Explained everything about the background for the equations--this made tests much easier, because everything was with variables(taught us how to derive the formulas), but it took more effort to learn the extra material--lecture is important!

Dr. Brown is a great professor if you want a very in-depth presentation of physics material. The class was difficult (the tests especially), though worth taking from him.

Dr. Brown is a great teacher, he really brings the material alive. The class itself is quite hard, and I struggled even with a physics background, but having a good professor helped make the class very enjoyable.

Excellent teacher. His lectures are clear if a bit long but very in depth and he really knows his stuff. Very cool guy to talk to as well.

Dr. Brown... he's a nice guy overall. He focuses on proofs that are a little too mathematically advanced for most of the class. The class is a lot of work everyweek, but if you keep up with it (make your whole life revolve around the class) the tests aren't any harder than the homework. He tries to give people A's.

It breaks down to one simple truism: if you like the subject matter, he likes you and will help you. If your taking it for a requirement, steer clear.

Lectures were generally clear, though they can be difficult if following proofs is not really your thing. I was in his recitation section as well and he is pretty much The Man if you get to know him. Funny, but gets down to the point when you really need help.

He's a great teacher who will push you to a deep conceptual understanding of physics. The class is hard and he stresses proofs and derivations of all material. He is more than willing to help anyone out, gives out candy in class, has a strong sense of humor and loves physics. The best teacher I've had yet.

I've only had him for indep study, so I don't know how good he is in a classroom, but he's an *awesome* guy and I will definitely take any class I can with him in the future.

The man is intelligent. The most helpful and learned teacher I've ever had in my life. Great sense of humor, relatively normal, and he will go as far out of his way to get you to learn the material as you are willing to go. DO NOT take this class until you are in or are going to take 103. Not having the prereq. math (32L+) has killed my grade.

Simply awesome professor. Very detailed, indepth lectures. Take this class if you want to be a physics major, if not, don't. Extremely deep teaching, very accessible and helpful. One of the best teachers at Duke. Very funny, cool to be around, and he gives out candy during class. You will learn and you will have fun.

Amazing teacher. Very animated, very helpful to students who try, and loves teaching potential physics majors. Big on derivations, which will help the mathematical aspect of the class. Be prepared to be stretched mentally. Well worth the time and energy required. Do not take the class w/ Brown unless you've had or are in Math 103.

Dr. Brown is very down-to-earth in his teaching. As has been mentioned before, he is very into the mathematical derivations. I recommend taking math 103 concurrently with physics 61 with Brown. You cover a lot of similar stuff in different contexts. It's like FOCUS for engineers.

He's honestly one of the coolest guys I know. Pretty cool with test regrades. Labs are in and out no outside work required. The hw is really good practice for the tests and quizzes. Recitation TAs are very important GET A GOOD ONE who teaches, not one who encourages you to do it yourself. PS 62 is even easier.

Very cool guy, gives out candy during lecture to people who catch (usually trivial) mistakes he makes. Homework problems are interesting, no plug-and-chug problems. Test problems usually end up being stuff that you've seen so nothing unexpected on the tests. Overall great prof.

Demanding class, but if you do all the homework you'll be fine. I ended up getting an A+ in the class (one of my few at Duke). However, Professor Brown is miserable. He thinks that his class is the only class students at Duke take. He is completely arrogant. I dropped my physics major after his class because I cannot stand people like him.

Dr. Brown is a great professor. His class is an easy A if you give his methods a chance and actually go to lectures.

Obviously not the easiest class to study regardless of which professor you choose. But I think Prof Brown is very clear and specific about the things he expects and what will be tested which makes learning a lot more easier and organized. He is VERY fun! Please take his class!!

Strong lecturer. Uses his online textbook, but if you use the Tipler textbook from 41 that helps a lot, too. Very fair at grading, gives lots of partial credit, and if you put in the effort you will do well. Very supportive and flexible with quizzes/exams/hw dates. Interesting to talk to.

Dr. Brown is a very smart man that can sometimes be a detriment when he tries to explain things to you but he is also very patient and enthusiastic about teaching so he will explain it until you get it. Lectures are very intense but anything you ever need for the class he makes sure to put it on the board. I suggest going to every class.

Robert Brown has been teaching physics forever, so he can explain the problems pretty thoroughly. He's also pretty understanding and tries to connect with his students in recitation, which is nice. However, he can be little dry sometimes.

very helpful as a recitation professor. extremely detailed explanations. gets a little boring but nontheless is incredibly thorough in his explanations of physics problems

A wonderful recitation instructor. Helped elucidate the lectured material through mini-lectures. Provided elaborate explanation to microquiz questions and homework problems. More helpful as a recitation instructor than a lecturer. Very funny as well.

A wonderful teacher who cares about helping you understand the material thoroughly. He answers even repetitive question very patiently. Lectures are only good if you can follow his derivations. Excellent in recitation. I took it at the Marine Lab. He became ill and was hospitalized and his only concern was getting back as soon as possible to teach.

Took both 53 and 54 w/Brown at Marine Lab. This man exudes compassion. Do the online practice problems for quiz/test prep and you will do well. He wants you to succeed and will go the extra mile to help. After ten weeks with the guy, I have nothing but respect. He's a boss. AND he gives you candy.

