Historical instructor
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Absolutely phenomenal professor. He taught in a way that made the concepts extremely interesting and incredibly easy to learn (which is saying something from a 400 level physics course). Lecture notes are well-crafted and his assigned homework is really interesting, applicable and fun to solve. Over all, he is the best professor I have ever had.Rate My Professors ↗
One of the few physics professors here at UW that I've actually liked. Very organized and helpful. I wouldn't say lectures are required because of the textbook, but he definitely helped explain concepts I didn't understand initially from the text. Good guy.Rate My Professors ↗
The most engaging, well-spoken, and approachable professor I have had the pleasure of meeting. His passion for the content and high level of organization make it a joy to attend his lectures. He's always accessible by email and his office hours were extremely helpful. Despite the difficulty of the content, you will walk away feeling accomplished.Rate My Professors ↗
Ilya is a fairly new professor and already outshines the many professors I've already had. He is extremely talented and is always open to questions. His lectures are extremely organized and clear. He posts lecture notes, but I still recommend showing up to every lecture since he is such a joy to learn from.Rate My Professors ↗
Ilya is an excellent professor. His lectures are clear and concise and he closely follows Goldstein as well as Landau. He provides resources for the class and posts his lecture notes online. His class is not attendance-mandatory but it is strongly encouraged. Plus, his lectures are awesome so you don't want to miss them anyway. Highly recommend.Rate My Professors ↗
Dr. Esterlis is one of the best professors I've ever had. His lectures are absolutely fantastic. He speaks clearly, explains things well, and manages to communicate the profundity of, for example, symmetry and conservation laws. The class was very tough, but homework counts for a lot of your grade, and it's more than worth the challenge.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Introduces thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, covering phase equilibrium, kinetic theory, and classical and quantum statistical mechanics.
No offering record · Spring 2026
with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2021–Spring 2026PHYSICS 499 is an advanced-level mentored research project in physics.
No offering record · Spring 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited samplePHYSICS 682 is a mentored individual research and study course for students completing Physics Honors in the Major.
No offering record · Spring 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited samplePHYSICS 990 is a research course where students conduct supervised research projects with individual faculty members.
No offering record · Spring 2026
No recorded grade history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2026 | PHYSICS 415 | Thermal Physics |
| Spring 2026 | PHYSICS 499 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2026 | PHYSICS 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2026 | PHYSICS 990 | Research |
| Fall 2025 | PHYSICS 499 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2025 | PHYSICS 990 | Research |
| Spring 2025 | PHYSICS 415 | Thermal Physics |
| Spring 2025 | PHYSICS 799 | Independent Study |
| Spring 2025 | PHYSICS 990 | Research |
| Fall 2024 | PHYSICS 499 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2024 | PHYSICS 711 | Theoretical Physics-dynamics |
| Spring 2024 | PHYSICS 311 | Mechanics |
| Fall 2023 | PHYSICS 711 | Theoretical Physics-dynamics |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
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