Motion Mountain - The Adventure of Physics : The Free Physics Textbook

[jason]

Originally published at Lemmingworks. You can comment here or there.

Jeremy knows that I teach “Concept Development in Science” at Ryerson, and I’m always looking for ways to help students understand and get enthusiastic about science. He suggested this as something to look at:

Motion Mountain - The Adventure of Physics : The Free Physics Textbook

How do objects and images move? How can animals move? What is motion?

1. How does a rainbow form?
2. Is levitation possible?
3. Do time machines exist?
4. What does ‘quantum’ mean?
5. What is the maximum force value found in nature?
6. Is ‘empty space’ really empty?
7. Is the universe a set?
8. Which problems in physics are still unsolved?

This site provides a free physics textbook that tells the story of how it became possible, after 2500 years of exploration, to answer such questions. The book is written for the curious: it is entertaining, surprising and challenging on every page. With little mathematics, starting from observations of everyday life, the text explores the most fascinating parts of mechanics, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, electrodynamics, quantum theory and modern attempts at unification. The essence of these fields is summarized in the most simple terms. For example, the text presents modern physics as consequence of the notions of minimum entropy, maximum speed, maximum force, minimum change of charge and minimum action.

Comments

[dracschick.livejournal.com]

sounds like a good idea. Students get excited about science when they can connect it to some phenonema they see in life.

[complicittheory.livejournal.com]

ya, I think that this is great. I want to use it in my course next fall.