The pendulum is a universal topic in primary and secondary schools, but its full potential for learning about physics, the nature of science, and the relationships between science, mathematics, technology, society and culture is seldom realised.
Contributions to this 32-chapter anthology deal with the science, history, methodology and pedagogy of pendulum motion. There is ample material for the richer and more cross-disciplinary treatment of the pendulum from elementary school to high school, and through to advanced university classes.
Scientists will value the studies on the physics of the pendulum; historians will appreciate the detailed treatment of Galileo, Huygens, Newton and Foucault’s pendulum investigations; psychologists and educators will learn from the papers on Piaget; teachers will welcome the many contributions to pendulum pedagogy.
All readers will come away with a new awareness of the importance of the pendulum in the foundation and development of modern science; and for its centrality in so many facets of society and culture.
Table of Content
The Pendulum: Its Place in Science, Culture and Pedagogy.- The Pendulum in the 21st Century-Relic or Trendsetter.- The Pendulum: A Paradigm for the Linear Oscillator.- to the Treatment of Non-Linear Effects Using a Gravitational Pendulum.- Experimental Control of Simple Pendulum Model.- Soup-can Pendulum.- What Makes the Foucault Pendulum Move among the Stars?.- Galileo and the Pendulum: Latching on to Time.- The Treatment of Cycloidal Pendulum Motion in Newton’s Principia.- Pendulums, Pedagogy, and Matter: Lessons from the Editing of Newton’s Principia.- The Treatment of the Motion of a Simple Pendulum in Some Early 18th Century Newtonian Textbooks.- Newton’s Path to Universal Gravitation: The Role of the Pendulum.- Léon Foucault: His Life, Times and Achievements.- The Pendulum: From Constrained Fall to the Concept of Potential.- Idealisation and Galileo’s Pendulum Discoveries: Historical, Philosophical and Pedagogical Considerations.- Pendula, Models, Constructivism and Reality.- The Poet and the Pendulum.- Methodology and Politics: A Proposal to Teach the Structuring Ideas of the Philosophy of Science through the Pendulum.- Degree of Influence on Perception of Belief and Social Setting: Its Relevance to Understanding Pendulum Motion.- Piaget and the Pendulum.- What the Pendulum Can Tell Educators about Children’s Scientific Reasoning.- Pendulum Phenomena and the Assessment of Scientific Inquiry Capabilities.- Roles of Abductive Reasoning and Prior Belief in Children’s Generation of Hypotheses about Pendulum Motion.- Types of Two-Dimensional Pendulums and Their Uses in Education.- The Pendulum as a Vehicle for Transitioning from Classical to Quantum Physics: History, Quantum Concepts, and Educational Challenges.- Analyzing Dynamic Pendulum Motion in an Interactive Online Environment Using Flash.- Pendulum Activities in the Israeli Physics Curriculum: Used and Missed Opportunities.- The Pendulum as Presented in School Science Textbooks of Greece and Cyprus.- The Public Understanding of Pendulum Motion: From 5 to 88 Years Old.- Using Excel to Simulate Pendulum Motion and Maybe Understand Calculus a Little Better.- Teaching Cultural History from Primary Events.- Pendulums in The Physics Education Literature: A Bibliography.About the author
Michael Matthews is an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of New South Wales. He has degrees in science, philosophy, psychology, history and philosophy of science, and education. He publishes in the fields of science education, history and philosophy of science, and philosophy of education. He is the author of five books, the editor of six anthologies, and the Foundation Editor of the journal Science & Education.Colin Gauld is a Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales. After taking a Ph D in physics, he taught high school physics, lectured in physics education, and was senior examiner of physics in the state of New South Wales. He researches the role of history and philosophy of science in science teaching, and the relationship between religion and science.
Arthur Stinner is a professor of science education in the Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba. He holds undergraduate degrees in physics, modern languages and education, an MSc in physics, and a Ph D in science education. His research interests are focused on relating the history and philosophy of science to science teaching, and the development of large context problems in physics.
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