Abstract.
This work investigates the presence of Thought Experiments (TEs) which refer to the theory of relativity and to quantum mechanics in physics textbooks and in books popularizing physics theories. A further point of investigation is whether TEs – as presented in popular physics books – can be used as an introduction to familiarize secondary school students with physics theories of the 20th century. The study of textbooks and popular physics books showed that authors of both types of books consider TEs as an important tool when presenting the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. Furthermore, a qualitative research conducted in secondary education revealed that the historical TEs which were transformed into forms accessible to the public could trigger students’ interest and act as educational material to familiarize them with concepts and principles of the 20th century physics.
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Appendices
Appendix
Books that were studied in the phase B of the present research
(A) Textbooks
Eisberg, R.: 1961, Fundamentals of Modern Physics, Hardcover
Ford, K.: 1974, Classical and Modern Physics (volume 3) John Wiley and sons, New York.
Halliday, D., Resnick, R. & Walker, J.: 1997, Fundamentals of Physics (extended 5th edition), John Wiley and sons, New York.
Hewitt, P.: 1985, Conceptual Physics (5th edition).
Holton, G.: 1985, Introduction to Concepts and Theories in Physical Science (revised and with new material by BRUSH S.), Princeton University Press.
Ohanian, H.: 1989, Physics (second edition, expanded), W.W. Norton and Company.
Serway, R.: 1990, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, (third edition).
Serway, R., Moses, C. & Moyer, C.: 1989, Modern Physics, Saunders College Publishing.
Young, H.: 1992, University Physics (8th edition), Addison–Wesley Publishing Company, USA.
Joannoy, A., Ntanos, G., Pittas, A. & Raptis, S.: 1999, Physics (for 12th grade Greek students selecting science and technology orientation).
(B) Books Popularizing Physics.
Bruce, C.: 1997, The Einstein Paradox.
Davies, P. & Brown, J.: 1995, The Ghost in the Atom, Cambridge University Press.
Einstein, A.: 1917/1961, Relativity: The Special and the General Theory: A Popular Exposition, Grown publishers, New York.
Einstein, A. & Infeld, L.: 1938, The Evolution of Physics, Simon and Schuster, New York.
Epstein, L.: 1985, Relativity Visualized, Insight Press.
Farouki, N.: 1993, La Relativite, Flammarion.
Gamow, G.: 1966, Thirty Years that Shook Physics, Doubleday and Co.
Gamow, G.: 1990, Mr Tompkins in Paperback, Cambridge University Press.
Gonick, L. & Huffman A.: 1991, The Cartoon Guide to Physics, Harper Perennial.
Hawking, S.: 1988, A Brief History of Time – From the Big Bag to Black Holes, Bantam books.
Landau, L. & Rumer, Y.: 1959, What is Relativity? Basic Books, New York.
March R.: 1992, Physics for Poets, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Stannard, R.: 1989, The Time and Space of Uncle Albert, Faber and Faber Ltd., London.
Stannard, R.: 1991, Black Hole and Uncle Albert, Faber and Faber Ltd., London.
Stannard, R.: 1993, World of 1001 mysteries, Faber and Faber Ltd., London.
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Velentzas, A., Halkia, K. & Skordoulis, C. Thought Experiments in the Theory of Relativity and in Quantum Mechanics: Their Presence in Textbooks and in Popular Science Books. Sci Educ 16, 353–370 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-006-9030-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-006-9030-1