Mervin,
I do not think it is wrong to say that Gravity, EM, weak, and
strong are forces. However, it is very hard to try to introduce the
concepts of fields, potentials, and forces correctly due to the rigorous
mathematics involved. But the interactions are real either by contact or
interaction (via Gauge Boson). Is it dummied down? Yes, but isn't it
always a bit to first time students (whether in HS or college - no
difference)? Look at the other fields like mathematics, history, etc.
The history stories are prettied up and the students believe it whole
heartedly. I had a freshman argue with me for 30 minutes in a recitation
that division by zero was impossible. It is undefined and has no answer
not even infinity. The same student, later in the semester during a
thermodynamics session, tried to tell me the electrons stopped moving
around the nucleus at absolute zero. This is wrong but he believed it so
much because his teacher last year had told him that and so had his
textbook (not the one we were using but his HS one). Some of the "blame"
lies in the teacher but also in the textbooks. Is there really fault in
trying to educate a bit by any means necessary? I don't think so,
because it sparked something in this student to pursue physics in
college. How do you educate without making it seem impossible? How
do you create interest without overwhelming the students? I don't know
and I don't think it is possible. That's my $0.02. Don't give me wrong, I
don't like lieing to students but to help them understand sometimes we
have to explain things differently. Let me know it is a special case or
not correct for all cases.
We have a researcher here at Tennessee that looks at G? He and
others are going to send up a satellite to measure G, corrections to G
besides the usual, and possibly G dot !!!! I knew that G was the worst
measured constant but I didn't know so little was understood about it.
Man, a G dot would be like finding a magnetic monopole. Very interesting
stuff.