[Phys-L] Re: In the Private Universe

[Brian Whatcott <betwys1@SBCGLOBAL.NET>]

At 07:12 AM 2/23/2005, George Spagna, you wrote:
> David Marx writes
>
> > To me, the source of this mistake is the textbooks.  The Earth is
> always
> > shown from a side view with a very elongated ellipse and the point is
> made
> > that the sun is at one of the foci.  What other conclusion do we expect
> > students (and often their teachers) to draw from this other than the
> mistaken
> > explanation for the seasons?
>
> I suspect that the problem is not the textbooks, themselves.  Rather,
> the students don't read them, or if they do the reading they don't
> understand what they are reading.  Every intro astronomy text that I've
> ever used clearly states that seasons are a result of the inclination of
> Earth's equator to the plane of the ecliptic ... and the diagrams and
> captions show the difference between northern and southern hemisphere
> summer, winter, spring, and fall.
>
> Also, as another colleague points out, I also have written proof that
> they don't listen, either!
> //
> Dr. George Spagna

I develop a rather unhealthy reaction to this news: I start
to suppose that Physics instructors have been hoist by their own
  petard.

This is the musing that leads me in that direction.
Let us suppose that it is not unknown for Physics instructors to
convey the impression that they have a more insightful take on
the preconceptions of students.

And it may well be that students suppose that the Solar System is
  a heliocentric array of planets in circular orbits until they hear
this:  No, the planetary orbits are not circular: they are elliptical,
with the Sun at one focus: and there will likely be some diagram
with a highly eccentric orbit depicted.

Ah, if only students thought the Earth orbit were all but circular!




Brian Whatcott    Altus OK    Eureka!