A Radically Modern Approach to Introductory Physics

Raymond D.J.

The idea for this course came from reading Louis de Broglie’s Nobel Prize address. De Broglie’s work is a masterpiece based on the principles of optics and special relativity. It thus dawned on me that perhaps optics and waves together with relativity could form a better foundation for all of physics than does classical mechanics. Such a path is much more fascinating to most college freshmen interested in pursing studies in physics – especially those who have been through the usual high school treatment of classical mechanics. I am also convinced that the development of physics in these terms, though not historical, is at least as rigorous and coherent as the classical approach.