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Re: [Phys-l] "Modern" Physics course title



Hi all-
Or we could take a tip from mathematics, where the former advanced algebra and trig are now lumped together in pre-calculus. We could relabel the former modern physics as pre-quantum mechanics (with some imprecision).
Regards,
Jack




On Sat, 1 Sep 2007, John Denker wrote:

Here's a hypothesis we can consider:

In many schools there is a course called "GOB" chemistry.
It is understood that GOB stands for General, Organic, and
Biological.

Maybe physics should follow the example, and come up with
a string of letters that represents the topic of the course.
After thinking about it for a few minutes, the following
comes to mind: SARQ

S -- Statistical mechanics: P log (1/P); Brownian motion.
A -- Atomic and sub-atomic structure: Physical basis of
chemistry; radioactivity and transmutation.
R -- Relativity: Spacetime; GR and quantitative cosmology.
Q -- Quantum mechanics.


I suspect that with a little cleverness someone could come up
with a better abbreviation or acronym. I toyed with PQRST
but haven't yet been able to make it work right.

Anyway, it's an avenue we can explore.

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