A Tour of the Subatomic Zoo: A Guide to Particle Physics - Softcover

Cindy Schwartz

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0883189542 ISBN 13: 9780883189542

Publisher: Amer Inst of Physics, 1992

Synopsis

Book by Schwartz, Cindy

About this title

From the Back Cover

If Your Understanding of the fundamental particles of matter is confined to the electron, proton, and neutron, take heart. Here is a book that takes you on a tour through the world of the "subatomic zoo", populated by some of the most dramatic discoveries of modern science - notably, quarks, leptons, and the basic forces that govern their interactions. You'll also encounter the accelerators and detectors that are used to find these exotic particles. Most important, your tour is conducted in terms that are easily understood - even if you have no prior physics background. Each chapter begins with an overview of concepts and terms, and ends with a summary section and self-tests to help you gauge just how much you have learned. This second edition has been revised to reflect recent developments in high-energy physics, including new particle accelerators, advances in detector technology, and the discovery of the top quark. The author has also added a list of World Wide Web sites where the reader can find more information on particle physics. Even if you've never been exposed to high-energy physics, have forgotten what you once knew, or have simply not kept current, A Tour of the Subatomic Zoo will bring you right up to date on developments that are continually refining our picture of matter and science.

About the Author

Cindy Schwarz is a Professor of Physics at Vassar College. She earned a BSc in Mathematical Physics at the State University of New York at Binghamton and a PhD in experimental particle physics from Yale University. She remained active in the research field of particle physics from her arrival at Vassar in 1985 through 1992, working on experiments in high-energy physics at Brookhaven. She changed her line of scholarship in the mid-nineties to focus on pedagogy and curriculum design, with a focus on teaching and learning with technology and producing materials appropriate for those students not planning to major in physics (or even science).

Cindy is the sole author of three books, co-author on another book, author of one interactive CD-ROM, five articles, articles in Microsoft Encarta 2000, an interactive tutorial on the internet, and editor and publisher of Tales from the Subatomic Zoo. She has also published along with Jill Linz a children's book Adventures in Atomville: The Macroscope, which is available in print in English and Spanish and on nook, kindle and ibooks.

Cindy's first book A Tour of the Subatomic Zoo, published by Springer-Verlag was reviewed in Physics Today, The Physics Teacher, Choice and Scitech Book News. Scitech said 'A great little book, and if every physics textbook were like this, physics classrooms would be crowded'. The book also won the 1993 American Library Association Award for Outstanding Academic Book. Cindy is considered an expert on teaching particle physics to non-physicists as she has given numerous talks, workshops and keynotes and her book is used at other Universities.

Her second book, Interactive Physics Workbook, was the first of its kind. Now out in a second edition, the book is a compilation of 40 computer simulations specifically designed to make use of the technology for effective pedagogy and therefore improved student learning (and interest). Reviewers have said of the workbook: 'they are about the best of their type' and 'they are excellent tutorial software programs that stand apart from many of the current offerings'.

Cindy has authored several 'non-traditional' sets of material that make use of interactive learning either on the web or within a specialized program. These include, articles for Microsoft Encarta 2000, The Interactive Journey Through Physics CD, contributions to The Scholar's Way of Thinking and the Scholar's Way of Writing.

In 2002, Cindy compiled and edited selected student stories from her course A Tour of the Subatomic Zoo into the book Tales from the Subatomic Zoo. This publication is the one most relevant to the Atomville project as it involved anthropomorphizing subatomic particles. The book has already received a very good review in Choice (May 2003) and in STANYS The Science Teachers Bulletin. Quoting part of the review from Choice: 'As part of the course, she required her students to create a short story or poem with a subatomic theme. She has categorized this "best" collection into three parts: "General Interest," "Fairy Tales for Young Children," and "Poems." All the stories and poems in this collection were created over several years by Schwarz's students, most of whom were nonscience majors. Their contributions are very imaginative and range in expression from science fiction to realism, from historical fiction to children's stories. To assist lay readers' understanding, Schwarz has included a glossary of terms. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels'.

Cindy is also very active in the physics community both locally and nationally. She was appointed to the APS Award Committee on Broadcast Journalism and served as its chair for two (out of three) years. She was appointed in 1999 to both the Committee on Computers in Physics and the Committee on Instructional Media of American Association of Physics teachers (AAPT) and has served on the Committee on Women in Physics twice. She was one of five editors for a series of books, Undergraduate Texts in Contemporary Physics, published by Springer-Verlag and has done numerous book reviews and made contributions to major physics texts. She also served on the APS Committee on Education for two years.

Edition details

• Publisher: Amer Inst of Physics
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0883189542
• ISBN 13: 9780883189542
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 112