Historical instructor
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Prof. Goldsmith is incredibly smart and intelligent, and you can tell he knows this too. Most of the time his lectures and his vocabulary are unnecessarily complex to the point of me wondering what is he trying to prove. The material is not conveyed clearly and I rely heavily on the textbook to understand concepts.Rate My Professors ↗
He might understand quantum mechanics, but he can't teach it! He assumed we somehow understand everything and uses advanced PChem language in class. Also, his hand is on top of his writing 70% of the time, and he explains the topics extremely fast. Homework is irrelevant to both lecture notes and textbook. Exam had stuff we never learned. Bad prof.Rate My Professors ↗
Goldsmith is by far one of the best professors I've ever had. He's super smart and passionate about chem, which is awesome. The exams are the hardest that I've ever taken, but he gives plenty of opportunities to build up your grade outside of the exams (weekly quizzes, problem sets, tophat, etc). Definitely a hard class but worth it!Rate My Professors ↗
Professor Goldsmith was overall good, with a few small flaws. His lectures are clear and informative, though sometimes his homework sets aren't really taught/addressed in class. Overall, you end up very prepared for lecture.Rate My Professors ↗
Lectures are always super interesting and engaging he truly cares that students understand the material. Very accessible during office hours and also very approachable.Rate My Professors ↗
Prof Goldsmith is an amazing teacher that genuinely cares a lot about his students. The class is challenging but he sets you up for success. This was the course that convinced me to change my major to Chemistry. My biggest piece of advice is to go to the group homework sessions; they did wonders for my understanding of the material.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.
No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.
| Term | Course | Title |
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Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
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