Re: Magnetic N and S poles

[Brian McInnes <bmcinnes@PNC.COM.AU>]

on 16/12/01 4:21 AM, Ludwik Kowalski at kowalskiL@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU wrote:

> My question was about an introductory physics textbook,
> not about a text for seniors or other advanced readers.
>
> > When did the transition occur? Which introductory textbook
> > was the first to use the Lorentz force law: F = q (v cross B)
>
> I suspect that no introductory textbook published before 1945
> defined B in terms of  Lorentz formula. But I may be wrong.
> Ludwik Kowalski
Two comments, Ludwik.

(1) If Harnwell's (senior) text book in 1938 used the Lorentz law to define
B, it could well have been the impetus  for the next generation of
introductory books to go down that path, just as treatments of "modern"
physics in introductory books would have fed off Richtmeyer's excellent
text "Introduction to Modern Physics" (1928, 1934, ...) .

(2) What were the introductory texts of the 30s and 40s that preceded Sears,
and Hallidy/Resnick and all the clones and derivitives since then?  Are any
of these remembered? Are any available for perusal in libraries or library
repositories?

Brian McInnes