Re: [Phys-l] David Halliday and Fundamentals of Physics

[Richard Hake <rrhake@earthlink.net>]

Ali RezaAli Reza Mansouri (2101) in his HOPOS-L post "David Halliday 
and Fundamentals of Physics" wrote [my insert at ". . . . 
.[[insert]]. . . . ":

"I was informed that David Halliday entered into rest on April 2, 
2010. . . .[[see e.g., the obituary at 
<http://tinyurl.com/263eydy>]]. . . . . If not all, at least most of 
the Philosophers of science, have studied 'Fundamentals of Physics' 
in undergraduate courses of physics. Is there anyone who can tell 
more about him or his textbook which has been in continuous use since 
1960 and are available in twenty languages?"

For information on David Halliday see, e.g. the University of 
Pittsburgh profile at 
<http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/people/fprofile.php?id=156> and the 
Wikipedia entry at 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Halliday_(physics)>.

For an excellent review of the origin, impact, and evaluation of 
"Fundamentals of Physics" as of 1997 see Robert Resnick's (1997) 
<http://www.aip.org/history/historymatters/resnick.htm> insightful 
"Retrospective and Prospective."

According to <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Halliday_(physics)>: 
"In 2002 the American Physical Society named ['Fundamentals of 
Physics'] the most outstanding introductory physics text of the 20th 
century.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>
<http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com>
<http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>

REFERENCES [Tiny URL's courtesy <http://tinyurl.com/create.php>.]
Mansouri, A.R.R. 2010."David Halliday and Fundamentals of Physics," 
post of 16 May 2010 01:03:52+0430; online at 
<http://tinyurl.com/25fx4th>.

Resnick, R. 1997. "Retrospective and Prospective," in "Conference on 
the Introductory Physics Course," Jack Wilson, ed. Wiley. pp. 3-11. 
Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/33q3kc5>.