Understanding Physics: Student Guide (Undergraduate Texts in Contemporary Physics) - Softcover

Cassidy, David; Holton, Gerald; Rutherford, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 038798755X ISBN 13: 9780387987552

Publisher: Springer, 2002

Synopsis

This book, a companion to the textbook, Understanding Physics, is your guide to observations and explorations in the world of physics. Prepare for ch- lenging work, fun, and some surprises. One of the best ways to learn physics is by doing physics, in the laboratory and everywhere. One cannot rely on reading and class work alone. The explorations in this book are your - portunity to gain some actual, hands-on experience with physics. Many of these explorations will assist you to design your own experiments and to discover many of the important ideas of science yourself. As you will see from the Contents, this Student Guide provides a variety of potentially helpful materials. Following the Introduction is a review of units, mathematics, and scientific notation, and a list of suggested further reading and Web Sites. However, a large portion of the Student Guide c- tains further materials relating to many of the textbook chapters, as well as to laboratory explorations. In the section containing “Further Chapter - terials” you will find elaborations on topics in many of the chapters, as well as derivations of important equations. A complete list of the suggested mi- and major-laboratory explorations is also given in the Contents. Each - ploration is keyed to specific portions of the textbook, and lists are also provided of the explorations pertaining to each part of the text.

About this title

Review

From the reviews:

"If a book is required which develops the basic concepts of physics in a detailed but completely readable and always interesting way from first principles, then this could certainly be a candidate. It uses the rather outdated historical approach to each chapter’s material, but far from obscuring the important physical results, the approach as used here has been so carefully constructed that one is led to an understanding of the concepts without really noticing that one has arrived!" (Prof. F. W. Bullock, Contemporary Physics, Vol. 44 (6), 2003)

"Understanding Physics is inspired by the famous Project Physics Course ... . The inquiry-based laboratory investigations include in-depth explorations, student-designed inquiries, and text-related mini-laboratory explorations that may be used as hands-on activities or as demonstrations with student participation." (Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, Vol. 84 (1-3), 2003)

Synopsis

"Understanding Physics" is an innovative undergraduate course designed for students preparing to enter careers in fields outside of science or engineering, including students planning to teach, or already teaching, in K-12 classrooms. It is inspired by the famous Project Physics Course, which became known for placing the concepts of physics within the broader humanistic contexts in which they arose. The course materials comprise: the textbook, which is divided into two parts that may be studied in either order; this Student Guide, containing inquiry-based laboratory investigations and additional materials; and, an Instructor Guide with examination questions, resources, and other helpful information.These components work together to provide an integrated educational experience in physics. The text contains questions designed to help students confirm what they have learned and to encourage them to explore further, by reading, by experimenting, and in group discussions.

The inquiry-based laboratory investigations include in-depth explorations, student-designed inquiries, and text-related mini- laboratory explorations that may be used as hands-on activities or as demonstrations with student participation. The suggested equipment is deliberately "low tech" in order to afford students maximum experience with the phenomena. The apparatus is inexpensive and common to most instructional laboratories. Some ways to incorporate computer usage are suggested as students gain familiarity with the laboratory apparatus and methods.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 038798755X
• ISBN 13: 9780387987552
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 177