Re: Environmental physics course

[twayburn@juno.com (Thomas L Wayburn)]

On Tue, 9 Dec 1997 15:27:15 -0500 forinas@indiana.edu (kyle forinash)
writes:
> Does anyone have recomendations, suggestions for course material, 
> texts,
> etc. for an environmental physics course? I've not taught this before 
> but
> may have to next year for a new certificate program here in 
> environmental
> tecnology (aimed mainly at biology majors I think).
>
> Thanks
>
> kyle
>
> -----------------------------------------------------
>  kyle forinash   812-941-2390
>  forinas@indiana.edu
>  Natural Science Division
>  Indiana University Southeast
>  New Albany, IN    47150
>  http://Physics.ius.indiana.edu/
> -----------------------------------------------------
The 30-page single-space ten-point  "Appendix I.  Fundamentals of
Thermodynamics" (to my book *The Preservation of Species*) written in
collaboration with Dave Bowman has environmental examples.   I would say
I wrote the words and Dave wrote the music except that I wrote much of
the music too.  (He figured out the harmonies for the "Grosse Fugue in
Seven Parts".   (See question in postscript.))  "Chapter II.  Emergy and
Economics" (emergy is spelled with an m)  employs ideas from physics to
replace the economic  theories that professional economists subscribe to
(and which are wrong) with an economic system  based upon scientific
principles as you shall see if you wish.   Unless you are more strapped
for cash than are we, I think you should pay the expenses of copying and
mailing upon presentation of receipts.  Dave and I shall bear the costs
of original thinking, learning the arts and crafts of the giants upon
whose shoulders we stand, deciding what is important and brooks no delay,
making the appropriate computations, and writing the book, which has been
my principal activity for eight years.  "Chapter 7.  Geophagy" pertains
to the environment; but, since it blames the destruction of the
environment on the struggle for wealth and power, which is the author of
consumerism and the official religion of the United States, we all might
get in trouble if you employ it.  Also, it has a straight-forward,
unsentimental, but not vindictive, look at immigration, all of which is
not cut from the same cloth.   Nevertheless, I am sure it will ruffle the
feathers of liberals and conservatives alike, none of which are
physicists, fortunately, almost be definition - except that we are
liberal in the best and oldest sense of the word.   (See *Random House
Dictionary of the English Language, College Edition*.) 

  Let me know what you want me to do; but, if you don't use what I wrote,
please inform me as to whose writing you intend to use.   There are a lot
of heavily biassed writers who seem to get over with publishers probably
because they share the same biases.

Regards / Tom

                                   Postscript

[Question:  What font, italics or not, quotes or not, and capitalization
is used by best stylists for songs that don't exist except as metaphors
in (i) belles-lettres, (ii) business correspondence, (iii) Dear John
letters, (iv) death threats, (v) suicide notes (depending upon reason for
suicide or what the writer hopes to achieve), (vi) refrigerator notes (a)
with magnets, (b) without magnets, (vii) letters of marque, and, at the
very bottom of the list, (viii) e-mail?  That's only eight questions.   I
could have made it funnier if I was allowed to speak with a British
accent.]