BY FAR the best teacher in the Astronomy Dept...hell he wrote the text book

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Good teacher, dry humor but funny, very clear and interesting

One of the best professors i've ever had

Great teacher, very interesting and so knowlegable

One of the best teachers here, and very smart

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Makes a vast amount of information manageable. Fair exams. Loves his subject.

Delightful to listen to. Very thorough and logical.

Very thorough!! Makes the class interesting so that you want to listen!

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teaches straight from book, missed every class but still make a's... if

Follows the book 100%

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Follows the book, very knowledgable!

Boring class, but I still liked Professor Comins!

hard class but prof comins is incredibly smart and he goes by the book

Easy A. One of the best professors I've had. If you fail you are retarded.

Great class.... very interesting. He knows his stuff

Very knowledgeable, an entertaining lecturer. He really knows his stuff and makes it easy to learn, always willing to answer any questions and tests are very straight-forward. I never even looked in my book and pulled an easy A!

You need to attend his course everyday todo well, his exams are cramed with stuff you need to KNOW... But if you do make an attempt and are doing bad he will throw you x-tra credit and at least pass you if you talk to him...

Tough class but an awesome teacher. He makes it interesting. REALLY knows what he's talking about, and of course he goes by the book...HE WROTE IT.

One of the best Profs I've had. There's a TON of stuff to cover in the class, but he is good about explaining everything and answering all questions.

Really nice guy, but I have never been so bored in a class. Science isn't really my thing though.

He's so intelligent, and one of the greatest teachers on this campus. Fascinating class, that is absolutely impossible to bad in, if you go to class. DO NOT TAKE ASTRONOMY WITH ANYONE ELSE!!!!!!!

This was a fun class. Nobody had an excuse to get lost in the lecture either. It was all nicely outlined in the notebook you had to buy for the class. Brilliant lecturer, if you talk to him, he WILL help you, AND he will make time to help you.

One of the best professors I had!!! I never had trouble going to his class because I always wanted to be there.. the tests weren't bad either .. I really really enjoyed this class!!

My favorite class of the semester! I love astronomy and astronomers and Prof. Comins is so smart! I definitely recommend reading some of his other books. Not to mention he made class really intriguing and he's got that really awesome sense of humor. Not to mention he's such a cute older man!

He was a really great teacher!! I reccommend everyone take his class.. he keeps you interested and the tests weren't that bad..

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He was amazing, by far the best teacher that I've had in college... His tests were fairly easy and his lectures were clear. He will take time from class to answer ANY questions that you may have.

interesting class and easy enough. he wrote the textbook and even gives you a notebook with all the course material outlined; you just fill it in when he says so. plus he's such a cute older man!

VERY bright guy who presents some bland and difficult material in a very interesting way. Some good stories. Tough areas in class, but if you apply yourself you'll get through with a solid GPA booster. One of my favorite professors thus far

A great professor that definately knows what he's talking about, he also makes the class very interesting.

Very intelligent and easy to understand. Does a good job making somewhat dry material bareable. The notebook sold with the textbook is VERY helpful. And I totally agree with whoever said he was a cute older man.

While it's not the end of the semester yet, I still have to say that Prof. Comins is definitely awesome. He keeps the class very interesting and has actually passed on some curiousity to me. Enjoyable class and a great man. You can't go wrong with this fellow at all!

He makes difficult concepts easy to understand. This man knows what he's talking about. It's easy to see that he enjoys the subject.

Very good teacher, cant go wrong with this guy. Easy to get a hold of and very willing to give extra help outside class.

The man is a super-genius and he really really knows his stuff. After taking a class with him you will too.

This guy is the man! It was one of the few classes i actually looked forward to going to. you can tell hes totally into what he's teaching and loves every minute of it. There's a lot of information to learn and the constellations are a pain to learn but it was all worth it in my book. make sure you take this class seriously

Dr. Comins is a brilliant professor. His lectures are interesting, and invaluable to clearly understanding the course. He has a real passion for astronomy, and it shows. If you're looking for an easy class to coast through, this isn't it. That being said, it is a class that's well worth taking.

Make sure you take the notes. I skipped class a lot assuming I could just copy my roommates notes. Don't do that. Take good notes because it makes studying 1,000 times easier!!

If you're looking for an interesting and fun science/lab class this is it. Comins takes astronomy and makes it interesting to a student who has no previous knowledge of it. Attendance is taken in class, only 3 tests, extra credit assignments. If you go to class, take notes and pay attention you can do very well. Got an A

Great, great professor and it was my pleasure to have been taught by him. He takes attendance, so go to class. If you skip it will catch up with you. He lectures so much material that you have to take it down. Tests are easy if you attend/study. Lots of extra credit chances. Smart guy who makes a complicated science enticing and interesting.

