Vita

Position  (return to top)

Professor Emeritus of Physics

Physics Department
California State Polytechnic University
3801 West Temple Avenue
Pomona, CA, 91768

Voice: (909) 869-4054
FAX: (909) 869-5090
email: ajm at csupomona.edu

web: http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm/

Education  (return to top)

1973, B.S. in Physics, Harvey Mudd College
1975, M.S. in Physics, U.C.Berkeley
1980, Ph.D. in Physics, U.C.Berkeley
(Dissertation Title:   "Rocket Observations of Natural and
Artificially Stimulated Phenomena within a Quiet Auroral Arc")

Professional Affiliations  (return to top)

American Association of Physics Teachers, 1983-

(2007-08: Ex Officio Member of the Executive Board)
(2003-04: Chair of Nominating Committee)
(2002-03: Nominating Committee)
(2000-03: Committee on Physics in Undergraduate Education)
(1989-92: Committee on Computers in Physics Education)

American Journal of Physics

(2008-: Consulting Editor)
(2007-08: Acting Editor)
(2003-07: Consulting Editor)
(1998-00: Associate Editor)

Computers in Physics

(1992-95: Coeditor, Books Department)

Introductory University Physics Project

(1990-92: Development team, "Six Ideas"model)

Physics Academic Software

(1988-1996: Software Review Panel)

The Physics Teacher

(2006-2009: Member of the Editorial Board)

Southern California Section American Association of Physics Teachers, 1983-

(2006-:Web Manager/Editor)
(2005-06: Acting Web Manager)
(1999-06: Editor)

(1997-99: Past President)

(1995-97: President)

(1993-95: Vice President)

(1991-93: Editor)

Honors (return to top)

2007: Distinguished Service Citation, American Association of Physics Teachers

 

Professional Experience  (return to top)

2008-: Professor Emeritus of Physics

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California

2007-2008: Acting Editor

American Journal of Physics

2003-present: Lead Guitarist

Out-Laws of Physics

1995-2008: Professor of Physics

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California

1993-94: Visiting Associate Professor of Physics

Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California

1990-95: Associate Professor of Physics

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California

1986-87: Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics

Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California

1983-90: Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics

University of California, Berkeley, California

1983-90: Assistant Professor of Physics

The Claremont Colleges, Claremont, California

1983: Assistant Research Physicist

Space Science Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California

1981-83: Owner and Engineer

The Attic Sound Laboratory, Berkeley, California

1980-82: Assistant Professor of Physics

Mills College, Oakland, California

1979-81: Maintenance Engineer

The Record Plant Recording Studios, Sausalito, California

1978-80: Instructor in Physics

Mills College, Oakland, California

1976-78: Physics Instructor

Maybeck High School, Berkeley, California

1975-80: Research Assistant

Space Science Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley

1973-75: Teaching Associate

University of California, Berkeley

1973-74: Summer Research Assistant

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico

Publications  (return to top)

"Meet Your New President—Harvey Leff"

with John W. Jewett, Phys. Teach. 45, 70, (2007).

"The Asymmetrical 'Sticking' Behavior of Two Balls on an Incline"

Phys. Teach. 37, 463-467, (1999).

"Stopping Objects with Zero External Work: Mechanics meets Thermodynamics"

with Harvey S. Leff, Am. J. Phys. 61, 121-127, (1993).

"All about Work"

with Harvey S. Leff, Am. J. Phys. 60, 356-365, (1992).

"The Pathological Kinematics of Unphysical Force Laws"

Am. J. Phys. 60, 238-241, (1992).

"Particle Dynamics Simulations: Developing Analytical Skills with Computer-Based Experiments"

in Computing in Advanced Undergraduate Physics, edited by David M. Cook, Lawrence University, (1990).

"On the Anticorrelation of the Electric Field and Peak Electron Energy Within an Auroral Arc"

with C.W. Carlson, J. Geophys. Res. 90, 399, (1985).

"A Numerical Simulation of Auroral Ionospheric Electrodynamics"

J. Geophys. Res. 90, 409, (1985).

"Rocket Observations of Natural and Artificially Stimulated Phenomena within a Quiet Auroral Arc"

Ph.D. Dissertation, Physics Department, U.C. Berkeley, September 1980.

"Relations Between Transverse Electric Fields and Field-Aligned Currents"

with C.W. Carlson, J. Geophys. Res. 83, 1426, (1978).

"Null Geodesics in the Extended Kerr Manifold"

with T.M. Helliwell, Phys. Rev. D 12, 2993, (1975).

