Re: Historical material

[Larry Cartwright <exit60@CABLESPEED.COM>]

"Polvani, Donald G." wrote:
> As a physicist turned instructor of the history of science, this has been my
> experience too.  How about "like adding color to a black and white film".
> It adds interest and stimulation.

I found it interesting to hear that simile used here.  As we were making
our most recent textbook selection, my chairperson and I had a lot of
discussions about easy-to-read vs. rigor, how much 20th century physics
to include in a HS course, conceptual vs. mathematical, etc.  Our
physics course has to serve kids with a fairly broad range of abilities
and interests, so it was very important for us to be clear about what we
believed and what we wanted for those kids.

Your simile is close to the way I described to him my feelings about an
essentially conceptual approach (like watching a great movie on a
14-inch black and white TV) vs. teaching students how to approach and
analyze physics mathematically (like watching the same great movie in
color in a nice theatre with stereo).

So, no, I don't think learning about the history of physics adds
anything as dramatic as colorization to the conceptual fabric upon which
physics is built.  But I think learning to use the mathematics does that
for a physics class.

BTW, I also believe that an introductory physics course which is *all*
mathematics is like many of todays's offerings from Hollywood:  all
color and noise, lousy screenplay and direction :-)

Best wishes,

Larry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larry Cartwright   <exit60@cablespeed.com>
Retired (June 2001) Physics Teacher
Charlotte MI 48813 USA
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