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The research is focused on the use of film pieces to detect preconceptions about science. Some scenes containing useful concepts for Physics and Chemistry have been specifically selected. Two situations were proposed: the projection of a film where the student could infer the specific content itself and the second option consisting in watching a film accompanied by some questions about the specific content included in the images. From the results, the proposed detector provides a intuitive and useful visual to the student's preconceptions, as well as being a motivator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conservation law in physics can be either a constraint on the kinds of interaction there could be or a coincidence of the kinds of interactions there actually are. This is an important, unjustly neglected distinction. Only if a conservation law constrains the possible kinds of interaction can a derivation from it constitute a scientific explanation despite failing to describe the causal/mechanical details behind the result derived. This conception of the relation between "bottom-up" scientific explanations and one kind of "top-down" scientific explanation is motivated by several examples from classical and modern physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author provides an account of explanatory depth that preserves the explanatory autonomy of the nonfundamental sciences. He defends the view that there are contexts in which it is possible for the nonfundamental sciences to provide deeper explanations than those provided by fundamental physics. He also argues that autonomy is a desideratum of an account of explanatory depth and that two otherwise attractive accounts of explanatory depth failed to meet it.

The current status of string theory is assessed quite differently by most of the theory's exponents than by the majority of physicists in other fields. While the former tend to have a high degree of trust in string theory's viability, the latter largely share a substantially more skeptical point of view. This article argues that the controversy can be best understood in terms of a paradigmatic rift between the two sides over their understandings of theory assessment. An attempt is made to evaluate the two conflicting paradigms on their own terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new approach to research on gender differences in science that uses the work on expertise in science as a framework for understanding gender differences. Because gender differences in achievement and participation in the sciences are largest in physics, the focus of this review is on physics. The nature of expertise is first discussed and a framework that focuses on factors that influence the emergence of expertise in physics is presented. This is used to interpret what is known about gender differences in science, particularly physics. Next, the potential contributions of the research on gender differences to our understanding of expertise are discussed. Using what is learned from these two areas of research, recommendations are made for future research examining gender differences in physics. It is suggested that such an approach be used for other areas of science, such as chemistry, where large gender differences in achievement and participation also exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the pillars of FTG, updates it and uses FTG to identify and rectify the errors of physics. It also highlights the major new applications of FTG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with Aristotle's concept of chance, such as it is presented in Physics II 4-6. The central section of the article concentrates on an analysis of Aristotle's definition of chance and its essential peculiarities: the fact of being an incidental (efficient) cause and the fact of existing in the domain of what is for the sake of an end. According to Rossi, both characteristics would correspond to a causal aspect (in an incidental sense) and to a non causal aspect (or just apparently causal) of chance. Finally, the author also tries to show the structural connection between the aforementioned aspects, taking as a key point the thesis of coincidence among the formal, final, and efficient causes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay attempts to offer a reconstruction of Aristotle's arguments in favor of the use of teleological explanations in Physics II 8. In his exposition of the selected passages Ross makes some emphasis upon the dialogical character of discourse in order to make a modest contribution to the solution of two puzzles: one exegetical in character and the other systematic. This reading allows the author to introduce a new element in the discussion concerning what the scopes and limits of teleological explanations are in Aristotle's Physics. In Ross' view, this strategy is helpful for advancing in the understanding of which is the type of arguments that can be offered when what is under consideration is whether teleology or mechanism are the most proper explicative scheme to account for the natural phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoindentation has become a commonplace tool for the measurement of mechanical properties at small scales, but may have even greater importance as a technique for experimental studies of fundamental materials physics. With high-resolution load-displacement data, discrete events including dislocation source activation, shear instability initiation, and phase transformations can be detected during a nanoindentation test. Recently-developed capabilities in, for example, high-temperature nanoindentation testing and in situ imaging of the indented volume, offer new quantitative details about these phenomena, and present many opportunities for future scientific inquiry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In textbooks and popular writings physicists repeat familiar stories about the history of physics that historians have long identified as myths. Examples of remarks about Galileo and Aristotle are used to illustrate this practice. These examples lead to a discussion of several reasons why these myths might play a positive role for physicists and whether physicists can dispense with myths about the history of their field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of a study on students' interest in physics at the end of their compulsory schooling in Israel carried out in the framework of the ROSE Project. Factors studied were their opinions about science classes, their out-of-school experiences in physics, and their attitudes toward science and technology. Students' overall interest in physics was "neutral" (neither positive nor negative), with boys showing a higher interest than girls. We found a strong correlation between students' "neutral" interest in physics and their negative opinions about science classes. These findings raise serious questions about the implementation of changes made in the Israeli science curriculum in primary and junior high school, especially if the goal is to prepare the young generation for life in a scientific-technological era. A more in-depth analysis of the results led us to formulate curricular, behavioral, and organizational changes needed to reach this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal observables are known to lead to minimal statistical errors on parameters for a given normalised event distribution of a physics reaction. Thereby all statistical correlations are taken into account. Therefore, on the one hand they are a useful tool to extract values on a set of parameters from measured data. On the other hand one can calculate the minimal constraints on these parameters achievable by any data-analysis method for the specific reaction. In case the final states can be reconstructed without ambiguities optimal observables have a particularly simple form. We give explicit formulae for the optimal observables for generic reactions in case of ambiguities in the reconstruction of the final state and for general parameterisation of the final-state phase space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I take a brief look at three frontiers of high-energy physics, illustrating how important parts of our current thinking evolved from earlier explorations at preceding frontiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overview of the atlas reconstruction algorithms is given, with their typical physics applications and the future development path. The developers environment is also briefly described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents notes and discussions related to physics. It presents an example to show that the commutator is proportional to a measurable quantity. The successive measurements of two observables are believed to be related to the commutator, as the commutator is the difference in order of operators of two observables. In order to fully understand the relation, it is very much necessary to find out the relevant quantities for successive measurements and the information contained in the commutator. The commutator of two operators, plays an important role in quantum mechanics. Despite their significance both the operators are usually abstract and are not subjected to an experimental measurement. Interestingly, the connection between the commutator and sequential measurements is a significant aspect, which plays a crucial role in two-state systems.

The article contends that economics and physics are two disciplines that share common agendas. According to the author, there is a group of economists who acknowledge the potential value of ideas and tools taken from other sciences, including physics, and how are receptive to the efforts of physics. The author notes that the opportunity to build links with economists should be not wasted by the dearth of quality control in econophysics.

Announces the incorporation of "Journals of Materials Science Letters" into the core journal "Journal of Materials Science," starting volume 23. Reason for the incorporation of a permanent letter section at the journal.

Presents a calendar of events related to nanoscience scheduled from December 7, 2003 to July 23, 2004. ICMAT 2003: International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies from December 7-12, 2003; 205th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society: Symposium R5-Nanotubes and Novel Materials, DNA and Molecular Devices from May 9-14, 2004.