Physics textbooks - Revision history

Shawn: /* Contents of textbooks */

2013-08-06T20:53:55Z

Contents of textbooks

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:53, 6 August 2013
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	What does the order of chapters tell us about the sequence? See [[physics textbook chapter sequence]].		What does the order of chapters tell us about the sequence? See [[physics textbook chapter sequence]].

			How much can we rely on a text to represent the course in which it is used? See 'Teaching experiments in 18th-19th century greek physics textbooks' by Constantine Skordoulis & Gianna Katsiampoura in Arch Int d'Hist des Sci v60 n164:79-92, for an example of imported textbooks that brought great european ideas in physics while lacking measurement or any student involvement.

	===Other people who have studied textbooks===		===Other people who have studied textbooks===

Shawn: edited anonymous' paragraph explaining three levels of math in three levels of college textbooks. I worry this is stereotype or pigeon-holing a more multi-dimensional spectrum of texts, but maybe most physics professors use this shorthand.

2012-10-25T01:44:12Z

edited anonymous' paragraph explaining three levels of math in three levels of college textbooks. I worry this is stereotype or pigeon-holing a more multi-dimensional spectrum of texts, but maybe most physics professors use this shorthand.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:44, 24 October 2012
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	See for example Physics for the Inquiring Mind by Eric M. Rogers, 1960. "This book offers a course in physics to non-physicists who wish to know physics and understand it...It welcomes all readers." Flipping through the chapters, it looks like this text is a standard introductory physics text with additives of philosophy and vocabulary-building.		See for example Physics for the Inquiring Mind by Eric M. Rogers, 1960. "This book offers a course in physics to non-physicists who wish to know physics and understand it...It welcomes all readers." Flipping through the chapters, it looks like this text is a standard introductory physics text with additives of philosophy and vocabulary-building.

	~~The~~ key reason for separate physics texts is the ~~amount~~ of mathematics ~~preparation needed for~~ the course. A "~~Conceptual Physics~~" text would contain a few simple formulas for "non-physics majors", while a "~~College Physics~~" book would require algebra and trigonometry ~~background~~ for medical careers, and, finally, a "~~University Physics~~" would be calculus-based for engineering and science preparation. ~~A comparison of the~~ table of contents of each of these texts ~~would show them to~~ be quite similar, but the mathematical ~~descriptions of~~ the topics ~~would~~ be very different.		A key reason for separate physics texts is the level of mathematics involved in the course. Many a "conceptual physics" text would contain a few simple formulas for "non-physics majors", while a "college physics" book would require algebra and trigonometry for medical careers, and, finally, a "university physics" text would be calculus-based for engineering and science preparation. The table of contents of each of these texts will be quite similar, but the mathematical toolkit for the topics will be very different.

	===Textbooks in use in physics classes===		===Textbooks in use in physics classes===

24.220.219.225: /* Why is there a separate text for non-physics majors. Corollary: Why are the topics in texts for non-majors not addressed in texts for majors? */

2012-10-21T01:31:46Z

Why is there a separate text for non-physics majors. Corollary: Why are the topics in texts for non-majors not addressed in texts for majors?

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:31, 20 October 2012
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	See for example Physics for the Inquiring Mind by Eric M. Rogers, 1960. "This book offers a course in physics to non-physicists who wish to know physics and understand it...It welcomes all readers." Flipping through the chapters, it looks like this text is a standard introductory physics text with additives of philosophy and vocabulary-building.		See for example Physics for the Inquiring Mind by Eric M. Rogers, 1960. "This book offers a course in physics to non-physicists who wish to know physics and understand it...It welcomes all readers." Flipping through the chapters, it looks like this text is a standard introductory physics text with additives of philosophy and vocabulary-building.

			The key reason for separate physics texts is the amount of mathematics preparation needed for the course. A "Conceptual Physics" text would contain a few simple formulas for "non-physics majors", while a "College Physics" book would require algebra and trigonometry background for medical careers, and, finally, a "University Physics" would be calculus-based for engineering and science preparation. A comparison of the table of contents of each of these texts would show them to be quite similar, but the mathematical descriptions of the topics would be very different.

