摘要:

We describe the National Science Foundation supported V.F.S.P. for institutes for secondary school teachers of science and mathematics, conducted for the first time in the summer of 1959. The need for the program stems both from the international nature of science itself and from the lag in our present secondary school science education. It is emphasized that lectures on recent advances in physics can be made more effective by organized programs such as the V.F.S.P. A briefing session is most important. Highlights of the visits' evaluation are followed by an introduction to the twelve papers constituting the heart of the project report. The fields of physics included are thermodynamics and molecular physics, low and high energy nuclear physics, thermonuclear physics, cosmic rays, three topics in solid state physics and metallurgical physics.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935098

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The basic systems of education in France, Argentina, and England are described, each followed by a discussion of the training of a future physicist or physics teacher in that country.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935099

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Physics is one aspect of the science which deals with nonliving matter. It is concerned primarily with general principles valid either for all kinds of material, as for example gravitation, or relating to laws in which matter as such does not come in directly ; for example, the propogation of electromagnetic waves in a vacuum. However, the boundary between physics and chemistry in common parlance is largely historical in origin.Physics is a great triumph of the human mind, but it has often grown from the study of apparent trivialities. That these can lead to the most important discoveries is itself one of the great discoveries of the scientific method. There is as yet no all-embracing physical theory, and as knowledge increases the significance of the partial theories is seen to change, but they are seldom entirely superseded. Even a successful universal theory would leave much to do; the consequences of theories are deemed worthy or unworthy of study for aesthetic or practical reasons.Nature is no longer considered to be deterministic in detail though it is in gross.The practical value of physics showed itself clearly in the development of electrical engineering, and now physics has become essential to a developing civilization.Scientists are responsible for those consequences of their actions which reasonably can be foreseen, but the extent to which consequences can be foreseen is exaggerated. The different parts of a civilization are interlocked and it must be accepted or rejected as a whole.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935100

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

It is shown how the results of compressibility measurements in gases and liquids lead to the hypothesis of molecular interaction, and how details about this interaction may be obtained from the experimental data for the equation of state. The reasons for the molecular interaction are found in the laws of electrostatics and quantum mechanics.The problems the molecular physicist is interested in are threefold. He wants to understand molecular interaction from first principles, he tries to get information about this interaction from a variety of experiments, and he seeks to understand a large group of experimental observations once the interaction of the molecules is known. For the solution of the second and third problem it is usually necessary to link the macroscopic observables to the microscopic molecular properties; although this has been possible in some instances, the general problem cannot be solved.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935101

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

This paper, which is itself in the nature of an abstract, discusses how one can gain an understanding of the basic concepts of classical (phenomenological) thermodynamics, usingvirtually no mathematics at all, and without the introduction of the usual artifices such as abstract engines, cycles, perfect gases, and so on.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935102

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

In Sec. A, a review is given of the modification of the classical picture of forces and particles by the ideas of quantum theory leading to Yukawa's meson hypothesis. In Sec. B, some aspects of the present knowledge of the elementary particles and their interactions are discussed from a phenomenological point of view.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935103

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The paper gives some general information about cosmic rays, especially with regard to the properties of the primary flux: charge composition, energy spectrum, and time variations. The experimental evidence for these properties of the cosmic rays is outlined briefly and possible origins of the radiation are discussed.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935104

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The possibility of extracting energy in a controlled manner from the nuclei of deuterium holds out the hope of a permanent solution of the problem of the supply of energy. It involves heating the gas to temperatures in the 100-million degree range. The outstanding difficulty is to prevent the heat escaping. Inevitable loss by radiation can be accepted. Loss by conduction must be greatly reduced. This means using magnetic fields.Among the methods that have been tried to contain a plasma, three are: the pinch discharge in which a large current is passed through the rarified deuterium in a torus; containment by magnetic mirrors in which the diamagnetic character of the plasma is used to exclude it from regions of high magnetic field; Spitzer's stellerator in which gas is contained by re-entrant lines of force due to currents outside the vessel which holds it.Difficulties arise in all cases; for the pinch discharge and to some extent the stellerator, these are due to some of the many forms of instability which can affect plasma in magnetic fields ; for the magnetic mirrors to the poor containment at relatively low temperatures and to difficulties of injection. No method has yet been successful, but all these are very hopeful.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935105

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Some of the metallurgical problems in the construction of nuclear reactors are discussed. Typical problems resulting from neutron bombardment encountered such as uranium growth, deterioration of fuel cans, thermal effects, and radiation effects, are presented in detail. Solutions to some of these problems found during the construction of the Calder Hall reactor in the United Kingdom are given as examples of the complex problems encountered. Some of the basic solid-state effects due to neutron irradiation are still not fully understood and are being investigated.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935106

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The presentation of some fundamental ideas concerning the behavior of electrons in solids is followed by an outline of the theory of the use of x-ray methods for obtaining information about these electrons. Experimental methods are discussed briefly and some recent trends and developments in the subject are reviewed.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1935107

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1960

数据来源: AIP