| Related sites for http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/All.html |
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|
Physics Virtual Bookshelf: All Contents
All
Contents
Topic
Description
Author
Format
Antimatter html
pdf
Course notes from a one-hour class on antimatter for upper-year
liberal arts students. (172k/203k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Ballistocardiogram
A small application of Newton's Laws to the measurment of the acceleration
of the blood. (52k)
David M. Harrison
html
Basal Metabolism
A small introduction to the basal metabolism and allometry.
David M. Harrison
html
Bell's Theorem html
pdf
A derivation of the theorem and a discussion of the consequences.
A somewhat subtle topic, but here it is treated in a non-technical
fashion. It assumes knowledge of wave-particle duality such as can
be found in the Double Slit or the Wave-Particle Duality
documents; also assumed is considerable knowledge of the Stern-Gerlach
Experiment, for which there is also a document here. (150k/ 151k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Barometer
An introduction to using a Mercury Barometer, also known as a Fortin
Barometer. Requires Flash; uses videos in RealMedia, QuickTime or
mpeg format. (137k)
David M. Harrison
html
Big Bang Cosmology html
pdf
A brief discussion of the Standard Hot Big Bang Model of cosmology.
(70k/90k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Birth of Physics in the
Rennaisance
A brief summary of the birth of physics from Bacon through Young,
from a first year physics course that uses minimal mathematics; the
entire set of materials from the course is available by clicking here.
(152k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Black Holes html
pdf
Course notes from a one-hour class on black holes for upper-year
liberal arts students. (78k/90k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Black Hole Thermodynamics html
pdf
Course notes from a one-hour class on black hole thermodynamics
for upper-year liberal arts students. (25k/47k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Blackboards, PowerPoint, and Tablet PCs in the Classroom
Three case studies of the delivery of visual information in the classroom. Much of the discussion is guided by the results of research into the study of eye movements when subjects are reading. December 2005. (390k)
Jason Harlow, David M. Harrison and Ruxandra Serbanescu
pdf
The Bohr
Model of the Atom
A very brief introduction, originally designed for upper-year liberal
arts students. (30k)
David M. Harrison
html
Clickers: A study of Classroom Response System use at the University of Toronto
An examination of the use of classrom response systems in various lecture-based course at the University of Toronto. Over 30 U of T instructors were interviewed about their use of clickers in classes with a total enrolment of over 5,000 students. Students in these classes were also surveyed about their perception of the value of this technology.
Jason Harlow, Lena Paulo Kushnir, Charly Bank, Scott Browning, Jim Clarke, Anne Cordon, David Harrison, Karen Ing, Cecilia Kutas, and Ruxandra Serbanescu
pdf
Chaos html pdf
A non-technical introduction to chaotic systems, based on a one-hour
class given to undergraduate students at a variety of levels. (164k/115k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Complementarity & Copenhagen Interpretation html
pdf
A discussion of Bohr's Principle of Complementarity and its extension
to the Copenhagen Interpreation of Quantum Mechnics. Based on a discussion
for an upper-year liberal arts course in modern physics without mathematics.
(89k/115k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
The
development of a laboratory data analysis curriculum for physics
and engineering students.
Techniques from physics education research are used to design,
implement, and evaluate a curriculum module for data analysis in
a third and fourth year undergraduate physics laboratory. (408k)
David F. Wong
pdf
The Development of Quantum Mechanics html
pdf
A brief survey of the development of Quantum Mechanics in the 1920's
by Schrödinger and Heisenberg. Some of the material is non-traditional.
Based on a discussion in an upper year liberal arts course in physics
without mathematics. (13k/16k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Dimension html
pdf
A brief non-technical discussion of measuring dimensionality, including
non-integer dimensionality. Also linked to from the Chaos document.
(26k/45k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Double Slit: html
pdf
A discussion of the "Feynman double slit," which forms the basis
of many discussions of Quantum Mechanics. The topic is quite subtle,
but the document is equally accessible to students at all levels.