He is the man!!! His class is a bit difficult if you do not study but he is pretty funny and makes it worth going!!! Plus his beard is amazing!! He is an awesome professor!!!

I think he is a wonderful guy: witty, smart, and extremely nice. However, his tests are VERY difficult, and you are tested not on what he teaches you, but what you should be able to figure out based on what he teaches you. Fantastically interesting class, but I took it as a Gen Ed and it ended up hurting my GPA.

Not an easy gen ed as assumed. Professor is very good at teaching, and makes the class fairly interesting. The tests are EXTREMELY HARD, even when graded on a curve. Go to class because attendance is taken and it's hard to catch up on missed material. He gives lots of chances for extra credit, which is added to your actual class grade.

Good teacher. Knows topic and explains CRYSTAL clear. Only issue is difficult tests, however from students whining and crying about wanting to learn constellations, 20% of all tests is on constellations, which is basically bible verse memorization style learning. You get what you ask for. Everything good beside unneccesary constelation garbage

Lectures can be hard to follow at times, but generally taking notes isn't an issue. The fact that the textbook is written by him and there is a workbook to go along with it makes notes much easier. He's obviously a really intelligent guy, but it's a tough gen ed class.

Neil is a nice guy, he explains the material thoroughly, but even with attending every class and many many hours of studying I still only received a D in this class. This is an INCREDIBLY hard class, and should not be entry level.

Great teacher; he was a very friendly guy and, despite the difficult tests, he was willing to offer help and go out of his way for students. I loved his lectures and the few presentations that he showed in class. Overall great class; just watch out for his tests.

A nice guy, always helpfully answered students questions and seemed passionate and knowledgeable about the material. Tests were, IMO, very easy and scaled. Learning the constellations was a bit of a pain, and seemed useless but otherwise a very nice introductory course.

Had him for survey level Astronomy. Really nice guy.

The material in the lectures was clear and always important. Start practicing your constellations ahead of time for the prelims (which are fairly straightforward and scaled). I learned so much!

If you can memorize old prelims, you can pass the new ones. MAKE SURE YOU ARE REALLY CONFIDENT IN IDENTIFYING CONSTELLATIONS AND SPECIAL STARS.

Probably one of the best teachers I've ever had. Did a great job of dumbing down complex ideas so that we would all understand. The tests were very difficult, but that's partly because I didn't study that much. He does give a pretty nice scale though.

Great guy, he also wrote a lot of books. The best thing about him is he takes complicated ideas and makes them as simple as possible in order for you to understand.

Very good professor. Definitely knows what he is talking about, and wants to make sure you do, too. It's awesome to have a professor this enthusiastic about what he is teaching. His astronotes book is really helpful. The exams require a lot of memorization, but other than that the other grades in the class can be easy 100s.

The tests are easy if you study past ones, but the knowing the star charts is the hardest part. Sit next to a friend and sharing answers is the best way to get an A.

Greatest professor I think I will ever be privileged enough to have. By far the smartest human I've encountered, absolute genius. This guy does not need to be teaching students with his remarkable history, could easily sit back and relax, but he chooses to change the perspectives of many young minds in order to understand these sciences!

You can tell he really knows his stuff. He encourages questions and curiosity. His lectures are interesting and his exams are very straightforward and if you study a little they are easy to pass.

Probably the smartest man I've ever met. Class is easy if you show up and take notes, and he gives you a guidebook to take notes in that you use on the final. Tests are all heavily curved, and the HW is easy without the textbook (pdf provided.) Extremely knowledgable, willing to answer any questions. Wouldn't recommend the constellation card game.

Comins' lectures were actually super interesting in my opinion! he encouraged questions and always took them time to really answer them. not the most engaging but has a notebook that you follow along in. if you take a lot of notes ur pretty much golden in the class

I really enjoyed Comins as a professor. However, I did not enjoy the class.The content overload in astronomy was to be expected but I feel as though that much information needed to be learned shouldn't be for a 100 level class. too many exams in my opinion, and there was no make ups or test corrections.The tests make up more than 50% of your grade.

Professor Comins is great for someone who is interested in astronomy and wants to have a good understanding on the subject from an introductory course. His tests are only challenging if you do not make a point to study what he was emphasizing was important in his lectures. He is very engaging in his lectures and willing to answer most questions.

This was Dr. Comins' first time teaching PHY451. It was a pretty easy class (graded solely on homework, no exams, and no final). Attendance was optional. The lectures were useful, and he ended class about 10 minutes early most days. Mechanics isn't a very engaging subject, but he did try. He was also willing to change a HW due date if needed.

Dr. Neil Francis Comins invented superstring theory