	===Textbooks in use in physics classes===		===Textbooks in use in physics classes===

Shawn: /* Example texts */

2012-08-03T16:10:00Z

Example texts

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:10, 3 August 2012
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	;Six Ideas That Shaped Physics by Thomas A. Moore. http://physics.pomona.edu/sixideas/ Moore has rethought the scope and sequence of introductory physics for college.		;Six Ideas That Shaped Physics by Thomas A. Moore. http://physics.pomona.edu/sixideas/ Moore has rethought the scope and sequence of introductory physics for college.
			;College Physics by Franklin Miller, "Franklin Miller, 94, pursues science and social justice" by Charlotte Nugent in the Kenyon Collegian. http://www.kenyoncollegian.com/2.14786/franklin-miller-94-pursues-science-and-social-justice-1.1928586#.UBv1t44kOP4
			:From a 2006 article about Franklin Miller:
			<blockquote>In the 1960s, Miller turned his attention to pedagogy, writing a popular introductory physics textbook and creating a series of short films for physics teachers to use as teaching aids. "It's out of print now, but it went through six editions," Miller said of the textbook, College Physics, which he said at one time was used in 22 percent of introductory college physics courses nationwide. "When it came time for the seventh edition … I didn't like all the gadgets and the gimmicks; physics textbooks became more flamboyant than I wanted, so my book dropped off in sales."
			Miller's short films, each demonstrating a principle of physics, were revolutionary in a profession where setting up cumbersome demonstrations took much of an instructor's time.
			In 1970, Miller won the Robert A. Millikan Award, given to "teachers who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics," for his essay entitled "A Long Look at the Short Film."</blockquote>

	===Textbooks and social class===		===Textbooks and social class===
	;Standard, statewide-standardized, Advanced Placement, and honors courses and the students tracked into these courses..		;Standard, statewide-standardized, Advanced Placement, and honors courses and the students tracked into these courses..

Shawn: /* Contents of textbooks */

2011-11-08T02:26:46Z

Contents of textbooks

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:26, 7 November 2011
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	Can textbooks help us [[integrate philosophy]] and history?		Can textbooks help us [[integrate philosophy]] and history?

			What does the order of chapters tell us about the sequence? See [[physics textbook chapter sequence]].

	===Other people who have studied textbooks===		===Other people who have studied textbooks===

Xeentav: /* Other people who have studied textbooks */ Bruce Lewenstein

2011-08-31T01:46:12Z

Other people who have studied textbooks: Bruce Lewenstein

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:46, 30 August 2011
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	:Textbooks on quantum mechanics -- physicists' description of matter and forces at the atomic scale -- solidified into an identifiable pattern soon after World War II. Unprecedented enrollment pressures in the United States, which saw physics student numbers grow faster than any other field, helped to craft a particular and oft-repeated style in textbooks on quantum theory. Practical calculation trumped more open-ended philosophical engagement or speculation, even for a field like quantum theory that had famously inspired deep philosophical debates. But the student numbers crashed, falling as quickly in the early 1970s as they had risen in the wake of Sputnik. The sudden change in classroom conditions facilitated a speculative or interpretive idiom again. The material that helped to fill that void was often inflected by the growing New Age and counterculture movements, then gathering steam on North American university campuses. I will examine one of these quasi-textbooks closely: Fritjof Capra's _The Tao of Physics_ (1975), which was originally conceived as a textbook, published as a popular book, and picked up by eager physicists across the continent for classroom use.		:Textbooks on quantum mechanics -- physicists' description of matter and forces at the atomic scale -- solidified into an identifiable pattern soon after World War II. Unprecedented enrollment pressures in the United States, which saw physics student numbers grow faster than any other field, helped to craft a particular and oft-repeated style in textbooks on quantum theory. Practical calculation trumped more open-ended philosophical engagement or speculation, even for a field like quantum theory that had famously inspired deep philosophical debates. But the student numbers crashed, falling as quickly in the early 1970s as they had risen in the wake of Sputnik. The sudden change in classroom conditions facilitated a speculative or interpretive idiom again. The material that helped to fill that void was often inflected by the growing New Age and counterculture movements, then gathering steam on North American university campuses. I will examine one of these quasi-textbooks closely: Fritjof Capra's _The Tao of Physics_ (1975), which was originally conceived as a textbook, published as a popular book, and picked up by eager physicists across the continent for classroom use.
	;Antonio García-Belmar, José Ramón Bertomeu-Sánchez, and Brenadette Bensaude-Vincent:The power of didactic writings:French chemistry textbooks of the nineteenth century, in Kaiser, ed. <bibref>Kaiser:2005</bibref> pp. 219-251. In their chapter, Belmar et al. illumine the social function of textbooks, not only didactic but also organizational and even confrontational.		;Antonio García-Belmar, José Ramón Bertomeu-Sánchez, and Brenadette Bensaude-Vincent:The power of didactic writings:French chemistry textbooks of the nineteenth century, in Kaiser, ed. <bibref>Kaiser:2005</bibref> pp. 219-251. In their chapter, Belmar et al. illumine the social function of textbooks, not only didactic but also organizational and even confrontational.

