All across the country, the number of students majoring in physics is said to be at its lowest point since Sputnik, 40 years ago. The most important role of the college physics course today seems to be to weed out a few poor souls who might otherwise make it to medical school or some other kind of quasi-scientific training. If the profession of teaching physics were a business, we would be filing for bankruptcy. On the other hand, our assets include nothing less than the wisdom of the ages, the most important part of the body of human knowledge. Mastery of that knowledge, a fundamental grasp of how the world works, ought to be the best possible preparation for the coming century. Rather than being an endangered species, the physics major should be the wave of the future, but it isn’t, at least not yet. This talk will analyze how we got ourselves into this fix, and suggest what is needed to get ourselves out of it.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
March 1999
AWARDS|
March 01 1999
“Now Boarding: The Flight from Physics” David Goodstein’s acceptance speech for the 1999 Oersted Medal presented by the American Association of Physics Teachers, 11 January 1999
David Goodstein
David Goodstein
Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125
Search for other works by this author on:
Am. J. Phys. 67, 183–186 (1999)
Citation
David Goodstein; “Now Boarding: The Flight from Physics” David Goodstein’s acceptance speech for the 1999 Oersted Medal presented by the American Association of Physics Teachers, 11 January 1999. Am. J. Phys. 1 March 1999; 67 (3): 183–186. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.19224
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Sign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionPay-Per-View Access
$40.00