About
August 19, 2008
Welcome to the web log of Mr. Shields’ Physics and math classes.
Physics is nothing more than the study of nature; it is rational man’s attempt to understand the universe in which he is situated. While the human race has been trying to do this for thousands of years, it has only been in the last 400 years or so that math and philosophy have progressed to the point to make significant advances in physics possible. The discoveries of Newton, the rationalism of Descartes, and the empiricism of Locke established nature as a logical, predictable, and orderly place.
We are still in that era of discovery and progress. Every day, physicists learn new and amazing things about our universe, from the behavior of subatomic particles to the composition of distant stars. In fact, recent discoveries have even begun to challenge some of our most fundamental beliefs about physics. I hope class will join the legacy left by Newton and Galileo. They looked in awe at Creation and became the great question-askers of their time. It is through similar question-asking that we will discover some of the eloquent and universal laws that govern our world.
This year, I’m also teaching Computer Math, which is one of my favorite math classes because it is math with context. Math classes would be a lot more interesting if they always had an explicit application or context (e.g. Computer Math, Nuclear Calculus, Balloon Algebra, Honda Trigonometry, Bagel Geometry). So, this year we are going to work on our math skills, not because the state is breathing down our necks to raise SOL scores (unworthy context), but because we will need to calculate the trajectory of our video game protagonist after he drives off a lunar cliff (worthy context).