			;Bruce Lewenstein, Cornell U.
			Not textbooks, but Bruce studies the history of books for the public about science, among other science for the public studies. http://lewenstein.comm.cornell.edu/ and http://lewenstein.comm.cornell.edu/scicomm.html

	==References==		==References==

Shawn: /* Other people who have studied textbooks */

2011-02-03T05:31:45Z

Other people who have studied textbooks

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:31, 2 February 2011
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	This is his description of a presentation "Zen and the Art of Textbook Publishing" given at a History of Science Society conference (Montreal 2010).		This is his description of a presentation "Zen and the Art of Textbook Publishing" given at a History of Science Society conference (Montreal 2010).
	:Textbooks on quantum mechanics -- physicists' description of matter and forces at the atomic scale -- solidified into an identifiable pattern soon after World War II. Unprecedented enrollment pressures in the United States, which saw physics student numbers grow faster than any other field, helped to craft a particular and oft-repeated style in textbooks on quantum theory. Practical calculation trumped more open-ended philosophical engagement or speculation, even for a field like quantum theory that had famously inspired deep philosophical debates. But the student numbers crashed, falling as quickly in the early 1970s as they had risen in the wake of Sputnik. The sudden change in classroom conditions facilitated a speculative or interpretive idiom again. The material that helped to fill that void was often inflected by the growing New Age and counterculture movements, then gathering steam on North American university campuses. I will examine one of these quasi-textbooks closely: Fritjof Capra's _The Tao of Physics_ (1975), which was originally conceived as a textbook, published as a popular book, and picked up by eager physicists across the continent for classroom use.		:Textbooks on quantum mechanics -- physicists' description of matter and forces at the atomic scale -- solidified into an identifiable pattern soon after World War II. Unprecedented enrollment pressures in the United States, which saw physics student numbers grow faster than any other field, helped to craft a particular and oft-repeated style in textbooks on quantum theory. Practical calculation trumped more open-ended philosophical engagement or speculation, even for a field like quantum theory that had famously inspired deep philosophical debates. But the student numbers crashed, falling as quickly in the early 1970s as they had risen in the wake of Sputnik. The sudden change in classroom conditions facilitated a speculative or interpretive idiom again. The material that helped to fill that void was often inflected by the growing New Age and counterculture movements, then gathering steam on North American university campuses. I will examine one of these quasi-textbooks closely: Fritjof Capra's _The Tao of Physics_ (1975), which was originally conceived as a textbook, published as a popular book, and picked up by eager physicists across the continent for classroom use.
	;Antonio García-Belmar, José Ramón Bertomeu-Sánchez, and Brenadette Bensaude-Vincent:The power of didactic writings:French chemistry textbooks of the nineteenth century, in Kaiser, ed. <bibref>Kaiser:2005</bibref>. Belmar et al. illumine the social function of textbooks, not only didactic but also organizational and even confrontational.		;Antonio García-Belmar, José Ramón Bertomeu-Sánchez, and Brenadette Bensaude-Vincent:The power of didactic writings:French chemistry textbooks of the nineteenth century, in Kaiser, ed. <bibref>Kaiser:2005</bibref> pp. 219-251. In their chapter, Belmar et al. illumine the social function of textbooks, not only didactic but also organizational and even confrontational.

	==References==		==References==

Shawn: Belmar et al.

