Discovery

LONGMAN WRITE-ON NOTES, PHYSICS 6, 2ND EDITION, by Chris Smaill; Addison Wesley Longman, 1997; 123 pp; $12.95

Reviewed by Iain Chinnery

This is a new edition of a book with which many Physics teachers will already be familiar, and one of a series being used by many students. As the name suggests it is not intended as a text to be loaned to students but rather as something they would keep. The main purpose is to replace a lot of note-taking in class, thus freeing up time for other activities such as practical work and discussion.

The format is such that it could form part of the work built up during the year. It is designed to be pulled apart, with holes punched in the pages, so that sections can be inserted in the student's folder in any order. Each section starts with a list of objectives, has clearly presented notes, worked examples and exercises, and has space to add further notes. It would not, however, provide sufficient exercises by itself for someone working through it alone.

The content is based on Physics in the New Zealand Curriculum, Level 7 with some additional topics which are being taught at present in Sixth Form Certificate courses. Teachers who are still teaching, for example, Gas Laws and Electrostatics will find that they will need to give their own notes but for the new curriculum the coverage is very thorough.

Overall this is a book which would be a very worthwhile purchase for any student taking a sixth form Physics course and, if the teacher has some means of making them all buy it, could enable time to be used more effectively in class.

Iain Chinnery teaches Physics at Hagley Community College in Christchurch