Richard Saykally
- School: University of California Berkeley
- Location: Berkeley, CA
- Department: Chemistry
- 4.0Overall Quality
- 3.9Helpfulness
- 4.1Clarity
- 3.0Easiness
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CHEM4A
Explosions are fun but you have to read the book if you wish to do well. Lectures are interesting but are not always relevant to what is going to be on the exam.
chem1B
Saykally's an enthusiastic professor who made class really interesting, not to mention his explosive demos at every lecture. His midterms were tough and he was a harsh grader, but good professor
CHEM1B
Saykally is a pretty fun guy. Loads of demos, but a pretty harsh grader. Didn't learn much in this class.
Chem1A
Competent, interesting, and had a good sense of humor. However, he placed too much of an emphasis on blowing things up which was interesting but not helpful. He was also too heavy on example problems, and did not discuss concepts enough. But ok overall. 7/10
Chem1B
Wonderful teacher. Lectures are interesting because he keeps the class involved and blows stuff up a lot. Easy to predict what will be on tests. Easier class than expected.
Chem4A
His lectures cover only the bare basics of what you really need to know, but he's more helpful in office hours. Also, explosions are lovely.
CHEM4A
I failed this class, but I still liked it. This professor is a great person, and his lectures are clear, but he has a tendency to like to blow things up. Literally. He's great fun though, so you'll definitely be on your toes in his class.
Chem4A
I thought everybody was joking when they said he blows something up everyday but he quite literally does blow something up every day. Lecture is like a show for him and they're always entertaining and informative. He even plays music, pokes fun at other profs and is just generally awesome. I would recommend him to anyone; take one of his classes!
CHEM4A
Best professor for fall 07 4A. Engaging lectures with good presentation, at least one demo per class on average, manageable workload and a positive attitude. He has a lot of personality (although at times it can get a little irritating) and makes extra sure we get the core concepts.
Chem4a
The best teacher out of three for the Fall 07 semester of Chem 4A. He knew his stuff, explained everything clearly, and made the class fun and engaging. I actually looked forward to going to this class everyday. Oh, and he likes to do fun demos.
Chem1B
Good, interesting lecturer. Included lots of information about modern scientific applications. He also blew things up a lot. First 3 mid-terms weren't hard and followed his practice tests closely. However, his final was very difficult. Tip: facts in lecture that don't seem important (e.g. the entire C-N-O cycle, energy use statistics) will show up!
chem1b
Grades very fairly, midterms are easy, final is hard. Interesting lectures, likes to blow stuff up
Chem1B
Fun guy, fun class. Saykally gives interesting lectures and tries to incorporate recent advances in chemistry into the course material. As lower division science courses go, this one isn't too hard. Tests are usually fair.
CHEM1B
Weird class. He tried to get us interested in studying crystals by saying that they would improve our sex life. The material is very simple, but he likes to add random tangents. Textbook is awful! Office hours are useless because he just talks about his kids. Overall, he is a really good guy, though.
Chem1a
He's got a sense of humor, does great demos, and obviously enjoys teaching. He made me want to come to learn and come to lectures. Tests and assignments are about average difficulty. Overall, he's best professor I've had so far at Berkeley.
CHEM1A
He probably ranks as my second favorite professor at Berkeley (#1 is Alex Filippenko). He's a fun guy and always has cool demos. He also explains things well and writes everything out on the board. However, I found that towards the end of the class (quantam mechanics), his lectures became obtuse, so I watched Kubinec's lectures instead.
Chem1A
Great professor, very fun and entertaining. Demos are exciting and fun to watch. Occasionally mentions terms that are unrelated to lecture and unexplained. Exams are easy, final was extremely easy. Overall a good experience, try to get him for 1A!
Chem 1A
he was such a fun professor-- loved his demos, one of those professors who makes you realize it's not really about the grades, but really about learning the material
Chem 1A
nice guy, entertaining. lectures were very interesting and engaging. tests are somewhat difficult (second midterm especially). just make sure to understand how to do everything in the homework and you'll do fine. it's also helpful to go to the SLC and office hours.
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