2011-02-03T05:30:17Z

Belmar et al.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:30, 2 February 2011
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	==Example texts==		===Example texts===
	;Elements of Physics by Alpheus W. Smith.<bibref f="default.bib">Smith:1943</bibref>		;Elements of Physics by Alpheus W. Smith.<bibref f="default.bib">Smith:1943</bibref>
	:at Carpenter Library		:at Carpenter Library
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	This is his description of a presentation "Zen and the Art of Textbook Publishing" given at a History of Science Society conference (Montreal 2010).		This is his description of a presentation "Zen and the Art of Textbook Publishing" given at a History of Science Society conference (Montreal 2010).
	:Textbooks on quantum mechanics -- physicists' description of matter and forces at the atomic scale -- solidified into an identifiable pattern soon after World War II. Unprecedented enrollment pressures in the United States, which saw physics student numbers grow faster than any other field, helped to craft a particular and oft-repeated style in textbooks on quantum theory. Practical calculation trumped more open-ended philosophical engagement or speculation, even for a field like quantum theory that had famously inspired deep philosophical debates. But the student numbers crashed, falling as quickly in the early 1970s as they had risen in the wake of Sputnik. The sudden change in classroom conditions facilitated a speculative or interpretive idiom again. The material that helped to fill that void was often inflected by the growing New Age and counterculture movements, then gathering steam on North American university campuses. I will examine one of these quasi-textbooks closely: Fritjof Capra's _The Tao of Physics_ (1975), which was originally conceived as a textbook, published as a popular book, and picked up by eager physicists across the continent for classroom use.		:Textbooks on quantum mechanics -- physicists' description of matter and forces at the atomic scale -- solidified into an identifiable pattern soon after World War II. Unprecedented enrollment pressures in the United States, which saw physics student numbers grow faster than any other field, helped to craft a particular and oft-repeated style in textbooks on quantum theory. Practical calculation trumped more open-ended philosophical engagement or speculation, even for a field like quantum theory that had famously inspired deep philosophical debates. But the student numbers crashed, falling as quickly in the early 1970s as they had risen in the wake of Sputnik. The sudden change in classroom conditions facilitated a speculative or interpretive idiom again. The material that helped to fill that void was often inflected by the growing New Age and counterculture movements, then gathering steam on North American university campuses. I will examine one of these quasi-textbooks closely: Fritjof Capra's _The Tao of Physics_ (1975), which was originally conceived as a textbook, published as a popular book, and picked up by eager physicists across the continent for classroom use.
			;Antonio García-Belmar, José Ramón Bertomeu-Sánchez, and Brenadette Bensaude-Vincent:The power of didactic writings:French chemistry textbooks of the nineteenth century, in Kaiser, ed. <bibref>Kaiser:2005</bibref>. Belmar et al. illumine the social function of textbooks, not only didactic but also organizational and even confrontational.

	==References==		==References==

Xeentav at 01:23, 30 November 2010

2010-11-30T01:23:13Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:23, 29 November 2010
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			==Example texts==
	;Elements of Physics by Alpheus W. Smith.<bibref f="default.bib">Smith:1943</bibref>		;Elements of Physics by Alpheus W. Smith.<bibref f="default.bib">Smith:1943</bibref>
	:at Carpenter Library		:at Carpenter Library
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	;Six Ideas That Shaped Physics by Thomas A. Moore. http://physics.pomona.edu/sixideas/ Moore has rethought the scope and sequence of introductory physics for college.		;Six Ideas That Shaped Physics by Thomas A. Moore. http://physics.pomona.edu/sixideas/ Moore has rethought the scope and sequence of introductory physics for college.
			===Textbooks and social class===
			;Standard, statewide-standardized, Advanced Placement, and honors courses and the students tracked into these courses..

			===General questions===
			====Why is there a separate text for non-physics majors. Corollary: Why are the topics in texts for non-majors not addressed in texts for majors?====
			See for example Physics for the Inquiring Mind by Eric M. Rogers, 1960. "This book offers a course in physics to non-physicists who wish to know physics and understand it...It welcomes all readers." Flipping through the chapters, it looks like this text is a standard introductory physics text with additives of philosophy and vocabulary-building.


	===Textbooks in use in physics classes===		===Textbooks in use in physics classes===

Shawn: /* Contents of textbooks */

2010-11-27T02:05:20Z

Contents of textbooks

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:05, 26 November 2010
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	Phillip Lenard's Deutsche physik in vier bänden may provide an example of meaningful omissions, in that it leaves out Einstein and Einstein's special relativity for nationalistic reasons. How did this mutated text affect its students? How are lines of culture drawn in physics textbooks? Do some texts blur those lines more than others, and does that leave them more or less culturally relevant, more or less palatable?		Phillip Lenard's Deutsche physik in vier bänden may provide an example of meaningful omissions, in that it leaves out Einstein and Einstein's special relativity for nationalistic reasons. How did this mutated text affect its students? How are lines of culture drawn in physics textbooks? Do some texts blur those lines more than others, and does that leave them more or less culturally relevant, more or less palatable?

			Can textbooks help us [[integrate philosophy]] and history?

	===Other people who have studied textbooks===		===Other people who have studied textbooks===