Physics:Six Ideas that Shaped Physics
Six Ideas that Shaped Physics is a textbook in calculus based physics, notable for covering special relativity, quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics – topics usually reserved for upper division classes. It was written by professor Thomas Moore of Pomona College based on his introductory course in college physics. The text reverses the chronological order in which the laws of physics were discovered, by opening with the conservation laws implied by Noether's theorem, only then presenting Newtonian mechanics and the laws of motion as a consequence of underlying physical symmetry.
First published in 1998, it has been widely adopted and is now in the Fourth edition.
The impetus for the project came from the 1987-1996 Introductory University Physics Project (IUPP), which found that most college texts neglected to teach topics in 20th century physics.
The Six Ideas as Course Units
- Unit C: Conservation Laws Constrain Interactions (14 chapters)
- Unit N: The Laws of Physics are Universal (12 chapters)
- Unit R: The Laws of Physics are Frame-Independent (9 chapters)
- Unit E: Electric and Magnetic Fields are Unified (20 chapters)
- Unit Q: Particles Behave Like Waves (15 chapters)
- Unit T: Some Processes are Irreversible (11 chapters)
Unit C: Conservation Laws Constrain Interactions
Unit N: The Laws of Physics are Universal[1]
N1 Newton's Law
N2 Forces from Motion
N3 Motion from Forces
N4 Statics
N5 Linearly Constrained Motion
N6 Coupled Objects
N7 Circularly Constrained Motion
N8 Noninertial Frames
N9 Projectile Motion
N10 Oscillatory Motion
N11 Kepler's Laws
N12 Orbits and Conservation Laws
References
- Moore, T. (2002). Six Ideas that Shaped Physics. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-043049-7.
- Moore, Thomas (2016). Six Ideas That Shaped Physics, (Third ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 978-0-07-351394-2.
- "An Overview of "Six Ideas"". Physics Department, Pomona College. http://www.physics.pomona.edu/sixideas/overview.html.
- "The Six Ideas Philosophy". Physics Department, Pomona College. http://www.physics.pomona.edu/sixideas/philosophy.html.
- "Some Possible [Course Sequences"]. Physics Department, Pomona College. http://www.physics.pomona.edu/sixideas/sequences.html.
- "Six Ideas that Shaped Physics". American Association of Physics Teachers. https://psrc.aapt.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=4559.
- Bernatowicz, Thomas J. (2006-03-01). "Post-Use Review. Six Ideas That Shaped Physics (second edition, six volumes)..". American Journal of Physics 74 (3): 243–245. doi:10.1119/1.2149873. ISSN 0002-9505. https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/10.1119/1.2149873.
- Moore, Thomas (2014-09-10). "Chapter 11: Six Ideas That Shaped Physics: Rethinking Introductory Physics". Integrating Cognitive Science with Innovative Teaching in STEM Disciplines. doi:10.7936/K7JW8BSN. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/circle_book/1.
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