Brown is a great recitation professor; I wish I'd had him for lecture as well. He is charismatic and clear in his explanation of the material and the homework problems. I can't speak to his tests though because he didn't write our recitation quizzes.

Had him at the Marine Lab, and he was fantastic. He invests a lot of time in making sure you're understanding what he teaches. The textbook really isn't necessary if you have good lecture notes, since he wrote his book. He's also pretty repetitive in the problems he likes giving out. I recommend having him at the Marine Lab rather than at Duke.

Great professor who is willing to help. If you just keep up with the assigned work, you'll be fine.

Dr. Brown is very enthusiastic and always available to help. he tries hard to make sure that the material is understandable and fair, and offers a lot of opportunities to practice outside of class. That being said, the material is very hard if you haven't already taken physics, so you have to keep up with the work consistently to do well.

Professor Brown is a very helpful professor who really is there for his students. He is more than willing to help (as his class, problems, and tests are very difficult) - for instance, he even stays past the 9pm end of office hours sometimes until 11pm or midnight until the last student's questions are answered. He is so nice as well as brilliant.

Was pretty difficult, but helped me so much outside of class that I saved my grade. Also the nicest guy, gives out chocolate, likes to talk to students about other stuff besides physics, made me really enthusiastic to continue taking his class.

One of the best professors I've had at Duke. The course was very difficult for me, but Dr. Brown did everything in his power to make sure his students succeeded. I utilized every single out of class resource and managed to pull a good grade but really put in a lot of work. Great guy to talk with, clear lecturer, very fair grader.

Great guy, hard but if you put in the work, totally doable

He's one of the very best professors at Duke! Review and do problems every night, even if it's just one problem. Being able to derive things is really helpful. If you have any difficulties go talk to him. It's helpful to read the textbook before going to lecture

Professor Brown definitely knows what he is talking about. He sometimes has a tendency to ramble, which can make his lectures more difficult to follow, but it wasn't a big problem. This class was also a big time commitment in terms of number of hours spent in the classroom, and there was decent amount of homework.

I really like the structure of the class and the absolute grading that he does. he does tend to ramble, but in general he knows what he's talking about. he wrote the textbook and the problems that he uses to teach the class, so as long as you do all the resources that he gives you, it's pretty easy. wouldn't have wanted to take 151 with anyone else

Dr. Brown's class is exceptionally tough if you didn't take physics in high school (like me) and requires a TON of work outside of class to keep up. That being said, he's one of the few introductory science teachers I had at Duke that cared about knowing his students and put in real effort to teach instead of just present information.

Very nice, good professor whom genuinely cares about his students. Lenient grader. Flexible with deadlines. Can be a bit unclear in lecture, but gladly explains a previous topic if asked. Class is very difficult and requires attentiveness during lecture. Problem sets are extremely difficult, but if started early, students can get help from TAs.

The class has a good amount of homework, only because the problems take a lot of thinking. RGB himself is a great teacher and his textbook and lectures may seem boring but they are very straightforward and explained well. There is not a curve, but his tests are pretty easy and usually past homework questions.

i absolutely love his lecture slides. never had to read a page of the textbook bc all the info is distilled, summarized, and explained so thoroughly and clearly in the posted slides. loved lectures as well - good pace, good at explaining/answering questions. cares about students, pretty funny/idiosyncratic guy.

Prof Brown is a super nice guy who is also into programming, philosophy and wordle. His lectures can be less engaging when he reads from the slides but his slides are super clear and helpful. Lectures are heavy with lengthy mathematical derivation but tests are manageable if you try to just remember formulas.

His lectures can be confusing. However, if you work with the other students outside of class, all is well.

Physics is a hard subject. Don't confuse dislike for the subject with dislike for the professor. My suggestion, if you are lacking on sleep don't go to class, sleep in, and go thru the lecture notes yourself. Also, the textbook is pretty clear and the problem sets interesting. Quite a bit of work though, expect a quiz and a problem set every week.

Terrible lecturer--just clicks through slides and doesn't even do math on the chalkboard. I found more value in sleeping. In class problems, lecture slides, and the textbook (which he wrote) were the most helpful. The lectures themselves--not as much. Easy class for those with previous physics experience, but the textbook was very well-written.

Professor Brown is an awesome great guy who really cares about his students; he's very personable, humorous, and easy to talk to. The course is very test/quiz heavy but as long as you review previous quiz material and use CramBetter you'll do great. Physics with Prof Brown is challenging but a really good time nonetheless!

Professor Brown is a very approachable professor who wants his students to succeed. I found the slides and textbooks (especially the textbooks full of practice problems) that he provides to be very helpful. Decently hard class but you will succeed if you put in the effort.

Prof. Brown has been teaching physics for a few decades now, and it shows. So many helpful resources he's developed: lecture slides, extremely detailed (maybe exceedingly verbose) textbooks, repositories of hundreds of practice problems, etc. Lectures themselves a bit dry. Gives extra credit. Really nice guy. Manageable if you put in the time.

He's such a nice guy. Unfortunately, I struggled with the material and found his explanations somewhat out of my grasp (he's very smart/experienced of course). I ended up learning a lot of the content independently but he gives you a lot of chances to succeed and is generally very fair. But for the love of god do not get behind in this class.