(183k/216k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Education
How Does the Delivery of Information Help Students to Learn?,
a discussion of the delivery of information both via the web and in
the classroom. (63k)
David M. Harrison
pdf
Education
The Personal Fonemate & Other Cautionary Tales, a discussion
of appropriate and inapproriate uses of computers in teaching. This
is the text of a paper delivered to the 22nd International Conference
on Improving University Learning and Teaching, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
July 1997. (43k)
David M. Harrison
pdf
Education
The Physical Pendulum in an Advanced Undergraduate Course in
Mechanics, a paper that appeared in the journal Computers in Physics
8, 416-419 (1995). It discusses studies of the pendulum and
computer algorithms to solve the equations of the pendulum. (69k)
Solomon C. Douglas, David M. Harrison and Theodore G. Shepherd
pdf
Education
Test Design, a small document of opinion and observation
relating to tests and exams. (11k)
David M. Harrison
html
Electricity and Magnetism
A brief overview of electricity, magnetism and electromagnetic waves,
from a first year physics course that uses minimal mathematics; the
entire set of materials from the course is available by clicking here.
(5k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Electricity and Magnetism:
History
A brief summary of the history of electricity and magnetism from
the Greeks through Maxwell, from a first year physics course using
minimal mathematics; the entire set of materials from the course is
available by clicking here. (131k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Energy
A brief introduction to the concept of energy. It includes a small discussion of whether the energy is real. (37k)
David M. Harrison
html
Entropy html pdf
Course notes from a one-hour class on entropy for upper-year liberal
arts students. (44k/92k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Error Analysis:html pdf
A series of documents on error analysis in the experimental physical
sciences. The discussion is at a beginning University level. (The
first document size is 4.5k, the full set of documents in pdf format
is a single file of size 440k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Error Propagation
Propagation of errors of precision using Mathematica and
the Experimental Data Analyst package. This brief discussion
is suitable for students at all levels who need to do a fair amount
of error propagation calculations. (8k)
David M. Harrison
html
The Extended
Mind
Subtitled "Understanding Language and Thought in Terms of Complexity
and Chaos Theory", this document shows that the origins of speech
and the human mind have emerged simultaneously as the bifurcation
from percepts to concepts. (42k)
Robert K. Logan
html
Fitting Techniques
A brief introduction to fitting data to models. The emphasis is
on least-squares techniques. The level is somewhat beyond what we
expect from a typical first year student. (43k)
David M. Harrison
pdf
Flash Animations
for Physics
An index to various Flash animations for physics. (12k).
David M. Harrison
html
The Force Concept Inventory and Learners html pdf
A small report on the performance of a small group of learners on the Force Concept Inventory diagnostic instrument. (html 10k, pdf 21k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
General Theory of Relativity: html
pdf
Similar to the two Special Relativity documents, there are two General
Relativity documents in the bookshelf. This one concentrates more
on the worldview demanded by the theory, while Professor Key's concentrates
more on the effects predicted by the theory. (121k/170k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
General Theory of Relativity
A discussion of the general theory of relativity, from a first year
physics course that uses minimal mathematics; the entire set of materials
from the course is available by clicking here. (216k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Gravitational Time Dilation, a Derivation html
pdf
A non-mathematical derivation of the fact that clocks in gravitational
fields run slow. (23k/37k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Heat Equation
Solving partial differential equations (PDEs) by computer, particularly
the heat equation. The emphasis is on the explicit, implicit, and
Crank-Nicholson algorithms. Other types of PDE's are discussed, including
the Schrödinger equation. Used by upper-year physics majors and
specialists. (45k)
David M. Harrison
pdf
Hip Forces html
pdf
A small document analysing the forces acting on the hip. (89k/55k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Horsepower
of an Engine
The relationship between the horsepower and torque of an engine,
focusing on car and motorcycle engines. The level is intended to be
suitable for first year Physics courses. Requires Flash 5 or better.
(316k)
David M. Harrison
html
High Energy Physics html
pdf
An overview of high energy physics at a non-technical level. Some
of the material is non-traditional. (172k/161k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Inertial Frames of Reference html
pdf
A brief summary of the concept of Inertial Frames of Reference in
Newtonian and Einsteinian Physics. (25k/35k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Innovative Teaching Techniques and U.S.-Developed Materials
A report on using U.S.-developed materials for innovative teaching techniques in introductory Physics courses. January 2005. (52k)
David M. Harrison and Stephen W. Morris
pdf
Laboratory
Experiments, On Good and Bad Ones
An analysis of a survey of first year Physics lab students asking
about the best and worst experiments they performed (34k)
David M. Harrison and Ruxandra M. Serbanescu
pdf
The Laboratory
Notebook
Extracts of a top-quality laboratory notebook. (3k)
Richard E. Azuma and David M. Harrison
html
LabVIEW Tutorials
LabVIEW is a software tool from National
Instruments for data acquisition and process control. The link
to the left provides access to a 10-part tutorial in using LabVIEW
and a one-page summary document.
