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Re: [Phys-L] critical thinking exercise : DC circuits



On 12/8/2013 3:43 AM, John Denker wrote:
I recommend the following exercise.

Let's pick on the Knight book for a change.
_Physics with Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers_
_A Strategic Approach_
(third edition)

Flip to chapter 31, "Fundamentals of Circuits".

Let's skip page 891 (the chapter title page) for now.

On page 892, find something that seems either dubious or outright
wrong. /snip/
Then move on to page 893. Again, on that page at least one
thing strikes me as in need of improvement.
Ditto for page 894, although one is so obvious and so easily
fixed that it seems more like a typo than a misconception, and
others are repetitions of previous bugs.
Then move on to page 895. At least one wrong physics concept.
Ditto for page 896.
And 897.
/snip/
I am reminded of the scene from Oliver Twist, where the kid says
"Please, sir, I want some more."

/snip/
"Each of the associates is a hook to which it hangs, a
means to fish it up when sunk below the surface. Together
they form a network of attachments by which it is woven
into the entire tissue of our thought. The 'secret of a
good memory' is thus the secret of forming diverse and
multiple associations with every fact we care to retain.
But this forming of associations with a fact,—what is it
but thinking about the fact as much as possible? Briefly,
then, of two men with the same outward experiences, the
one who thinks over his experiences most, and weaves them
into the most systematic relations with each other, will
be the one with the best memory."
William James
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16287/16287-h/16287-h.htm

Hmmm....let's start by picking on John Denker in one of his not unusual tears.

1) He is unable to quote even the name of this outrageously priced and outdated text accurately, which casts doubt on his evaluation.
2) He is able to quote pertinent pieces from the non-physics literature - something from
Dickens, something from James, but paradoxically, not from the suspect text.

Having conducted a cursory search for an on-line access to Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics Knight (third edition) - and failed,
I notice that the same title serves for Giancoli (4th ed), Serway & Jewett (8th ed.) and presumably for someone's 5th through 7th editions. How peculiar! It seems that freebee downloads of later editions are accessible.

Here's my conclusion: if you want to pick the bones out of physics texts, start with the LATEST edition!

Sincerely

Brian Whatcott Altus OK