It's hard for professors to take a break from their research and have to break down concepts in a manner that all students can understand, but Prof. Gelbart does that quite well. He is patient, and he always writes clearly. And yes, this quarter must have had a generous curve, but it is possible to get 100 on all the midterms and the final itself if you focus on reading the book and looking at his lecture notes. Understanding concepts is a lot more important than plug-and-chug, but if you are good with the basic skills of calculus, you will have a good quarter. And he does try to be humorous at times, even though the jokes may be a bit stale...