We physics teachers must broaden our focus from physics for physicists and other scientists to physics for all. The reason, as the American Association for the Advancement of Science puts it, is that “[w]ithout a scientifically literate population, the outlook for a better world is not promising.” Physics for all (including the first course for scientists) should be conceptual, not technical. It should describe the universe as we understand it today, including special and general relativity, quantum physics, modern cosmology, nuclear physics, the standard model of particles and interactions, and quantum fields. Many science writers have shown that this description is possible. It should emphasize the scientific process and include such societal topics as global warming, nuclear weapons, and pseudoscience, because citizens need to vote intelligently on such issues.

1.
Bernard V.
Khoury
, “
Education…Priority or problem
,”
AAPT Announcer
31
(
1
),
4
5
(
2001
);
Bernard V.
Khoury
, “
Physics for all
,”
AAPT Announcer
30
(
4
),
6
(
2000
).
2.
If you want to join the list, email me at [email protected].
3.
F. James
Rutherford
,
Project 2061: Science for All Americans
(
American Association for the Advancement of Science
, Washington, DC,
1989
).
4.
F. James
Rutherford
,
Project 2061: Science for All Americans
(
American Association for the Advancement of Science
, Washington, DC,
1989
), p.
13
.
5.
David
Goodstein
, “
The science literacy gap: A Karplus lecture
,”
J. Sci. Educ. Technol.
1
(
3
),
149
155
(
1992
).
6.
Paul G.
Hewitt
, “
The missing essential—A conceptual understanding of physics
,”
Am. J. Phys.
51
(
4
),
305
311
(
1983
).
7.
Victor F.
Weisskopf
, “
Weisskopf and Ehrenfest
,”
Am. J. Phys.
59
(
8
),
754
(
1991
).
8.
See for example
Lillian C.
McDermott
, “
How we teach and how students learn—A mismatch?
Am. J. Phys.
61
(
4
),
295
298
(
1993
);
Lillian C.
McDermott
and the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington,
Physics by Inquiry
(
Wiley
, New York,
1996
);
Alan Van
Heuvelen
, “
Learning to think like a physicist
,”
Am. J. Phys.
59
(
10
),
891
897
(
1991
);
Overview, Case Study Physics
,”
Am. J. Phys.
59
(
10
),
898
907
(
1991
);
David
Hestenes
,
Malcolm
Wells
, and
Gregg
Swackhamer
, “
Force concept inventory
,”
Phys. Teach.
30
(
3
),
141
158
(
1992
);
David
Hestenes
and
Malcolm
Wells
, “
A mechanics baseline test
,”
Phys. Teach.
30
(
3
),
159
166
(
1992
);
Arnold B.
Arons
,
A Guide to Introductory Physics Teaching
(
Wiley
, New York,
1990
).
9.
Joel
Primack
and
Nancy Ellen
Abrams
,
The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos
(
Riverhead Books
, New York,
2006
).
10.
Eric
Mazur
,
Peer Instruction
(
Prentice-Hall
, Upper Saddle River, NJ,
1997
).
11.
See
Art
Hobson
, “
Teaching E=mc2: Mass without mass
,”
Phys. Teach.
43
(
2
),
80
82
(
2005
).
12.
More accurately, in a quantum chromodynamic model of the proton in which the up and down quark masses are set equal to zero and the other four kinds of quarks are omitted, the computed mass of the proton is found to be accurate to within 10%. See
Frank
Wilczek
, “
Mass without mass I: Most of matter
,”
Phys. Today
52
(
11
),
11
13
(
1999
).
13.
It’s perhaps misleading to call this process an “interaction,” because the Higgs field is not a force field in the usual sense. A more appropriate phrasing might state that, due to the Higgs field, the Higgs mechanism causes particles to have a rest mass m and, hence, mc2 joules of rest energy. See
Gordon
Kane
,
Supersymmetry: Unveiling the Ultimate Laws of Nature
(
Perseus Publishing
, Cambridge, MA,
2000
), pp.
149
152
.
14.
Adrian
Cho
, “
Aging atom smasher runs all out in race for most coveted particle
,”
Science
312
,
1302
1303
(
2006
).
15.
Steven
Weinberg
, in
Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Field Theory
, edited by
Tian Yu
Cao
(
Cambridge U.P.
, Cambridge,
1999
), p.
242
.
16.
Art
Hobson
, “
Electrons as field quanta: A better way to teach quantum physics
,”
Am. J. Phys.
73
(
7
),
630
634
(
2005
);
also
Art
Hobson
, “
Teaching quantum physics without paradoxes
,” Phys. Teach., (to be published) preprint available at physics.uark.edu/hobson/.
17.
Art
Hobson
,
Physics: Concepts & Connections
, 4th ed. (
Prentice-Hall
, Upper Saddle River, NJ,
2006
), p.
288
.
18.
The figures in this paragraph are based on
Peter
Vitousek
,
Harold
Mooney
,
Jane
Lubchenco
, and
Jerry
Melillo
, “
Human domination of Earth’s ecosystems
,”
Science
277
,
494
499
(
1997
).
19.
John
Holdren
, “
The energy-climate challenge
,”
Environment
43
(
5
),
8
21
(
2001
).
20.
See for example,
Richard
Kerr
, “
Looking way back for the world’s climate future
,”
Science
312
,
1456
1457
(
2006
);
[PubMed]
also
James
Lovelock
,
The Revenge of Gaia
(
Penguin
, London,
2006
), pp.
46
and 51.
21.
James
Lovelock
,
The Revenge of Gaia
(
Perseus/Basic Books
, New York,
2006
).
22.
John
Houghton
,
Global Warming: The Complete Briefing
, 3rd ed. (
Cambridge U.P.
, Cambridge,
2004
).
23.
Table II is based on the data in
S.
Wilson
, “
Bicycle technology
,”
Sci. Am.
228
(
3
),
81
91
(
1973
).
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