Outlines laboratory activities designed to permit both majors and non-majors to perform crucial experiments in physics, using, when possible, replicas of original apparatus and copies of translations of original texts. (PR)

Maxwell's four major papers and some shorter publications relating to kinetic theory and statistical mechanics are discussed in the light of subsequent research. Reviews Maxwell's ideas on such topics as velocity, distribution law, the theory of heat conduction, the mechanism of the radiometer effect, the ergodic hypothesis, and his views on the…

Proposes changes in correcting the distorted image that many students have of science. Teachers should communicate some of the excitement, beauty, and uncertainty of the subject. Identified three styles of teaching changes: remove harshness and sterility, emphasize verb sense (dynamics) of science, and reduce quantity of material presented to…

This short biography of Fresnel traces his early education, his work as an engineer and his theories and discoveries in optics. The importance of Fresnel's ideas on diffraction, interference and double refraction are discussed. Bibliography. (LC)

Discusses why the Nobel Committee for Physics waited so long before giving Einstein the Nobel Prize and why they did not award it for relativity, but for the photoelectric effect instead. Focuses on the judgments of leading scientists who made nominations as well as committee members' decisions. (Author/JN)

Using the example of Hans Christian Oersted's (1777-1851) discovery that magnetic fields surround currents as a focal point, it suggests, by using different historical examples, that science and history be brought together in a kind of conjunction for scholarly research and classroom purposes, for both scientists and nonscientists. (SK)

Examines Drude's classical (1900) theory of electrical conduction, details the objections to and successes of the 1900 theory, and investigates the Quantum (1928) theory of conduction, reviewing its successes and limitations. (BT)

This is a part of a presentation made in 1978 at the symposium on the Influence of Modern Scientific Ideas on Society organized by UNESCO in West Germany. An analysis of Einstein's intellectual courage and behavior is discussed. (HM)

This paper in the history of chemistry series focuses on the work of Pauling and others on the quantum mechanics of inorganic metal complexes. (BB)

Celebrates the centennial of Einstein's birth with an eight-page pictorial biography and two special articles: (1) Einstein the catalyst; and (2) Unitary field theories. His special and general theories of relativity and his contributions to quantum physics and other topics are also presented. (HM)