James R. Drummond
pdf
Learning UNIX-GNU/Linux
The link to the left provides access to five Modules on the UNIX-GNU/Linux
computing environment. Each Module has been used as class notes for
a 2 hour discussion on this computing environment.
David M. Harrison
html
Least-Squares Fitting
A discussion of the design principles for a least-squares fitter suitable for use in analysing data from the physical sciences and engineering. (228k)
David M. Harrison
html
Life,
Emerging Structures, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
A discussion of issues of life and the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Includes a section on cellular automata, and a section on sustainable
energy sources. (255k)
David M. Harrison
html
Locality and Quantum Mechanics html
pdf
A brief introduction to the conflict between local cause and effect
and Quantum Mechanics. Based on a discussion in an upper year liberal
arts course in physics without mathematics. (24k/39k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
The Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
A detailed description of the phase shifts of the Mach-Zehnder interfereometer.
(11k)
David M. Harrison
html
Magic Through Two Millenia
The Dept. of Physics offers a first year course with minimal mathematics,
titled The Magic of Physics. Documents from that course appear
throughout this virtual bookshelf. The link to the left gives access
to these 14 documents in a more coherent order.
Anthony W. Key
html
Maple Libraries html
pdf
A tutorial on library creation and maintenance for the Maple programming
language. (70k/39k).
David M. Harrison and Solomon R.C. Douglas
html and pdf
Manometers
A small document on using a manometer to measure a pressure. (64k)
David M. Harrison
html
Mass-Energy Equivalence html pdf
A "small" document discussing how E = mc2
arises in the Special Theory of Relativity.
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Mass-Energy Equivalence - technical
This document discusses much of the same material as the previous one, but is written for physicists. (66k)
Jason Harlow and David M. Harrison
pdf
Micrometer
Using a Micrometer. Requires Flash. (86k)
David M. Harrison
html
Microprocessor Interfacing Techniques
The link to the left provides access to a thirteen-part set of lecture
notes from a course in microprocessor interfacing; the course is taken
by upper year students and by graduate students.
James R. Drummond
pdf
Mirror Symmetry html
pdf
Course notes from a one-hour class on mirror symmetry for upper-year
liberal arts students. (399k/148k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Monte Carlo Simulation
Discusses the computer generation of events obeying some statistical
model using Monte Carlo simulation. Brief reviews of Special Relativity
and High Energy physics are also provided, and a small discussion
of the generation of pseudo-random numbers is included. Used by upper
year physics majors and specialists. (47k)
David M. Harrison
pdf
Newtonian Mechanics
A brief summary of Newtonian mechanics, from a first year physics
course that uses minimal mathematics; the entire set of materials
from the course is available by clicking here.
(5k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Nuclei
and Particles
Course notes, problems sets with answers, and tests from an introductory
3rd year course. (2k)
David Bailey
html
The Oscilloscope
An introduction to the basic use of an oscilloscope to measure voltages
as a function of time. Requires Flash. (42k)
David M. Harrison
html
Physics Education Research - A Comprehensive Study
An overview of PER and a small study of first year students. May 2005. (515k)
Jonathan Hillel
pdf
The Poetry of
Physics
This is a 20 chapter book on the ideas of physics, explained without
mathematics. It also examines the role of physics in shaping both
our thinking and the structure of our society. (671k in total, but
the link to the left provides an index to pairs of chapters; each
pair has a total filesize of about 66k.)
Robert K. Logan
html
Polarisation
A very brief and simple introduction to the polarisation of light.
This document is also linked to from the Stern-Gerlach one. (17k)
David M. Harrison
html
Quantum Interference
A brief summary of quantum interference and the uncertainty principle,
from a first year physics course that uses minimal mathematics; the
entire set of materials from the course is available by clicking here.
(39k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Quantum Mechanics: a Poor
Person's Guide
An overview of quantum mechanics, from a first year physics course
that uses minimal mathematics; the entire set of materials from the
course is available by clicking here.
