Dear Obbie...

http://www.science20.com/chemical_education/blog/fusing_modern_physics_dated_curriculum-101344?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co

An "open letter" in the form of a youtube video to the president regarding physics education complained that most of the physics taught in high school is at least 150 years old. It does score some good points in arguing why modern physics should be included in a basic course. How can students accept the notion of a dense nucleus consisting of positively charged particles without having any knowledge of the strong force? How does carbon 14's beta decay make any sense without weak interactions? And twin paradoxes aside, without relativity we have no idea why gold has its color, why thallium is poisonous and why mercury is liquid. 



The Honourable Schoolboy