THE
MEANINGS AND STRUCTURES OF PHYSICS
Kaarle
and Riitta Kurki-Suonio
Department of Physics, University
of Helsinki, Finland
Contents
1 Physics as a discipline
1.1 The identity
crisis of physics
1.1.1 To be or not to be?
1.1.2 The
fourfold defeat
1.1.3 Physics defeated by physics
1.1.4
Motivation factors
1.1.5 The formula disease - symptoms, care and
prevention
1.1.6 Appendices A1.1 Problems in learning
A1.1.1
Does one learn physics at the university?
A1.1.2 Motivation of
studying physics.
Arguments
1.2 From values to
objectives
1.2.1 The principles of planning
1.2.2 The
reality of planning
1.2.3 The hierarchy of objectives
1.2.4
The general foundation for setting objectives
1.2.5 Appendices
A1.2 Educational objectives in documents
A1.2.1 Educational
objectives in the school laws
A1.2.2 The general objectives
in the secondary school syllabus 1981
A1.2.3
The objectives of personality development
A1.2.4 The objectives
of the content area of natural sciences
A1.2.5 The objectives of
physics teaching in the secondary school 1981
A1.2.6 The
objectives of physics in 1941 and 1970
A1.2.7 The foundations of
syllabuses 1994
1.3 The scope of
possibilities in physics instruction
1.3.1 Thoughts
about culture
1.3.2 The dimensions of knowledge
1.3.3
Practical significance
1.3.4 Methodical facilities
1.3.5
Attitudes and values
1.3.6 Appendices A1.3 The significance of
physics in documents
A1.3.1 The significance of physics in
fulfilling the general objectives of education
A1.3.2 The
technological grounds of planning
1.4 The relation of
physics to other disciplines
1.4.1 Comprehensive
cooperation
1.4.2 Integrational expectations concerning
physics
1.4.3 Biology and geography
1.4.4 History and
civics
1.4.5 Religion
1.4.6 Languages
1.4.7 Pictorial art
1.4.8 Music
1.4.9 Physical education (and health
education)
1.4.10 Domestic science
1.5 Pervading themes
1.5.1 The position and significance of pervading
themes
1.5.2 Education for internationality
1.5.3 Education
for mental health
1.5.4 Family and consumer education
1.5.5
Communicational education
1.5.6 Environmental education
1.5.7
Education for peace
2 Physics as a science
2.1 What is
physics?
2.1.1 The problems in defining the science
2.1.2
The object
2.1.3 The character of knowledge
2.1.4 The
methodical criteria of science
2.1.5 The role of method in
defining physics
2.1.6 Appendix A2.1 What is physics? A
collection of spontaneous reflections
2.2 Realization of
the criteria of science in physics
2.2.1 The significance of
experimentality
2.2.2 Standardization
2.2.3 Violations of
objectivity
2.2.4 Appendix A2.2 Examples of scientificness
at different times
2.3 Empirical concept
formation
2.3.1 The dualism of empirical science
2.3.2 The
scientific process
2.3.3 Concept formation and logic
2.3.4 The
technological process
2.3.5 The values of science and technology
The conceptual
structure of physics
2.4.1 The hierarchical levels of
concepts
2.4.2 The level of qualitative knowledge
2.4.3 The
level of quantitative representation
2.4.4 The level of
quantitative interpretation
3 Concept formation and quantities
3.1 The language of
physics
3.1.1 The conceptualization of Gestalts
3.1.2
Confusion of conceptual categories
3.1.3 The effect of
generalization
3.1.4 Other linguistic difficulties of physicists
3.2 Quantities as
processes
3.2.1 Definition of a quantity
3.2.2 The narrow
gate of quantification
3.2.3 Measurement and the values of
quantities
3.2.4 The process of generalization
3.3 The hierarchy of
quantities
3.3.1 The hierarchical network
3.3.2 Punctual
and momentary quantities
3.3.3 The basic concepts of
dynamics
3.3.4 Is it possible to understand Schrödinger's
equation?
3.4 Quantity
calculus
3.4.1 Mathematical operations with quantities
3.4.2
Differential calculus with quantities
3.4.3 Quantity equations
3.4.4 Use of symbols
4 Structural instruction of physics
4.1 The experimental
and the theoretical approach
4.1.1 Theoreticalness in the
instruction of physics
4.1.2 The logical types of
approaches
4.1.3 Progression in the conceptual hierarchy
4.1.4
Canonical half-truths
4.2 The perceptional
approach
4.2.1 The meanings come first
4.2.2 The processes
of empirical science in instruction
4.2.3 The significance
of the hierarchy of quantities in instruction
4.3 The perceptional
approach to the concept of energy
4.3.1 The problem of basic
perception
4.3.2 The heat gate
4.3.3 The mechanics gate
4.4
Breakdown of a topic
4.4.1 The elements of
understanding
4.4.2 The phenomena
4.4.3 The quantities
4.4.4
The laws
4.4.5 The theories
4.4.6 The applications
4.5 Exercises
4.5.1
The approach and its assessment
4.5.2 The designing of
exercises
4.5.3 Survey of the subject
4.5.4 The logical types
of exercises
4.5.5 The exercise in relation to reality
4.5.6
The presentation of an exercise
5 Reality in the eyes of physics
5.1 The nature of
reality
5.1.1 Reality and the self
5.1.2 Purely empirical
reality
5.1.3 Purely theoretical reality
5.1.4 A unifying view
on duality
5.1.5 Appendix A5.1 Discussions on the relation
between theory and experiment
5.2 The content of
reality
5.2.1 The intuitive bases of our picture of
reality
5.2.2 An increasingly abstract picture of reality
5.3 The unifying
picture of reality of physics
5.3.1 The main branches of
classical physics
5.3.2 What is electricity?
5.3.3 Towards a
theory of everything
References
Index