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Since 1983, Dick Crane has been telling readers of The Physics Teacher (TPT) “How Things Work.” The topics have ranged from toys to spider webs, and from ring interferometers to gasoline pumps. All the devices and phenomena are ones that we meet in everyday life, all involve physics principles, and all require explanations that are not immediately obvious. Among his many other talents, Dick Crane not only figures out the inner workings of these things, but also makes the explanations understandable to us. During these nine years, TPT has carried nearly 70 examples of this talent.

The “How Things Work” column in TPT is just one out of a long list of contributions that Dick Crane has made to physics and physics teaching. His exquisite precision measurement of the g-factor of the electron was recognized in 1967 by the award of the Davisson-Germer prize by The American Physical Society. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and winner of a National Medal of Science in 1986. During his long career at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, he served as chairman of the Physics Department for seven years and as director of a defense project for the University during World War II. Within our own association of AAPT, he is a past president and has been awarded the Oersted Medal and the Melba Newell Phillips Award. He has served as president of the Midwestern Universities Research Association and as chairman of the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics. Although retired from formal teaching since 1978, Dick continues many science and education projects besides his work for TPT. As a major activity he contributes his expertise to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. He has created a number of unique exhibits for the Museum, as well as having written a guide book for visitors that explains the underlying science in the things they see and work with. In all this his flair for experimental devices and simple explanation shows through.

Why should we now collect all these columns about “How Things Work” into a single book? They are available in past issues of The Physics Teacher, and Dick promises that there will be no end to future unpuzzlings. New mysteries of everyday life continually make their appearance, providing more grist for Dick’s mill. On the other hand, there is a large audience of young physics teachers who may not have complete sets of TPT. Furthermore, all of us will appreciate the convenience of having the topics gathered and organized. Be sure to read Dick’s explanation of how he writes these columns, printed on page 78 of this volume. Then you must decide whether to leave the book on your coffee table for casual browsing or on your office reference shelf. Perhaps you should get two copies, or three if you are foolish enough to loan a book like this.

Cliff Swartz

Editor, The Physics Teacher

How Things Work

(A Collection of “How Things Work” Columns from The Physics Teacher, 1983-1991.)

©1992 American Association of Physics Teachers

Published by:

American Association of Physics Teachers 5112 Berwyn Road College Park, MD 20740-4100 U.S.A.

Cover:

The cover was designed by Rebecca Heller Rados.

ISBN #: 0-917853-44-X

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