The class is not as math heavy as other sciences, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't expect any math at all. If you just suck it up and ask questions, the course is pretty simple. While there is a good bit of homework, it's pretty easy. The midterm and final are graded fairly, and they DO involve both lecture AND book material.

He's the worst

I loved this class! Not everyone did, but he was fair and made it really easy to get a good grade if you put the work in; weekly assignments that reinforce material were a huge portion of your grade, so just read the textbook and do your homework. lectures were boring but he was a cool guy and funny, either way the textbook covers the material.

Astro1was such a fun course to take if you want to know more about the universe in a very generic way. There were a couple of topics that we went super deep into, but nothing too bad. There is math involved, however it is very basic plug in equations. Reading the textbook is a must. Geller was a great lecturer and I enjoyed learning in his course.

I made a big mistake taking this class as a GE when I hate math, this class involves physics. He has his on own book which you must purchase online to access homework. TEST HEAVY your graded on the homework that is so easy to do because its online and everyone uses sources to do it, professor even pointed it out. Don't recommend taking this.

I can't understand why people would rate him badly. I think he is amazing, despite of what other people think. He is cool, does some amazing demos, and gives us quizzes on Achieve that let you earn an A on it. I do believe it is a easy A, as long as you show up to sections and the lectures, study hard and then it will pay off in the end. Love this!

Geller's lecture style manages to make concepts that are easy to understand in pre-lecture assignments much harder to grasp during lectures. From my experience, if you ask for help after class he's going to respond as if it's insane you aren't grasping the subject. You're essentially teaching yourself physics which is already hard enough as it is.

This man is a king. No exams or final this quarter just quizzes and homework. Although online, lectures are as interesting as they are helpful. Geller is not only an extremely capable lecturer, but is overall just a nice, cool guy who cares about his students' success. I could not recommend him more, the best professor I've had at UCSB.

He was fair most of the time! Midterm was very easy and always tries to cut down on material in order to save time and make the students' lives easier. His final was very hard unfortunately but just study a lot and you'll get well above average. Do the practice problems he posts and go to office hours. I wouldn't take him again but he was alright.

Unfair tester, totally screwed over the class with the final in 6B and 6C apparently. Just take Ernest Freund, he actually knows how to give a fair exam!

Great person, terrible professor. Just demos in his lecture, he even said that his "lectures are complimentary to the book". No amount of studying could prepare for the final, there were at least 8 questions on it that we've never seen before. It was purely to bring down the class average. Said there was going to be 30 questions but there were 38.

Nobody enjoyed this class at all. Long and boring lectures that are extremely off-topic. Barely any material is actually covered, only broad and off-topic discussions. Lots of "rambling" in a sense. Class was mostly empty. The final was extremely difficult and the average was very low compared to him praising 6C and saying how easy it was vs 6A & B

I adore Geller! there are a lot of topics to cover but he tries to trim down as much material as he can. The final is a heavy portion of the grade and hard. But the midterms are usually easier as he gives practice midterms. Homework problems don't help/aren't on exams but saves your grade as its are worth as much as the final.

Professor Geller is a really passionate professor and has a love for physics, but the final exam was really frustrating. He had a full practice exam with none of the same topics as the real exam and didn't provide practice problems for the topics on the test. I studied a lot for the final but ended up putting an emphasis on the wrong things.

The physics is tough, but Geller shows true interest in his field is fair with the curve. I personally thought the tests were hard but the online Achieve homework is CLUTCH when it comes to grading. It is a good proportion of our total grade and makes up for the -in my opinion- hard tests. Only issue is that lectures are broad compared to Hw.

Prof Geller is a good professor. A bit disorganized but cares about students. Tests were not organized well and it wasn't super clear what was going to be on the test. CLAS definitely helped

Honestly, Geller has been one of my favorite teachers so far. Overall he is a super cool teacher and I don't find his physics series to be extremely difficult. As long as you stay on top of the achieve homework you will do well. Plus, his lectures have been pretty enjoyable, despite being at 8am.

So this is a hybrid class because covid messed everything up. His lectures are terrible. Conceptual examples, no further examples or questions. You have to teach yourself. The homework is heavy but it helps with practice. Fingers crossed I pass this class, but the person teaching me this material is myself.

He gives extremely easy conceptual based questions in class during lectures, the hw is hard and there are at least 5 things due every week, then comes the tests covering only math problems that he never taught in class That we have to teach ourselves !! We frustrating class felt prepared for exams and it was never enough

At first I wasn't sure what to think of Prof. Geller - His lectures were super fast paced and at times a bit disorganized, but over the 10 weeks of the course, I developed a lot of respect for him, and came to actually really enjoy his lectures. It's definitely a tough class, I won't lie, but he is encouraging and supportive with his students

Geller is genuinely a horrible professor. Although you can tell he knows a lot about the topics and wants the students to be interested, his lectures are horrible. All he talks about is conceptual ideas when the exams were all math problems. Basically had to teach myself everything for the midterm and final. Do not take this class with him.

this is a horrible professor just because his final exam is so difficult. The average score of the final exam just 57%, but this is just an introductory Course of physic. I am studying economic, I choose this course just want to satisfy my ge requirement. so, I cannot understand why he make this introductory course final so difficult.

He's great, class was terrible.

I see a lot of people giving rave reviews and then 3/5 stars. He deserves a 5/5 rating on rmp based on those people's comments and my personal experience. He was on top of any issues that arose technologically as well as responding surprisingly quickly to my emails when I had questions on class concepts. I enjoyed this class because he taught it.