Software Reviews  (return to top)

"Interactive Physics II: A Physics Simulation Laboratory for the Macintosh"

Computers in Physics 7, 3, 312-316, (1993).

"Interactive Physics version 1.2"

Computers in Physics 5, 3, 349-354, (1991).

Book Reviews  (return to top)

Dynamic Modeling, by Bruce Hannon and Matthias Ruth

Computers in Physics 9, 4, 397-398, (1995).

From Alchemy to Quarks, by Sheldon L. Glashow

Am. J. Phys. 62, 1156-1157, (1994).

A Comparative Review of Seven Internet Guides: The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog, by Ed Krol; The Internet Passport, by Jonathan Kochmer and NorthWestNet; Internet: Getting Started, by April Marine, Susan Kirkpatrick, Vivian Neou, and Carol Ward; Internet Primer for Information Professionals, by Elizabeth Lane and Craig Summerhill; Zen and the Art of the Internet, by Brendan P. Kehoe; The Internet Companion, by Tracy LaQuey and Jeanne C. Ryer; and Crossing the Internet Threshold, by Roy Tennant, John Ober, and Anne G. Lipow

Computers in Physics 7, 5, 543-544, (1993).

Computing for Scientists and Engineers: A Workbook of Analysis, Numerics, and Applications, by William J.Thompson

Computers in Physics 7, 2, 155-156, (1993).

Random Processes in Physical Systems, by Charles Whitney

Computers in Physics 6, 5, 555, (1992).

Auditory Processing of Complex Sounds, edited by William A. Yost and Charles F. Watson

Leonardo 23, No. 1, 148, (1990).

Longing for the Harmonies, by Frank Wilczék and Betsy Devine

Leonardo 22, Nos. 3 & 4, 453, (1989).

Sound Recording Practice, edited by John Borwick

Leonardo 21, No. 4, (1988).

Electronic and Computer Music, by Peter Manning

Leonardo 21, No. 2, 210, (1988).

Published Letters to Physics Journals  (return to top)

"Equinox Disparity"

Phys. Teach. 47, 327, (2009).

"Response to ' "Relativity of Simultaneity" and "Time Dilation" Issues - Revisited' "

PhysicaPlus Online. 8, http://physicaplus.org.il/zope/home/1128811288/milo_en/1175460801, (2007).

"Line 'em Up"

Phys. Teach. 44, 134, (2006).

"On 'Reinterpreting the famous train/embankment experiment of relativity'"

Eur. J. Phys. 25, L49-50, (2004).

"Drag Forces"

Phys. Teach. 41, 261, (2003).

"Work, Energy, and Kinematic Car Data"

(with Harvey S. Leff) Phys. Teach. 40, 516, (2002).

"Accelerating Drops and Doppler Shift"

Phys. Teach. 40, 260, (2002).

"SI Iguanas" [A puff piece if there ever was one!]

Am. J. Phys. 67, 467, (1999).

"Comments on Long Distance Freefall"

Phys. Teach. 37, 261, (1999).

"Falling Into the Sun"

Phys. Teach. 36, 324, (1998).

"Blocks and Bullets Demo"

Phys. Teach. 36, 198, (1998).

"On 'Choosing the Right System for Analysis of Forces'"

Phys. Teach. 34, 534, (1996).

"Telephoto magnification"

Quantum 4, #4, 52. (March/April 1994.)

"Response to 'On problem Solving in Kinematics'"

Am. J. Phys. 62, 105, (1994).

"Responses to 'Why Do Authors Keep On Doing It?': Part 2"

(Three comments on treatments of topics in introductory physics: "Separate Symbols for Separate Concepts," "Call a Force a Force," and "Relativity Theory Versus the Lorentz Transformations") Am. J. Phys. 61, 760, (1993).

"Responses to 'Why Do Authors Keep On Doing It?': Part 1"

(Three comments on treatments of topics in introductory physics: "Demystifying Motion With Constant Acceleration," "Is the Word 'Centripetal' an Asset or a Liability," and "Optics as Physics, not Bookkeeping") Am. J. Phys. 61, 668, (1993).

"Time Scale"

Phys. Teach. 31, 325, (1993).

"Comment on 'On The Drawing of Lines of Force and Equipotentials'"

Phys. Teach. 25, 7, (1987).

Invited Talks at Professional Meetings  (return to top)

"Addressing Conceptual Difficulties in Electrical Circuits"

AAPT Announcer 23, #4, 42 (1993). (1994 AAPT Winter Meeting, San Diego)

"Exploring Chaotic Rhythms on the PC"

Proceedings-Disorderly Science: Chaos at Harvey Mudd College, 29 February 1992.

