This is a very difficult but incredibly fun class. I absolutely looked forward to it every day. Putterman's always so incredibly thrilled to teach you and answer your questions. The content is also extremely interesting and it pulls together a bunch of different things. You absolutely need to have done 105B with a good professor. It helps so much. I hadn't done 112, so I was lost in a lot of the thermodynamics. 115C (perturbation theory) is helpful too, though not necessary. You also really need to be good at multivariable calculus and Fourier analysis. The tests were very difficult, but Putterman is super understanding and he genuinely cares about students so he listened to our feedback and put together a generous curve, with a 12-hour final and provisions for a second mid-term after people did bad on the first. The homework problems were deep and very very fun, but occasionally a bit too vague. Some of my classmates said it seemed like he wrote them in the middle of the night after sudden strokes of inspiration through his dreams. My classmates were absolutely incredible: they were so talented and helpful and they made this the first time we had a nice class spirit despite having to do Zoom University stuff. The book is by Landau, and it's aggressively written. It's for graduate students, so it's challenging to follow, but if you get the hang of it, you'll learn so much. My TA, Yotam Ofek, was a legend. He's a brilliant and super helpful (and funny) guy.

My favorite UCLA class; I'd definitely look for classes Putterman's teaching in the future.

This class will teach you how to learn and love physics. We derive everything from first principles, and if we don't explicitly do so in class, Dr. Putterman never fails to encourage you to do so yourself. Accordingly, he gives you everything you need to start doing it yourself.

The homework problems are awesome. If you take this class, please try and use graphing software as much as you can to visualize what you solve for. (You will solve some pretty darn amazing stuff). Moreover, please allow yourself to look up new concepts online. There are TONS of random fluids professors from all over the world who love making pdfs on cool problems and derivations. The independent study you do in this class will do more for your understanding of analytical physics than the 105 series can ten times over.

Some topics we covered:
Linear/Non-Linear Acoustics
Gravity (surface) Waves
Sonoluminescence
Geometrical Acoustics (A particle theory of rays of sound)
Viscous flow
Superfluidity

The textbook is Fluid Mechanics by Landau. First, you will hate Landau. This is only natural, as he is an arrogant lad who assumes you are as smart as he is. But, slowly, over the course of the class, you will start to think in a similar manner, and it is f*cking euphoric. You will see that there are so many ways of "doing" physics, and you will learn how!

Finally, if you are "computationally crippled", please ask Putterman to explain what he is doing. Understand that Putterman would not teach something to you if you weren't capable of learning it at this stage. So, at the sight of unfamiliar math, ask him what he is doing, and you will learn. If you don't get the chance, look it up.

Important Math: Fourier Series, Fourier Transform, Vector/Tensor calculus.

I advise you to take this class if you can. It is definitely worth it.

This isn't really an intro class the way he teaches it, because the pace is quick. I would recommend taking a fluids class out of the mechanical engineering department, or the earth, planetary, and space sciences department.

Putt Putt is the best professor I've had a UCLA. I had him for 110A, and when I saw he was teaching this I had to sign up (even though I didn't have the pre-reqs satisfied). This class was very challenging in both the content and pacing, but Putterman knows what he is doing and does a good job of explaining the important concepts and techniques. This was the class that really made all of physics seem cohesive for me. You can see the same mathematics that you develop in the other core classes in a way that makes them all seem unified. Maybe thats just because the course roughly follows the Landau text on fluids?

The TA I had was pretty useless I thought, so I didn't go to discussion... Lecture was enough to get the job done

"Mechanics of Wave Motion and Sound". I took this class on a whim because it is offered every two years and this was my last chance to take and I am very glad that I did.

This class is so much more than the course description suggests. Putterman teaches you the basis of how to construct an axiomatic field theory of physics. Fluid mechanics is just the test-bed for him to show you how it works.

The homework and the exams correspond to acoustics and fluid motion. Maybe 2/3 of the lectures correspond to it. The rest are really fascinating. Every class comes together here, he teaches you quantum mechanics, methods of nonlinear physics, current research questions in acoustics, and finally, mechanics of superfluidity.

The midterm was OK, the final was brutal, I personally couldn't solve a single question completely, so I'm not sure how grades are assigned. He doesn't care about deadlines for homework. Every homework set we've had has been graded on effort.

Beautiful class and a fun lecture, take this class if you can.

Had Putterman for both Physics 17 and 114. He's a very cocky professor, and will crack a ton of jokes about social science majors (which is funny, unless you are one, but if you are one, you're probably not taking his class). His homework is usually pretty difficult, admittedly, and so are his tests, but his grading curve is extremely generous. He's a pretty entertaining professor, his lectures will go off on tangents that are generally amusing, and he teaches you interesting things, such as advanced thermodynamics and fluid mechanics... as opposed to teaching you the things that you're supposed to be learning, especially for 17. I would highly recommend that you take a class with Putterman at least once for the experience; fair warning, lots of people hate his classes with a passion.