Cliff's Nodes
Editorials from the Physics Teacher
Published on 1. December 2005
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-0-8018-8306-4 (ISBN)
Description
Cliff Swartz is a passionate advocate for better physics teaching, based on a curriculum that is quantitative and includes experiments "with a purpose." Here, in a collection of editorials written for "The Physics Teacher" magazine - along with a few new ones - he cajoles, chides, preaches, and provides a good swift kick in the intellectual pants for those who are working to share physics with the next generation. Gleaned from a lifetime in the lab and in the classroom, Swartz's book is chock-full of wisdom for neophytes as well as seasoned veterans. Favorite editorials such as "Practically Perfect in Every Way" and "Justifying Atoms" provide the reader with an insider's view of the state of physics teaching over the three decades that Swartz edited "The Physics Teacher". His advice and opinions - often thought-provoking or controversial - should not go unheeded.
Reviews / Votes
"Of interest to teachers and physics buffs everywhere, Clifford Swartz's often humorous collection of editorials gives a human face to the craft of teaching physics." - Don S. Lemons, author of An Introduction to Stochastic Processes in Physics"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
7 line drawings, 1 halftone
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-8018-8306-4 (9780801883064)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Clifford Swartz is a professor emeritus of physics at State University of New York, Stony Brook. He is the former editor of The Physics Teacher and has written numerous physics texts for students from kindergarten to graduate level. He was the recipient in 1987 of the Oersted Medal, the most prestigious award of the American Association of Physics Teachers. He is the author of Back-of-the-Envelope Physics (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003).