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Re: percent success




On Wed, 13 Nov 1996, Trappe wrote:

We've discussed the 5% that become physics majors and the 95% that don't, but
I think we also need to consider the 90+% of the total population that never
take a physics class at all. Clearly, we can't claim to serve them very well.
There must be some reason they avoid us. Word must be out on the street that
physics classes are bad news. Who put the word out and why? Do we care?
Can or should we do anything about it.
Some of us try to address part of the other 99.5% of the population with
various projects (outreach, workshops, museums, "dog and pony" shows, et
al).

Let me play the Devil's advocate here (again!). Isn't it somewhat arrogant
of us to assume that *everyone* needs to know *something* about *our*
academic field? Sure, those who become physicists do, and those who become
doctors are expected to have some physics (but the amount they actually
learn and actually use could fit in a thimble with space left over for an
administrator's brain. Geologists and astrophysicists need to know a bit
of physics, depending on their specialization.

Let's put this in perspective. Let's consider another field which is in
similar straits. Philosophy. Probably less than 2% of college students
become philosophers (I'm guessing, obviously). It is a course most
students fear, if it is required. Why, it isn't even *offered* in high
school. I'm sure professional philosophers consider it important. Most
people will even admit that it has *some* importance in everyone's lives.
They even admit that it's good that in our society a small number of
people choose to specialize in it, just as they admit we need some pure
(not applied) mathematicians. But are philosophers pushing to get more
people to take philosophy? Are they forming study groups and commissions
to figure out how to increase philosophy literacy in the general
population? Are there any philosophy workshops, philosophy museums, or
philosophy outreach programs? Is any media pointing to the 'philosophy
gap' between us and other countries? Are there any tests of philosophy
competence administered to school students in various countries. Are there
watered down and dummied down textbooks in philosophy suitable for high
school students? No.

Fact it. Physics as practiced by physicists simply requires too much time,
prerequisite mathematics and dedication for non-physicists to master. Its
pleasures are cerebral, not visceral, so it's unlikely to appeal to most
people in our egocentric culture, where folks want immediate 'feel-good'
rewards without much brain-strain. We can extract out the simpler parts of
physics, remove the math and make it qualitative--and we can add some
entertainment, field trips to amusement parks and egg-drop contests. But
by then it isn't physics any more, but something like 'physics
appreciation' (comparable to music and art appreciation courses), or
applied technology.

Send the flames. It's cold in my office this morning.

-- Donald

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Dr. Donald E. Simanek Office: 717-893-2079
Prof. of Physics Internet: dsimanek@eagle.lhup.edu
Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA. 17745 CIS: 73147,2166
Home page: http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek FAX: 717-893-2047
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