Our newest book is out, Make: Physics by Joan Horvath and Rich Cameron. Its subtitle is “Building projects to explore calculus-based mechanics”. Using LEDs, micro:bit and 3D printing in hands-on experiments, this book focuses on mechanics, kinematics, energy, momentum and other topics, which are usually part of high school physics or college engineering courses. However, Joan Horvath thinks this book is also for those who didn’t take physics in high school, and now wish they had it in their head. The authors, who have published books with us on Calculus, Trigonometry and Geometry, are well equipped to explain the sometimes challenging math associated with physics, while remaining grounded in real-world applications.

Make: Physics is available in Maker Shed and on Amazon.

SPECIAL OFFER: 25% off discount on this book in Maker Shed for readers of this newsletter; use promo code PHYSICS25 at checkout. Good for one week.

In high school, physics typically follows the sciences after biology and chemistry and requires having taken calculus. It often had the reputation for being the most challenging class with the most difficult teacher. But I’ve also heard people say it was the best class they had in high school, probably because they had a great teacher.

I didn’t take physics in high school. Instead, I read Physics for Poets in 1990’s and have since watched the videos of MIT professor Walter Lewin on YouTube.

I wonder what your experience of physics was. Also, how has learning physics helped you as a maker? Have you tried teaching physics to others?

A while back, I exchanged emails with Make: Physics co-author, Joan Horvath. I asked her whether her book was aimed at teachers. She replied that it really wasn’t. “Like calculus, people teaching high school physics with calculus are probably stuck with the AP curriculum, which is all about calculating things that will be on the AP exam and not intuition. I know there is widespread dissatisfaction with the AP curriculum (and the fees and required faculty training that the AP guys require if students from a school are going to be allowed to take the AP exam).” So this book exists outside the system, perhaps as a supplement or in informal education, and that may have its benefits.

Joan added: “I think the big audience will be home schoolers who are ahead of their peers, afterschool programs who cater to those students, and adults teaching themselves (maybe with their kids). We have kept the projects cheap and micro:bit based, and that lends itself to the informal ed crowd.” Our book, Make: Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments by Robert Bruce Thompson and its companion title: Make: Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments, have both been popular with home schoolers who have to build some version of a lab to be able to do experiments. At Make:, we actually have quite a good collection of books that offer alternatives to traditional textbooks and the way science and math are typically taught in the classroom.

Joan writes that nonetheless they had interest from teachers in traditional schools that “our book (by design) aims to teach the content with cheaper stuff than typical college freshman physics.”

One other audience that Joan hopes to reach are the “regretters”, those who took physics but didn't learn it well at the time, or never took it. Perhaps it’s like a classic in literature, like the Odyssey, that you didn’t want to read in school but now you are motivated to read it on your own. It’s never too late.

Hearings for California’s 3D printing legislation (AB-2047) took place in Sacramento in June. While a lot of makers showed up to speak against the bill, crafted to block 3D printers from printing ghost guns, the bill’s sponsor and other legislators seem unfazed by opposition’s arguments, which is largely that the technological solution they propose is not feasible.

One of the questions I have for legislators why they keep pushing back the timeline outlined in the bill.

Physics co-author Joan Horvath was one of those who traveled to Sacramento in June to show that the maker community opposes AB 2047.

Nuts and Volts has an article by Edward B. Driscoll Jr on the The TRS-80 Model 1,

Driscoll writes the TRS-80 suffered in comparison to the Apple II, which “came in a white case and screamed simplicity and ease of use.” He said “the TRS-80's aesthetics were basically non-existent.” Nonetheless, the TRS-80, with its endearing nickname of “TRaSh-80”, sold 200,000 units over its lifetime. “I'd say it's probably a tie between how many of today's computer users cut their teeth on the TRS-80 as compared to the Apple II,” wrote Driscoll, adding the the TRS-80 “could provide a lot of computing power to the neophyte.”

In a feature story in the Atlantic, “The Newest Way to Go Analog” (behind paywall), Nancy Walecki writes about “a recent ‘analog’ movement in which people—usually those in Gen Z—opt for less distracting alternatives to their ‘everything’ device.” They are using old iPods, DVD players, vintage computers, point-and-shoot cameras and other devices in place of iPhones and other “modern’ devices. They aren’t so radically analog that they also have their iPhones and tablets but they want to have analog alternatives. I suspect that some of this interest comes from wanting more control over the technology in our lives, a good impulse that can get you making or modifying devices for your own use. This impluse is behind DIY.

Part of gaining more control of your life is recognizing how technology, among other things, have control over you.

Make Things is a weekly newsletter for the Maker community from Make:. This newsletter lives on the web at makethings.make.co

I’d love to hear from you if you have ideas, projects or news items about the maker community. Email me - [email protected].