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On Jan 5, 2015, at 5:26 PM, Todd Pedlar <pedlto01@luther.edu> wrote:
Dick,
I mean no offense to you or anyone else who has taught conceptual high
school physics, which I have never taught. We are (I thought) talking
about the value of the text itself, and not whether the text itself can be
used by a good teacher to good effect. I am sure it can be.
The text, I still maintain, is poor - for one reason: it is a poor choice
to teach physics using oversimplifications - simplifications that fail
Einstein's famous dictum that you should make things as simple as possible
but not simpler.
I have reviewed the text informally, as I teach conceptual physics at the
college level, and happened to have Hewitt's texts at my disposal, and
found many examples of issues that I found problematically simplified. I
don't have a list that is easy to incorporate into an email, but I would
refer you to John Denker's excellent, and far more thorough review (which
he posted a link to earlier in this thread:
http://www.av8n.com/physics/hewitt.htm). The errors are many, and of many
different kinds.
I obviously have touched a nerve, since you have felt the need to display
your ample credentials. I have no doubt that you are a very good and
experienced teacher, and that you can say alot about a text being used in
the classroom by such a teacher as you are. However, this thread is not
about such a situation, but about a text being given to a person to work
through herself...and as such, given the problems with Hewitt's text, I
could never recommend that it be used.
I wouldn't recommend it for a high school class, either, because not all
are like you - in fact no teachers I know of (and I know dozens of high
school teachers scattered around the Midwest) is quite like you. Most are
not trained in physics at all beyond one year of general, algebra based
physics, and to hand a teacher a text like Hewitt's is a big mistake
(because in such a case you have an inexperienced teacher with possibly
marginal understanding of physics a textbook which will only serve to
compound those issues).
I've said enough. Take it for what it's worth. (and clearly you don't
think that is very much, which is fine with me).
Todd
On Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 4:12 PM, Richard Heckathorn <geepaw@wowway.com>
wrote:
Greetings,
This is directed to Todd P