Physics is the syntax and grammar of science; it is the rules. Therefore, you must learn physics to write, speak, or do good science. But knowing the rules of physics won’t make you a good physicist or a good physics teacher any more than knowing grammar will make you a good writer. To bring physics alive you need strong narratives and interesting content. I will describe three examples: A course—“The Physics of Living in Space”; a textbook—Modern Introductory Physics; and a project—Astronomy’s Discoveries and Physics Education. I will also show examples of what I mean by “Witz” and why it is important in physics.
REFERENCES
1.
C. H.
Holbrow
, “Physics of living in space: A new course
,” Am. J. Phys.
49
, 725
–732
(1981
).2.
Space Settlements: A Design Study
, edited by Richard D.
Johnson
and Charles
Holbrow
, NASA-413 (GPO
Washington, D.C.
, 1977
). This report is available online at ⟨http://www.nss.org/settlement⟩.3.
Monaco with a population of 35 986 in 2.05 km2 has about 57 m2 per person.
4.
C. H.
Holbrow
, J. C.
Amato
, E. J.
Galvez
, and J. N.
Lloyd
, “Modernizing introductory physics
,” Am. J. Phys.
63
, 1078
–1090
(1995
).5.
C. H.
Holbrow
, J. N.
Lloyd
, J. C.
Amato
, E.
Galvez
, and M.
Elizabeth Parks
, Modern Introductory Physics
, 2nd ed. (Springer
, New York, Inc.
, 2010
).6.
We are proud of the book, but it brings us no money; we donated its royalties to Colgate.
7.
Jack
Steinberger
, Learning about Particles: 50 Privileged Years
(Springer
, New York, NY
, 2005
), p. 108
.8.
The quotation in the figure is taken from
Michael M. J.
Fischer
, “Eye(I)ing the Sciences
” in Technoscientific imaginaries: Conversations, profiles, and memoirs
, edited by George E.
Marcus
(University of Chicago Press
, Chicago, IL
, 1995
), p. 74
.9.
R. P.
Feynman
, R. B.
Leighton
, and M.
Sands
, The Feynman Lectures on Physics
, 3
vols. (Addison-Wesley
, Reading, MA
, 1963
–1964
).10.
E. M.
Purcell
, “Life at low Reynolds number
,” Am. J. Phys.
45
, 3
–11
(1977
).11.
“Groundstate hyperfine splitting of hydrogen-like 207Pb81+ by laser excitation of a bunched beam in the GSI experimental storage ring,”
P.
Seelig
, S.
Borneis
, A.
Dax
, T.
Engel
, S.
Faber
, M.
Gerlach
, C.
Holbrow
, G.
Huber
, T.
Kuehl
, D.
Marx
, K.
Meier
, P.
Merz
, W.
Quint
, F.
Schmitt
, M.
Tomaselli
, L.
Voelker
, H.
Winter
, M.
Wuertz
, K.
Beckert
, B.
Franzke
, F.
Nolden
, H.
Reich
, M.
Steck
, and T.
Winkler
, Phys. Rev. Lett.
81
, 4824
–4827
(1998
).12.
An excellent description of the interaction that produces hyperfine splitting is given by
David J.
Griffiths
, “Hyperfine splitting in the ground state of hydrogen
,” Am. J. Phys.
50
(8
), 698
–703
(1982
).13.
At ⟨http://www.gsi.de/forschung/ap/projects/esr_e.html⟩ there is a good description of the storage ring.
14.
See ⟨http://betterphysics.org⟩ for information about UATP and other events related to using astronomy to teach physics.
15.
J.
Amato
, “A calculus-level introductory physics course with an astronomy theme
,” 218th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society
, 22–26 May 2011, Boston, MA, p. 93 of the program bulletin downloadable from ⟨http://files.aas.org/aas218/aas218_abstracts.pdf⟩.16.
C. H.
Holbrow
and P.
Shaffer
, “Astronomy’s discoveries and physics education
,” Am. J. Phys.
80
, 5
–6
(2012
).© 2012 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2012
American Association of Physics Teachers
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