Jim Reardon's Traveling Show




News: 
5/8/2016: Jason Steinberg is the 2016 Grand Integrator of Madison!


just
the cow
Wisconsin Track Club
bucky holding an integral sign
Integration Bee



Download talks/papers:
A Seventeenth-Century Analogue to Contemporary Physics Education Reform: Do you want those you teach to gain something better than rote or parrot learning? So did George Herbert in 1632. He recommended the use of Socratic dialogue. American Association of Physics Teachers talk, July 2015.

The Calculus of Variations: An introduction to the Calculus of Variations that emphasizes graphical methods, including the method used in Euler's original 1744 book. Physics 207 honors lecture, September 2015.

Badger Jets Solder Squad: Since the Fall of 2013, Billy Gates, Jr. and I have been teaching middle school students how to solder. We are especially interested in teaching African-American middle school students how to solder. Here's a summary of the state of our art, as presented at the 2015 conference of the National Society of Black Physicists.

Muscle Fiber Types: Summary of relevant scientific literature, leading to conclusion that the specific excellence of fast-twitch fibers is that they are suited to high-angular-velocity activity.

Good posture for distance runners: a case history of good posture for distance runners, starring Johnny Miles, the best cartoon distance runner ever.

Optimal pacing strategies for the 400m and 800m track races involve starting out at a faster pace than can be sustained: James Reardon, Am. J. Phys. 81, 428 (2013). Copyright 2013 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers.
Download.

Like-charged conducting spheres attract, if brought close enough (as Maxwell knew) (4/12)

A lens can be made that, when viewed from a particular direction, bends light the way a black hole would--such a lens might be called a Gravitational Lens (March 2007).

An inquiry into the relevance of Central Force Motion to the physics of running (UW Chaos and Complex Systems Seminar,  May 2006, ppt format, 1.3 MB)

Lessons learned about Physics Outreach from the Wonders of Physics Traveling Show (UW Physics Department special seminar, 3/21/06, 428 kB)

A summary of measurements of Ion Heating on the Madison Symmetric Torus (National Society of Black Physicists, February 2006, pdf format, 2.9 MB).

An overview of the Physics of Running (UW Chaos and Complex Systems Seminar, May 2005, pdf format, 4.8 MB).

Information from the UW archive on the pioneering science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum.


This site updated on August 2, 2017