Conceptual Physics (12th Edition)

Book Preface

Conceptual Physics is a very personal book, reflected in its many photographs of family and friends, who overlap with colleagues and friends worldwide. Many of these people are identified in chapter-opening photos, and with some exceptions I’ll not repeat their names here. Family and friends whose photos are Part Openers, however, are listed here. We begin on page 1, where great-nephew Evan Suchocki (pronounced “su-hock-ee” with a silent c) holds a pet chickie on my lap.

Part One opens on page 19 with Charlotte Ackerman, the daughter of friends Duane Ackerman and Ellen Hum. Part Two opens with Andrea Wu (also on pages 131 and 492), daughter of my friend in Hawaii, Chiu Man Wu (page 322). Part Three opens on page 244 with four-year-old Francesco Ming Giovannuzzi from Florence, Italy, grandson of friends Keith and Tsing Bardin (page 245). Part Four on page 355 shows Abby Dijamco, daughter of my last CCSF teaching assistant, dentist Stella Dijamco. In Part Five, on page 405, is my granddaughter Megan, daughter of Leslie and Bob Abrams. Part Six, page 485, opens with Lillian’s nephew, Christopher Lee. Part Seven, page 452, shows William Davis, son of friends Alan and Fe Davis. My granddaughter Grace Hewitt begins Part Eight on page 657.

City College of San Francisco friends and colleagues open several chapters and are named there. Photos that are figures include Will Maynez, the designer and builder of the air track displayed on page 100, and again burning a peanut on page 298. Diana Lininger Markham is shown on pages 29 and 159. Fred Cauthen drops balls on page 127. Physics instructor friends from other colleges and universities include Evan Jones playing with Bernoulli on page 264 and showing LED lighting on page 573. Egypt’s Mona El Tawil-Nassar adjusts capacitor plates on page 423. Sanjay Rebello from Kansas State University, Manhattan, is shown on page 138. Hawaii’s Walter Steiger is on page 627. Chuck Stone of Colorado School of Mines, Golden, shows an energy ramp on page 185.

Physics high school teacher friends include retired Marshall Ellenstein, who swings the water-filled bucket on page 146, walks barefoot on broken glass on page 263, and poses with Richard Feynman on page 544. Other physics teachers from Illinois are Ann Brandon, riding on a cushion of air on page 268, and Tom Senior, making music on page 403.

Family photos begin with wife Lillian and me, showing that you cannot touch without being touched on page 81. Another updated photo that links touching to Newton’s third law shows my brother Stephen with his daughter Gretchen on page 87. Stephen’s son Travis is on page 154, and his oldest daughter Stephanie on pages 230, 543, and 686. My son Paul is shown on pages 305 and 340. Daughter-in-law Ludmila Hewitt holds crossed Polaroids on page 556. The endearing girl on page 215 is my daughter Leslie Abrams, earth-science coauthor of the Conceptual Physical Science textbooks. This colorized photo of Leslie has been a trademark of Conceptual Physics since the Third Edition. A more recent photo with her husband Bob is on page 486. Their children, Megan and Emily (page 554), along with son Paul’s children, Alex (page 90) and Grace (page 391), make up the colorful set of photos on page 510. Photos of my late son James are on pages 150, 394, and 536. He left me my first grandson, Manuel, seen on pages 234 and 383. Manuel’s grandmom, my wife Millie, who passed away in 2004, bravely holds her hand above the active pressure cooker on page 306. Brother David and his wife Barbara demonstrate atmospheric pressure on page 269. Their son, also David, an electrician, is on page 445, and grandson John Perry Hewitt is on page 276. Sister Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, author and emeritus theologian at Claremont School of Theology, illustrates reflection on page 522. Marjorie’s son, John Suchocki, author of Conceptual Chemistry, Fifth Edition, and chemistry coauthor of the Conceptual Physical Science textbooks, is also a singer-songwriter, known as John Andrew; he strums his guitar on page 472. The group listening to music on page 399 is part of John’s and Tracy’s wedding party: from left to right, late Butch Orr, niece Cathy Candler (page 136 and her son Garth Orr on page 226), bride and groom, niece Joan Lucas (page 39), sister Marjorie, Tracy’s parents Sharon and David Hopwood, teachers Kellie Dippel and Mark Werkmeister, and me.

Photos of Lillian’s family include her dad (my father-in-law), Wai Tsan Lee, showing magnetic induction on page 457, and her mom (my mother-in-law), Siu Bik Lee, making good use of solar power on page 315. My nephew and niece, Erik and Allison Wong, dramatically illustrate thermodynamics on page 346. Personal friends who were my former students begin with Tenny Lim, a rocket engineer at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, drawing her bow on page 115. This photo has appeared in every book since the Sixth Edition. She is seen with her husband Mark Clark on Segways on page 144. Another of my protégés is rocketscientist Helen Yan, who is involved in satellite imaging sensoring for Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, in addition to teaching physics part-time at CCSF (page 121), and again posing with Richard Feynman and Marshall Ellenstein on page 544. On page 150 Cliff Braun is at the far left of my son James in Figure 8.50, with nephew Robert Baruffaldi at the far right. Alexei Cogan demonstrates the center of gravity on page 143, and the karate gal on page 95 is Cassy Cosme.