(13k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Quantum Mechanics: Interpretation
An overview of quantum mechanics, from a first year physics course
that uses minimal mathematics; the entire set of materials from the
course is available by clicking here.
(10k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Quantum Teleportation
A discussion of Quantum Teleportation, Information, and Cryptography.
Based on a presentation to an upper-year course in modern physics
without mathematics. (41k)
David M. Harrison
html
Deterministic
Quantum Teleportation
A report of a measurement of quantum teleportation. One of the
authors, D.F.V. James, is now at the University of Toronto.
M. Reibe et al.
pdf
Schrödinger's Cat html
pdf
A very brief introduction, originally designed for upper-year liberal
arts students. (31k/34k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Science as a Language
A linguisitic analysis and a formal mathematical proof is presented
to show that science can not prove the truth of a proposition but
can only formulate hypotheses that continually require empirical verification
for every new domain of observation. (27k)
Robert K. Logan
html
The Science of Hawking
An overview of Stephen Hawking's contributions to black hole thermodynamics
and cosmology. Originally written for a non-technical audience, it
also includes a Primer on General Relativity and Cosmology.
(32k)
Pekka K. Sinervo
html
Special Theory of Relativity: html
pdf
The Special Relativity document by Professor Key that is the next
listing largely concentrates on the effects predicted by the theory,
such as time dilation, length contraction, etc. This document is considerably
longer than Professor Key's, and tends to concentrate more on the
worldview suggested by the theory. (157k/310k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Special Theory of Relativity
A discussion of the postulates of special relativity and their consequences,
from a first year physics course that uses minimal mathematics; the
entire set of materials from the course is available by clicking here.
(119k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Spectra
A very brief introduction, originally designed for upper-year liberal
arts students. (107k)
David M. Harrison
html
Standing Waves html
pdf
Vibrations on strings and drum heads, plus a brief discussion of
Fourier analysis. The document is course notes from an upper-year
liberal arts course. (189k/195k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Stern-Gerlach Experiment html
pdf
This classic experiment introduces the notion of quantum spin; it
is a vital introduction to many treatments of the "Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen"
paradox and to Bell's theorem. This document is equally accessible
to students at all levels. (76k/106k)
David M. Harrison
html and pdf
Subatomic Physics
Lecture notes, problem sets (including answers), and tests for an
introductory course on nuclear and particle physics for 3rd year students.
The link to the left provides access to the 86 documents in this set.
David C. Bailey
html
Team
Teaching
A report of a survey of 50 courses at the University of Toronto
that have more than one instructor.
Melody Neumann et al.
pdf
Team
Teaching Survey
A followup on the Team Teaching document just above, this
report includes surveys of students on their attitudes towards Team
Teaching.
Melody Neumann et al.
pdf
Time Series Analysis
The link to the left provides access to a series of lecture notes
on time series analysis from a course taken by upper year students.
David M. Harrison
pdf
Two analogies to Bell's Theorem html pdf
Two analogies to Bell's Theorem. They are both somwhat simpler
than the Bell's Theorem docuement that appears above on this list.(62k/74k)
Daivd M. Harrison
html and pdf
Tutorial
Attendance and Student Performance
A study of the correlation between tutorial attendance and final
marks for two Physics courses. May, 2006. (24k)
David M. Harrison
pdf
Vernier, Reading a
A small document on reading a Vernier scale. (56k)
David M. Harrison
html
Visualisation and Transformation of Data
A brief discussion of techniques for exploration of data with visualisation
and transformation. Not terribly technical, but does examine techniques
often considered to be advanced. (51k)
David M. Harrison
html
Waves and Wave Motion
A brief summary of waves, from a first year physics course using
minimal mathematics; the entire set of materials from the course is
available by clicking here. (27k)
Anthony W. Key
html
Wave-Particle Duality
A brief summary of wave-particle duality, from a first year physics
course that uses minimal mathematics; the entire set of materials
from the course is available by clicking here.
(14k)
Anthony W. Key
html
What
is the Universe Made Of?
A discussion of the role of elementary particle physics in the study
of cosmology. This are slides of a talk given to University of Toronto
summer research undergraduate students in 1999. (2.5M)
Robert S. Orr
pdf
This page was last
revised (m/d/y) on 10/11/08
Copyright © 2000
David M. Harrison
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