PREFACE

The American Association of Physics Teachers was organized at a luncheon meeting on December 29, 1930, in Cleveland, Ohio, during a joint meeting of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The first constitution was adopted at a follow-up session two days later. In order to plan the fiftieth birthday celebration of the Association, we solicited suggestions in the AAPT Announcer and also sent individual letters to some two dozen “old timers” to ask for ideas. More than one response included suggestions for two special publications: first, looking back, a book of reprints of journal articles that, in the words of one respondent, are still “capable of having a significant impact on any of the many facets of physics education;” second, looking ahead, a volume of invited papers by present leaders of the field, representing talks given at anniversary sessions in 1980-81. The present volume is an attempt to respond to the first request; clearly the second must wait until after the anniversary year.

Considerable thought has gone into the selection of material for this volume. Later we shall note some limitations in the scope from which we chose, but even so there was truly an embarrassment of riches. It was necessary to arrive at principles of omission, some almost painful to act on consistently. Articles of most immediate value at the time of publication, such as those describing particular experiments or demonstrations, have not been included: this is in no sense a “how to” book. Nor did we include descriptions of novel curricula or even discussions of curriculum design. (We were tempted to make an exception of four papers on physics in general education presented at the 1946 Colloquium of College Physicists at the State University of Iowa; they are still worth reading, but most of the ideas have been repeated many times since.) It did not seem feasible to include novel applications of physics, although a book of such reprints would be interesting: it would include Paul Klopsteg’s article on the physics of the bow and arrow, Paul Kirkpatrick’s article on bad physics in measurements at Olympic Games, and David Webster on flying airplanes, for example. We excluded new derivations of basic principles, no matter how simple and elegant. Another hard decision was to omit articles on the history of physics as opposed to the history of physics teaching; Professor Pohl’s Oersted response on Thomas Young’s discovery of interference is almost an exception, although that master of lecture demonstration recounts the story to make a pedagogical point.

In choosing material relevant to 1980, we also had to eliminate a number of splendid articles written during World War II. The war was without doubt the most momentous occurrence of the entire period, but so much has happened since, that the context is not clear today without supplementary historical information for the benefit of younger members. A historian writing about science in war time would find these pieces invaluable, but they have not retained their immediate significance. Two short articles do convey something of the spirit of those times: the first Richtmyer Lecture, given by A. H. Compton soon after Pearl Harbor, and a fine statement of hopes by E.U. Condon do more than stand the test of time.

For practical reasons all the articles selected are short: no paper is as much as ten pages long. The authors have been chosen, for the most part, in accord with advice from some of the consultants for the committee, from names that appear in the history of the Association, the list of officers, and recipients of honors. What were the purposes of the people who founded AAPT and guided much of the activity? What did they think; who were they, anyhow? It is not possible to represent more than a sample, for the textual content is of prime importance, and not all influential members have put guiding principles into available print. We can answer “Who was Richtmyer?” with articles from other founders, and we have his own contribution as the first article of the first journal issue. Millikan was not active in the organization of AAPT, but we have his idea of what makes a good teacher in his Oersted response. Paul Klopsteg, the founder whose name is carried by the AAPT Endowment Fund, gives us history, and some cogent ideas on the value of technology in a university, in an early Richtmyer lecture.

Oersted responses have often given the recipients of the medal an opportunity to put before the physics community their views, on teaching, on the role of physics in society, and on the prospects and history of physics education. Many of the opinions expressed seem timeless, or at least worth serious consideration today, and a goodly sample of Oersted responses was chosen for reprinting. In some instances introductions are included, in some not; the selection was determined in part by the printed format and in part by the nature of the introduction.

It will be noted that The Physics Teacher is not represented in the present volume. It was not our original intention to take articles from one journal only, but the shape and character of the volume as it developed led us to this choice. And although The Physics Teacher was founded thirty years later than the American Physics Teacher (later called the American Journal of Physics), there is already a valuable book of reprints entitled Teaching Introductory Physics derived from its first ten years of publication. This book appeared in 1974, is still in print, and can be highly recommended for physics teachers at all levels. If, as seems desirable, a book of reprints of historical articles is collected from the journals, some of the most appropriate contributions will come from The Physics Teacher.

And now we must speak of limitations in the scope for selection of the present book. The AAPT has from the beginning been deeply interested in teacher training at all levels, and pioneered in continuing education for teachers, but for many years it did not truly represent physics teaching in high schools. Any attempt to survey the history of the Association must take cognizance of this fact. While Duane Roller in “The Role of the Sciences in General Education” makes no particular distinction between the developments in lower division college courses and those in the secondary schools, and notes the interplay between the two levels, he is primarily concerned with trends in college education. J. W. Buchta, in “New Era in Science?” discusses high school physics at some length, and a few speakers (or writers) have spoken of science education at all levels, but high school physics teaching is not well represented in this volume. We also note that the enormous growth of two-year colleges has been so relatively recent that their problems have affected the main activity of AAPT very little during most of its first fifty years; in a subsequent volume, to report the actual anniversary sessions, there will surely be a more balanced presentation of physics teaching at all levels.

Thumbnail biographies of all authors are appended; they are too brief to do justice to their subjects, but will help identify many who have put considerable effort into Association activities. Unfortunately we did not find printed material from all AAPT stalwarts in suitable form for this very limited volume, and it was possible to select only a small sample of those pieces actually available. Let us recommend that you spend some time browsing through past volumes of both journals: we are sure you will find the exercise rewarding.

To the several people who suggested such a book as we have tried to put together, our thanks; the responsibility for the choices is unavoidably ours, of course.

The Committee on the Fiftieth Anniversary of AAPT:

Albert A. Bartlett

Kenneth E. Davis

Paul E. Klopsteg

Melba Phillips, Chairman