Mir Books

This book, which is a collection of physics 
aptitude test problems, draws on the experience 
of the physics olympiads conducted during the 
last fifteen years among the schoolchildren 
of Moscow.

In Science for Everyone series we now come to a book, Aptitude Test Problems in Physics edited by S. S. Krotov, and contributing authors are A. I. Buzdin, V. A. Il’lin, I. V. Krivchenkov, N. A. Sveshnokov.

This book is hugely popular with aspirants  appearing for different entrance exams in India and this is the reason why maybe it was republished along with more famous Irodov. (Maybe all the problems are sourced from here, or books like these ; ) Any way the book is great, it makes you think about many ways of solving problems.

From the Preface

The present state of science and technology is such that a large number of scientists and engineers must be educated at an advanced level. This cannot be done without significantly raising the level of teaching physics, with an emphasis on the individual and special efforts to detect and nurture budding talents. In this respect, physics
olympiads for students at secondary school and vocational training colleges are important in bringing to light the brightest students and in correctly guiding them in their choice of profession.

This book, which is a collection of physics aptitude test problems, draws on the experience of the physics olympiads conducted during the last fifteen years among the schoolchildren of Moscow. A Moscow physics olympiad includes three preliminary theoretical rounds at the regional, city, and qualifying levels, followed by a final practical round. After the final round, a team of Moscow schoolchildren is selected for participation in the all-Union olympiad. The complexity of the problems set for each round increases gradually, starting from the simplest problems at regional level, problems which can be solved simply by havinga thorough knowledge of the basic laws and concepts of physics. The problems at the qualifying stage are much more complicated. Some of the problems at this level involve a certain amount of research as a rule, the problems make participation in the olympiads even more challenging). This collection contains problems from the theoretical rounds only. The structure of the book reflects the emphasis given to it in different sections of the physics course at such competitions. The number of problems set at an olympiad and the fraction allotted to a particular topic in the book are determined by the number of years the topic is taught at school. A detailed classification of different topics is not given since some are represented by only one or two problems, while other topics have dozens of problems. Most of the problems are originally and a considerable proportion of them was composed by the authors. The most difficult problems are marked by asterisks being  the product of a close group of authors, the book reflects certain traditions and experience drawn from Moscow olympiads only. A feature of the book is that it presents the scientific views and working style of a group of like-minded scientists.

In view of all this, the book should attract a large circle of readers. The best way to use it is as a supplementary material to the existing collections of problems in elementary physics. It will be especially useful to those who have gone through the general physics course, and want to improve their knowledge, or try their strength at nonstandard problems, or to develop an intuitive approach to physics. Although it is recommended primarily for high-school students, we believe that college students in junior classes will also find something interesting in it. The book will also be useful for organizers of physics study circles, lecturers taking evening and correspondence courses, and for teachers conducting extracurricular activities.

This is what the back cover of the book says:

This collection contains about 250 problems in
physics set for boys and girls from Moscow schools
participating in physics olympiads from 1968 to
1985. The most interesting and original problems
from these examinations have been included together
with their solutions.
Intended for schoolchildren and teachers of physics,
this book can also be used for preparation to entrance
examinations to the higher educational institutes
where an advanced knowledge of physics is required.

The contributing authors are A.I. Buzdin V.A. Il’in I.V. Krivchenkov S.S. Krotov N.A. Sveshnikov.

This book was translated from the Russian by Natalia Wadhwa (is she related anyway to Ram Wadhwa who translated Tarasov’s Quantum Mechanics?) and was first published by Mir in 1990. CBS republished the book 1996.

Update Jan 2020:

The Internet Archive Link

and here

For those who want to buy the book, it is still in print and is very cheap at Rs. 54.

All credits to the original uploader, though I had also made a copy, but this one is much better than mine, so posting the better one.

Thanks to Escapee for staying awake with me, while I made this post 🙂

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