Books and Publications

• Here is an article on the teaching of mathematics that might be helpful - "Reform Now, Before It's Too Late." It is found in American Mathematical Monthly, Volume 108, 2001, pages 126 to 143.
• Outstanding Student Certificates for high school physics students are available from the AAPT Membership Department. These can be given to outstanding physics students or a student by the teacher. For information, email to aapt-memb@aapt.org.
• Errant Texts - Why Some Schools May Not Want to Go by the Book is an article in Science News (p. 168 in the March 17, 2001 issue). This article discusses the difficulty in finding good middle school science texts by two groups who studied these texts. One group was at North Carolina State and the other was at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. There were discovered in the reviews misleading errors, insufficient information to solve problems, lack of coordination between figures and the text, and other problems.
• A recently published book on animals is Why Elephants Have Big Ears: Understanding Patterns of Life on Earth. It discusses the life styles, habitats, size, distribution and other aspects of many different animals and birds. This is published by St. Martin at $24.95 in 2001.
• Cosmic Evolution: The Rise of Complexity in Nature is a book about change in the universe. The book discusses the change with time of stars, planets, chemical and biological systems, and even cultures. These and other systems change to be more complex as time progresses. This is published by Harvard University Press at $27.95 in 2001.
• A Thin Cosmic Rain: Particles from Outer Space describes the particles that come to Earth from our sun and also from supernovas. In this rain are a large percentage of protons along with helium, heavier nuclei and atoms. The effects on the Earth and the people who live here are explored. Harvard University Press published this in 2000 at $29.95.
• In the New York Times for December 12, 2000, is an article on the developments in physics for the preceding century. The title is "Celebrating a Century of Confusion and Triumph." It discusses the development of quantum theory and its results. Also included are the contributions of Bohr, de Broglie, Einstein, Bose, Pauli, Schrödinger, Fermi, Dirac, Heisenberg and others. Practical developments coming from physics are presented such as semiconductors, positron emission tomography, etc.

Videos, Software, Kits, Equipment, etc.

• AAPT's Physics Products Catalog is published each year and contains many helpful items to aid in teaching physics at the high school and college levels. Some of these are: Handbook for Classroom Assessment Techniques for college teachers, Active Physics - a curriculum for high school physics, Apparatus for Teaching Physics, etc. There are also available helpful wall charts. E-mail address: aapt-memb@aapt.org.
• PASCO sells equipment for physics lab experiments and demonstrations. One new experiment is a quantitative experiment on the Coulomb law for the electrostatic force between two charged objects. The effect of distance between two charges on the force can be measured, for example, as the charges are separated. Check on "http://www.pasco.com" or 800-722-8700. You may wish to obtain one of their very interesting and extensive catalogs.
• Klinger Educational Products Corporation has a catalog of physics experiments that it has available at 800-522-6252. The catalog has extensive photos and descriptions of the lab equipment. The theory and equations for these experiments are included. There is equipment to do experiments in: mechanics, heat electricity, electronics, optics, atomic and nuclear physics, and solid state physics. The address is 112-19 on 14th Road, College Point, NY 11356-1453.