The 1969 version of "The Italian Job" is used as context for teaching turning forces and introducing or enhancing the understanding of equilibrium and Newton's Third Law of Motion. A Harrington Legionnaire coach is used as the getaway vehicle for a gold heist and the film ends on a genuine cliffhanger, with the rear half of the coach…

Traces the development of college physics laboratories. Discusses the motivating forces that produced these laboratories, sources of experiments and the first and most influential laboratory manual prepared by E. C. Pickering for use at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (JN)

Describes the construction and use of an inexpensive, homemade polarimeter which can analyze optically active compounds. Ideas for activities using the apparatus are suggested. (JN)

A thermal oscillator is a self-sustained, nonlinear oscillating system. One part of the system vibrates continuously because of the transfer of heat. Four such devices, two new and two demonstrated in the 19th century are described. Although each depends on the periodic redistribution of heat, they are all quite different. (Author/JN)

A homemade device for testing particle scattering is described. Also described are experiments in zero gravity conducted in free fall in the cargo space of an airplane belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (JN)

Examines the causes that delayed the growth of modern science in China, tracing the historical development of Sino-Western physics. Also evaluates the influence of ideologies and politico-social institutions on the origin and direction of science and physics in China. (ML)

Discusses the physics behind making ice cream in a hand-cranked ice cream maker. Ingredients in the maker are cooled and hardened by a bath of ice, water, and rock salt. Several experiments to investigate the variables involved in preparing the ice cream (and related desserts) are included. (JN)

Highlights major accomplishments, developments, and research in the sciences during 1982, focusing on the space sciences, astronomy, medicine, biology, psychology, chemistry, physics, environment, and zoology. Includes a brief statement of the 1982 Nobel Prize winners' research in medicine, chemistry, and physics. (JN)

Developed as part of a document series in UNESCO's Science and Technology Education program, this volume reviews the major trends and cites the improvements in the natural science and mathematics education in the Soviet Union. Separate units are provided for the discipline areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. These sections…

Provides a method for correcting the photoemission from a collector when using the photoelectric effect experiment to determine Planck's constant. The problem results from a negative current through the cell and makes the measurement of the cutoff potential difficult. (DH)

This section of the journal includes several short notes on science activities and materials for secondary schools. Activities and materials are included that relate to biology, microbiology, microcomputers, chemistry, and physics. (RH)

Presents information on the moment of inertia of a tennis racket about its principal axes. This information (not available from conventional sources) is useful since it influences how the racket plays and how the racket feels when it is swung. In addition, measurements of motion can be easily made by undergraduate students. (JN)

Presents a nonmathematical approach to help students understand that there are two types of coherence and to associate coherence as a property of the illumination at an object itself. The approach also lends itself to an introduction to the Fourier approach for analyzing imaging systems. (JN)

Discusses the development of the concept of atomicity and some of the many which can be used to establish its validity. Chemical evidence, evidence from crystals, Faraday's law of electrolysis, and Avogadro's number are among the areas which show how the concept originally developed from a purely philosophical idea. (JN)

Describes the nature of gradient refractive index (GRIN) lenses, focusing on refraction in these materials, focal length of a thin Wood lens, and on manufacturing of such lenses. Indicates that GRIN lenses of small cross section are in limited production with applications suggested for optical communication and photocopying fields. (JN)