The Skeptic's Guide to Physics

a HyperReference by

Jess H. Brewer

Why am I doing this?

To go to the any "Chapter" of this HyperReference, click on its title below. Once you are there, [for most Chapters] clicking on the title in the first page will download a Postscript file of the entire Chapter, in case you prefer to print it all out at once in a nicer format than HTML.

1. Art and Science   (not Art vs. Science!)

2.  physics  vs.  Physics:   the Poet meets the Engineer

3. Representations   (poetry again)

4. The Language of Math   (...and again)

5. The Art of Measurement   (some nuts & bolts . . . )

6. Falling Bodies   (kinematics)

7. The Exponential Function

8. Vectors

9. Force vs. Mass

10. Celestial Mechanics

11. The Emergence of Mechanics   (we're talking serious poetry now!)

12. Equations of Motion   (a Physics favourite)

13. Simple Harmonic Motion   ( everyone's favourite!)

    Optional supplement: Complex Exponentials

14. Waves   (the most important topic in Physics)

    Optional supplement: Functions of Time & Space

15. Thermal Physics

16. Weird Science

17. Introduction to Electromagnetism

18. Gauss' Law   (not just for electric fields!)

19. Ampère's Law (under construction)

20. Faraday's Law (under construction)

21. Circuits (under construction)

    Optional Supplement: Vector Calculus

22. And Maxwell said, ``Let there be light!''

    Dateline: "Modern" Physics

23. Early History of Atoms

24. Particle in a Box (Quantum Mechanics in a Nutshell)

    Quantum Quotations

• The Special Theory of Relativity (STR)

• Relativistic Kinematics   (E=mc² and all that)

  Optional supplement: Radiation Hazards

• Spin - more than just angular momentum!

• Small Stuff   (Elementary Particles)

• The General Theory of Relativity (GTR) & Cosmology

• Second Year Quantum Mechanics:

  Frequently Asked Questions about Quantum Mechanics

  k-Space  

  Gaussian Wave Packets

  The Finite Square Well