"Particle Dynamics Simulations:Developing Analytical Skills
with Computer-Based Experiments"

Sloan/Lawrence Conference on Using Computational Resources in the Upper-Division Theoretical Physics Curriculum, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, July 13, 1990.

Contributed Talks at Professional Meetings  (return to top)

"Doing Physics with Spreadsheets: Old Tricks for New Dogs"

Bulletin of the AAS 38, #4, 984 (2006). (2007 AAS/AAPT Winter Meeting, Seattle)

"Making Use of Rarely Given Wrong Answers on the FCI"

AAPT Announcer 35, #2, 159 (2005). (2005 AAPT Summer Meeting, Salt Lake City)

"Uniform (Vertical?) Circular Motion"

AAPT Announcer 35, #2, 87 (2005). (2005 AAPT Summer Meeting, Salt Lake City)

"Simple, Interesting, and Unappreciated Facts about Relativistic Acceleration"

AAPT Announcer 33, #4, ?? (2002). (2003 AAPT Winter Meeting, Austin)

"Using Interactive Physics™ to Explore the Physics of Gases"

AAPT Announcer 32, #2, 146 (2002). (2002 AAPT Summer Meeting, Boise)

"Using Interactive Physics™ to Explore the Physics of Gases"

presented at the joint spring meeting of the AAPT Southern California and Northern California/Nevada Sections, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 27 April 2002.

"What happens when a*t > c?"

AAPT Announcer 29, #2, 116 (1999). (1999 AAPT Summer Meeting, San Antonio)

"Force First: A Progress Report"

AAPT Announcer 27, #2, 86 (1997). (1997 AAPT Summer Meeting, Denver)

"Force First"

AAPT Announcer 26, #4, 90 (1996). (1997 AAPT Winter Meeting, Phoenix)

"Increasing Intuition for Inertia and Interactions with 'Interactive Physics'"

AAPT Announcer 25, #4, 74 (1995). (1996 AAPT Winter Meeting, Reno)

"Inputs and Outputs in Geometrical Optics: What's the Object?"

AAPT Announcer 24, #4, 96 (1994). (1995 AAPT Winter Meeting, Orlando)

"Getting in Touch with Your 'Feelings': Lessons from the Principle of Equivalence"

AAPT Announcer 24, #2, 111 (1994). (1994 AAPT Summer Meeting, Notre Dame)

"Getting in Touch with Your 'Feelings': Lessons from the Principle of Equivalence"

presented at the fall meeting of the AAPT Southern California Section, San Diego State University, 6 November 1993.

"Diving in Artificial Gravity: A Memorable Lesson on Fictitious Forces"

AAPT Announcer 23, #2, 74 (1993). (1993 AAPT Summer Meeting, Boise)

"Is the Yellow Light Long Enough"

with Robert Salow and Peter Siegel, presented at the fall meeting of the AAPT Southern California Section, Cal State Northridge, 14 November 1992.

"Conceptual Kinematics: A Meaningful and Memorable Approach
to Constant Acceleration Motion"

AAPT Announcer 22, #2, 55 (1992). (1992 AAPT Summer Meeting, Orono)

"Conceptual Kinematics"

presented at the fall meeting of the AAPT Southern California Section, Long Beach Polytechnic High School, 2 November 1991.

"The Pole and the Barn: A Worksheet on the Consistency of Special Relativity"

Addendum to schedule of the 1991 summer AAPT meeting, Vancouver, BC.

"All About Work"

with Harvey S. Leff, AAPT Announcer 20, #4, 95 (1990). (1991 AAPT Winter Meeting, San Antonio)

"Head-On Collision II: Yin Yang Soup"

with Harvey S. Leff, presented at the fall meeting of the AAPT Southern California Section, Cal State Dominguez Hills, 10 November 1990.

