probably less apparent than when I used it for 3 physics classes in the late 1980s.

The weakest sections by far are the ones covering thermodynamics. The mechanics sections are only moderately better - which ain't saying much. Bottomline - If you really want a thorough coverage of mechanics and thermo -- get ENGINEERING texts on these subjects. You WILL NOT be able to learn a thing about problem solving or how to even approach solving problems from this text. Lots of F=ma equations with simple body-force diagrams ... then BAM you're hit with applying to complex scenarios on your own. WORTHLESS

The book is not bad, it's more of a problem about the way the examples are written. They written out in text I personally like to see my math done out. I think that would have helped my with the problems a lot more.