I was thrilled to read the detailed story of how Conceptual Physics came to be.1 Decades ago, when Paul Hewitt made a presentation at one of the first AAPT meetings I attended, his talk was not as “scholarly” as the others on the program. His ponytail kept him from looking like the others on the program. The subdued reaction he got was not the same as accorded others on the program—but he wowed a fairly new teacher from a Long Island suburb.
I asked him afterward if he might be able to give the same talk to students at my high school. He thought it might be possible, so I quickly got on the phone and was able to make the necessary arrangements with the administration. He came out the next day. His boundless enthusiasm and brilliant examples wowed the students at least as much as they had wowed...