We live in, ahem, interesting times. Distance education is exploding. Outsourcing of Tutoring and Homework Help is so yesterday. Getting student papers graded in India is the trend. Then there is the new all-you-can-eat buffet of college courses at $99 a month. So what does an aging laboratory (used to teach Physics to non majors) do to stay afloat in the midst of crippling budget cuts? How can one possibly leverage the "strength" of several rooms full of antiquated equipment? When the tough decision to throw out some of these (perfectly fine) instruments is made, is it possible to actually make money off of the old equipment?
I got to thinking about this while poking around at work setting up another one of those Freshman College Physics experiments. That led to a quick search of all the glamorous and not so well known "History of Physics" courses out there. Not too many to list. But the American Institute of Physics does have a list here.
The most recent one is/was offered by Michael Fowler at University of Virginia. The course is a graduate seminar and the syllabus comes with goodies, lots of online simulations. (Loved them). The other courses on the list have similar catchy names such as "Women in Science and Mathematics" and "Cold War Science". The most ineresting course I found on the AIP link is called "Replicating Classical Experiments" given by Jed Buchwald (MIT). Which brings me to the point of this post.
Is it possible for a small two year college to offer and market a "History of Physics" course and where would the students come from? There has always been a liberal arts market for this type of Science course. "Physics for Presidents", "Physics for Poets" and "Kitchen Chemistry" are big draws for non Science majors. However, rising tuition costs could start driving even the affluent students at the Ivies to cheap courses at the small, local four year and two year colleges. As long there is transfer, of course.
The other segment of the market would be the numerous science teacher preparation programs in the country. The graduate schools of education often include a "History of Science" course component. An education Master's with specialization in Physics could then include this an elective.
With aggressive marketing and excellent course delivery (read strong institutional support to the instructor), a successful "History of Physics" course should be a long term money maker.
On the methodology of delivering this course with a Physicist and a Physics Historian, I found this article and a discussion on that has to wait for another post.
