Bryan Chapman

Special relativity and the Michelson-Morley experiment

The author discusses the Michelson-Morley experiment in order to examine the assumption that the history of physics, in so far as it is an integral part of physics, has an important role to play in physics education.

Throw in the towel

Concern for the future of physics and physics education is widespread in the UK. Changes in the school curriculum, demography, wider access, teacher supply, the restructuring of higher education, changing patterns of graduate employment are all seen as threatening the future of physics and therefore, by implication, the intellectual and industrial health of this nation: assuming, of course, that it is legitimate to continue to think in these nationalistic terms post-1992.

Reflections on Physics 16 - 19

What follows are essentially personal reflections on the implications of the changes that the Dearing review proposes for 16 - 19 education. They are put forward to stimulate further discussion on the structure and content of the 16 - 19 Physics curriculum for the next century - 2001AD After Dearing. Nothing that I have written should be construed as being an IoP view of what that structure and content should be.

Five into one doesn't go

The introduction of the new Advanced Subsidiary (AS) courses in England and Wales in September 2000 (May p8) will have a far greater impact on education for 16–19-year olds than simply broadening the post-16 curriculum. Physicists in the UK should be particularly concerned about how it might affect the uptake of physics post-17.

A-level uptake secrets sought

Jon Siviters upbeat piece on the success Oundle School has had in increasing its A-level physics numbers (Letters, November 1993 p17) is very heartening. Unfortunately, since overall numbers are declining, there must also be downbeat signals coming from other schools and colleges.

The future of physics: rhetoric or reality?

It is unfortunate, to say the least, that the Campaign for Physics launched by the Institute of Physics has coincided with the mother of all recessions. It is doubly unfortunate that, at a time when the Institute is telling the UK governments Office of Science and Technology (OST) how important physics-based industries (PBIs) are to the economy, the employment prospects for physicists in these industries have seldom been worse.

Thinking aloud. Flying kites II

The National Curriculum in Science attempts to be both modern and accessible to all. But are either of these two aims realistic as far as physics is concerned? This is the second of two articles raising questions about current orthodoxy.

Causes for concern

I am delighted that Institute muscle has led to a publisher agreeing to the correction of a textbook error (April, Editorial p3). Unfortunately, as the editorial hints, this is only one of many now creeping into textbooks. What is the Institute going to do about these? Individual complaints to publishers do not, in my experience, carry much weight and the problem does not stop at textbooks. GCSE syllabuses are not immune from errors and the problem of the competence of examiners operating outside their own specialism has been increasingly raised by schoolteacher members of the Institute.