"Work in Inelastic Collisions: Surprises and Insights"

with Harvey S. Leff, AAPT Announcer 20, #2, 75 (1990). (1990 AAPT Summer Meeting, Minneapolis)

"Order-of-Magnitude Problems: Learning to Let Go"

AAPT Announcer 20, #2, 60 (1990). (1990 AAPT Summer Meeting, Minneapolis)

"Intuition Building with Dynamics Simulators"

AAPT Announcer 19, #4, 110 (1989). (1990 AAPT Winter Meeting, Atlanta)

"An Interactive Computer Lesson on the Graphical Determination of Functional Parameters"

AAPT Announcer 19, #2, 74 (1989). (1989 AAPT Summer Meeting, San Luis Obispo)

"The Incipient Slip of a Tipping Object"

AAPT Announcer 18, #4, 146 (1988). (1989 AAPT Winter Meeting, San Francisco)

"A Curious Property of Trajectories under Position-Dependent Forces"

AAPT Announcer 18, #4, 146 (1988). (1989 AAPT Winter Meeting, San Francisco)

"The Strange Case of the Quadratic Repulsive Force"

presented at the fall meeting of the AAPT Southern California Section, Cal State Fullerton, 19 November 1988.

"Observations of Computer Generated Aurora"

Program of AGU spring meeting (1979).

"Auroral Particle and Electric Field Measurements in Conjunction with Active Plasma Experiments"

with R.I. Bush and C.W. Carlson, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 60, 913 (1979).

"On the Control of Ionospheric Electric Fields by Auroral Electron Fluxes"

with R.E. Ergun and C.W. Carlson, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 60, 351 (1979).

"Changes in Auroral Electron Spectra Associated with Plasma Wave Emissions"

with C.W. Carlson, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 59, 350 (1978).

"Observations of Beam-Generated Upper Hybrid Waves Decaying to Whistlers"

with C.W. Carlson, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 58, 1214 (1977).

"Observations of Auroral Electron Fluxes Associated with High Frequency Plasma Waves"

with C.W. Carlson, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 58, 1214 (1977).

"Atmospheric Polarization and Field-Aligned Currents"

with C.W. Carlson, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 57, 992 (1976).

Colloquia  (return to top)

"Casual Computational Physics"

Cal Poly Pomona Physics Department, 6 April 2001.

"Light thoughts on Teaching, with Gravity"

Physics Department, University of Washington, 2 November 2000.

"Asymmetrically sticking spheres, whip dynamics, and how to tour the universe in comfort: A few of my current favorite curiosities"

Physics Department, California State University Chico, 25 February 2000.

"Scales of the Universe"

CEEMaST Conference, Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, California, 1 May 1999.

"Interactive Explorations with Spreadsheets"

CEEMaST Conference, Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, California, 1 May 1999.

"A Demonstration and Critical Review of 'Interactive Physics'"

Physics Department, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, 12 March 1999.

"Light thoughts on Gravity"

Cal Poly Pomona Physics Department, 8 March 1996.

"The Internet for NONdummies: A Technically-Literate-Beginner's Introduction to the Internet and the World Wide Web"

meeting of the Southern California Section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Montebello, California, 17 October 1995.

"Doorstops, Decaying Orbits, and Chaos: Numerical Methods in Dynamics"

Cal Poly Pomona Physics Department, 1 May 1990.

"Binaural Hearing and the Psychoacoustical Bases of Sound Localization"

Cal Poly Pomona Physics Department, 19 January 1990.

"Elements of Digital Signal Processing"

Faculty Seminar, The Claremont Colleges, April 1989.

"The Psychoacoustical Bases of Sound Localization"

Joint Science Department, The Claremont Colleges, 19 October 1988.

"Interactions of the Solar Wind with the Earth's Magnetosphere"

Joint Science Department, Claremont Colleges, 15 October 1986.

"A Numerical Simulation of Ionospheric Electrodynamics Within an Auroral Arc"

The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, California, 17 December 1984.

"Fourier Analysis"

Joint Science Department, The Claremont Colleges, 9 November 1983.

"Plasma Phenomena in the Auroral Ionosphere"

Joint Science Department, The Claremont Colleges, 11 April 1983.

"Oscillations"

Math Department, University of Santa Clara, 16 May 1982.

"Above, Below, and Within the Northern Lights: Satellite, Ground and Rocket Observations of the Aurora Borealis"

East Bay Astronomical Society, Chabot Observatory, Oakland, California, 2 April 1981.

Grants  (return to top)

Sabbatical Leave (Winter and Spring, 1997)

Supporting the further development of an introductory mechanics text. (See "Current Projects")

"Putting Cognitive Results in Physics Learning into Practice"

Cal Poly Pomona Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Awards Program, January 1996. Award supported the development of several chapters of an introductory mechanics text that takes advantage of the results of cognitive studies in the learning of physics.

"Interactive Lessons in Physics with Interactive Physics"

Cal Poly Pomona Multimedia Instruction to Improve Student Learning Program, January 1995. Award supported the development and testing of modules written with Interactive Physics to support instruction in Newton's laws.