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Re: history question



Note that original physics research is still published in
Philosophical Magazine A and B.
-------------------------------------
Regarding using history to teach physics.
I am fond of the following article by Craig Bohren.
Knowing some original history can be the key to understanding how some
misconceptions have arisen.

"The Life and Times of Roy G. Biv," C. F. Bohren, Optics and Photonics News,
August 1993, pp. 50-51. Here is a quote from this article: "Newton, like all
geniuses, is quoted (inaccurately) vastly more often than read. It seems
that Roy G. Biv was born illegitimately on the pages on Newton's Optiks
(1704), where in Prop. II Theor. II we find that 'Rays ... appear tinged
with this Series of Colors, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and
red, *together with all their immediate Degrees of a continual Succession
perpetually varying. So that there appeared as many Degrees of Colours, as
there were Rays differing in Refrangibility*'[emphasis added]. Failure to
read or heed the emphasized words has led to the notion that Newton believed
the number of colors to be seven. But what he really did was to rattle off a
string of color names and stopped at seven."

I think that some history is necessary - for example, Feynman's discussion
of the history of the law of gravitation on pages 3-14 of The Character of
Physical Law. Students do not need a course in the history of science but
they should be exposed to the great ideas, insights and revolutions that
have occurred.

Also, the National Science Education Standards includes History and the
Nature of Science as a major content standard. Reading pages 200-204
provides their justification for including the history of science.

Larry Woolf; General Atomics; 3550 General Atomics Court, San Diego, CA
92121; Phone:858-455-4475; FAX:858-455-4268; http://www.sci-ed-ga.org