The classic academic bait-and-switch! First chapter has you feeling like Einstein's protégé, then suddenly you're drowning in differential equations about nonisothermal reactors that might as well be written in ancient Sumerian.
The "helpful tip" is pure gold - suggesting you pull the fire alarm during your professor's lecture so they'll fall behind schedule and skip this nightmare from your exam. Desperate times indeed!
Every engineering student knows that feeling when the textbook's difficulty curve isn't so much a curve as it is a vertical wall. One minute you're confidently nodding along, the next you're considering changing your major to interpretive dance.