Historical instructor

DUNCAN CARLSMITH

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.55/5 from 102 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

PHYS241 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Prof. Carlsmith makes complex topics very understandable. His lectures can be hard to attend mandatorily in the morning, especially on the days that he mumbles, but a good chunk of all the lectures have some element of actual experiments that are pretty cool. As long as you do the reading, sit in lecture, and go to discussion, you'll do great.
Rate My Professors ↗
PHYS241 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Prof Carlsmith knows a lot and cares about his students, but his lectures are kinda hard to follow and apply to the homework. I just take notes on the book during lecture, which I find help's me understand the material much better. Exams aren't bad and we get 15% of extra credit, so you are pretty much guaranteed a good grade in the class.
Rate My Professors ↗
PHYS241 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
You have to spend $120 for textbook, which is completely unrelated to what he does in class. But if you dont buy it you cannot even do homework. He talks attendance everyday, exams are on completely random topics
Rate My Professors ↗
PHYS241 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
Very sweet man, obviously cares a lot, but you will not learn anything in lecture. He just yaps, and he doesn't explain things, and you will see so much unimportant stuff. All learning is done on your own and in discussion. It's not a hard course to do well in (the material is, not the class itself), but you will have to do it all on your own.
Rate My Professors ↗
PHYS241 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
The book was great, lectures not so much. I fully believe that prof Carlsmith has a passion for teaching about particle physics, however every single lecture he would rather talk about things that he found cool instead of the actual course content that we needed to learn. Exams weren't incredibly difficult as long as I kept up with reading the book
Rate My Professors ↗
PHYS241 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 2/5
The class was conceptually hard, which wasn't helped by Carlsmith's mumble-filled lectures. However, the tests questions are pretty easy (for the most part), and all multiple choice. Your TA's teaching ability matters; I learned most of the content in discussion. There's a 2500 word paper that gives 10% extra credit, which greatly helped my grade.
Rate My Professors ↗

Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with DUNCAN CARLSMITH

PHYSICS 241

Introduction to Modern Physics

3 credits

Introduction to modern physics covering kinetic theory, relativity, quantum theory origins, atomic structure, and topics in solid state, nuclear, and particle physics.

No offering record · Spring 2026

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

Duncan Carlsmith

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2021–Spring 2026
PHYSICS 900

Colloquium

0–1 credits

PHYSICS 900 is a colloquium course consisting of lectures delivered by staff and visiting speakers.

No offering record · Spring 2026

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

Duncan Carlsmith

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Spring 2026PHYSICS 900Colloquium
Fall 2025PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Fall 2025PHYSICS 900Colloquium
Spring 2025PHYSICS 103General Physics
Spring 2025PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Fall 2024PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Fall 2024PHYSICS 900Colloquium
Spring 2024PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Spring 2024PHYSICS 900Colloquium
Fall 2023PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Fall 2023PHYSICS 900Colloquium
Spring 2023PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Spring 2023PHYSICS 900Colloquium
Fall 2022PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Fall 2022PHYSICS 900Colloquium
Spring 2022PHYSICS 248A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2022PHYSICS 299Directed Study
Spring 2022PHYSICS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2021PHYSICS 247A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2021PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2020PHYSICS 247A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2020PHYSICS 248A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2020PHYSICS 299Directed Study
Fall 2019PHYSICS 247A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2019PHYSICS 248A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2019PHYSICS 299Directed Study
Fall 2018PHYSICS 199Directed Study
Fall 2018PHYSICS 247A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2018PHYSICS 299Directed Study
Spring 2018PHYSICS 198Directed Study
Spring 2018PHYSICS 248A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2017PHYSICS 247A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2017PHYSICS 248A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2016PHYSICS 247A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2016PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Spring 2015PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Spring 2015PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2014PHYSICS 249A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2014PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2014PHYSICS 199Directed Study
Spring 2014PHYSICS 241Introduction to Modern Physics
Spring 2014PHYSICS 299Directed Study
Fall 2013PHYSICS 249A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2013PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2013PHYSICS 248A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2012PHYSICS 247A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2012PHYSICS 202General Physics
Spring 2012PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2011PHYSICS 249A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2011PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2011PHYSICS 248A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2011PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2010PHYSICS 247A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2010PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Fall 2010PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2010PHYSICS 107The Ideas of Modern Physics
Spring 2010PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2009PHYSICS 205Modern Physics for Engineers
Fall 2009PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Fall 2009PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2009PHYSICS 208General Physics
Spring 2009PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2008PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2008PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2007PHYSICS 311Mechanics
Fall 2007PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2007PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2006PHYSICS 535Introduction to Particle Physics
Fall 2006PHYSICS 990Research

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
{
  "instructor_uid": "instructor_cd46dfb08cddfa6f24c79ee0",
  "source": "madgrades",
  "source_instructor_id": "2600003",
  "identity_basis": "source_id",
  "identity_status": "source_identified",
  "name": "DUNCAN CARLSMITH",
  "email": null,
  "first_observed_at": "2026-09-06 23:14:58.172943+00:00",
  "last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
  "ratings": {
    "review_count": 102,
    "quality": 2.55,
    "difficulty": 3.38,
    "quality_count": 102,
    "difficulty_count": 102,
    "profile_id": "rmp:283831",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/283831",
    "match_basis": "exact_name",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:43:06.364151+00:00",
    "courses": {
      "course_ac5b0db3a3b0f72a3723ac9e": {
        "review_count": 2,
        "quality": 2.5,
        "difficulty": 3,
        "quality_count": 2,
        "difficulty_count": 2
      },
      "course_1666a5a286d44301d42ee8d0": {
        "review_count": 3,
        "quality": 2,
        "difficulty": 4,
        "quality_count": 3,
        "difficulty_count": 3
      },
      "course_2c88e83afad33fe7414fd64f": {
        "review_count": 2,
        "quality": 3,
        "difficulty": 2.5,
        "quality_count": 2,
        "difficulty_count": 2
      },
      "course_e8cfa648b149ecdf80de2aa5": {
        "review_count": 4,
        "quality": 3.5,
        "difficulty": 2.75,
        "quality_count": 4,
        "difficulty_count": 4
      },
      "course_3d31f8f280d8571385be79ba": {
        "review_count": 3,
        "quality": 3.33,
        "difficulty": 2,
        "quality_count": 3,
        "difficulty_count": 3
      }
    },
    "bayesian_quality": 2.731915702220753,
    "prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
    "prior_weight": 20
  },
  "grade_statistics": {
    "gpa": 3.296,
    "graded": 2841,
    "counts": [
      1096,
      599,
      508,
      325,
      244,
      58,
      11
    ],
    "sections": 73
  },
  "current": false,
  "courses": [],
  "revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "instructor_url": "/instructors/DUNCAN_CARLSMITH--instructor_cd46dfb08cddfa6f24c79ee0"
}