Motivating Students to Learn Science
“The science teacher whose instruction goes no further than the textbook, whose notes have yellowed with age from unvarying use, and whose concept of scientific experience is ritualised repetition of procedure cannot hope to motivate and inspire students. Teachers must, themselves, be motivated and inspired: to read avidly and regularly in order to learn lessons of the past and keep abreast of the present; to experiment and tinker in order to teach with confidence based on personal experience; to try in all ways possible to make the science classroom reflect accurately the attributes and activities of a place where real science is done.”
—M P Silverman, Motivating Students to Learn Science, Creative Education (2015) 6
1982-1992
Letter of Advice to the President from a Scientist
“Dear Mr President,
As an American atomic and nuclear physicist I was greatly heartened by your declaration to be guided by science in the implementation of public policy...In the course of your administration you may find that very real scientific facts run counter to what you consider self-evident truths. I will give you a critically important example that underlies nearly every major decision you are likely to make in the next four years. Let us start by considering climate change.”
—M. P. Silverman, Letter of Advice to the President from a Scientist Regarding Climate Change Policies (3 Feb 2021), sent to President Joseph Biden and to the Washington Post
New Books
And Yet It Moves: Strange Systems and Subtle Questions in Physics
2nd Edition (April 2015) Cambridge University Press - ISBN-13: 978-0521446310
This book of essays, recently released as a second edition, is a largely nonmathematical account of some of the strange behaviour, both classical and quantum, exhibited by diverse physical systems. Drawn from the author's wide-ranging researches in quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics, electromagnetism and optics, gravity, thermodynamics, and the physics of fluids, the essays describe different physical systems whose behaviour provokes surprise and challenges the imagination. Read more »
A Certain Uncertainty
Cambridge University Press 2014 - ISBN-13: 978-1107032811
This book examines randomness, chance, and uncertainty in matters pertaining to fundamental questions of physics as well as to issues that are likely to affect readers in personal ways. Among the topics discussed are controversial issues concerning the decay of radioactive nuclei, predictability of the stock market, safety of commercial aircraft, accelerating rise in Earth’s temperature, interpretation of medical tests, detection of drug use to enhance athletic performance, and more. The book helps develop proficiency in the use of probability and statistics to understand a multiplicity of physical processes. Read more »
