Physics

Ernie McFarland is Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Guelph, where he recently retired after teaching for 35 years. He has received five teaching awards, including the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations Teaching Award, the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and a 3M National Teaching Fellowship. He is co-author of three books: Energy, Physics and the Environment (3rd Ed., Thomson, 2007), Physics for the Biological Sciences (5th Ed., Nelson, 2012), and Physics for Tomorrow's World (with Alan Hirsch, Revised 2nd Ed., Nelson, 2012), which was the precursor to this current text. He is also sole author of Einstein's Special Relativity-Discover it for Yourself (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1998).Alan J. Hirsch cherishes his experiences teaching high school physics, science, and mathematics in Ontario for 31 years. His classrooms became the inspiration and experimental incubator for many textbooks that bear his name. He developed and wrote Ontario's first textbook written exclusively for college-bound students, Physics: A Practical Approach (Wiley: 1st ed. 1981; 2nd ed. 1991). He was also the sole author of Physics for a Modern World (a Grade 11 academic text; Wiley: 1986), and Physics 12 College Preparation (Nelson: 2004). He was a co-author of Nelson Physics 11 (2002), Nelson Physics 12 (2003), as well as Physics for Tomorrow's World (with Ernie McFarland), which became the basis for this current text (Nelson: Revised 2nd ed. 2012). He has also co-authored 13 science texts for Grades 7 to 10 for use across Canada. Several of these physics and science texts have been translated into French, and Physics for a Modern World was adapted for use in Australia. For several years, he also wrote amusement-park workbooks and coordinated model roller coaster contests for the annual physics/math day at Canada's Wonderland, near Toronto, where he had no choice but to ride the coasters to verify data!Joanne O'Meara has been teaching physics at the post-secondary level since 1999. From the beginning, Joanne has tried to make the subject more accessible and relevant through strong links between theory and application, emphasizing the importance of unifying fundamental principles within the context of interdisciplinary learning. Joanne joined the Department of Physics at the University of Guelph in 2002 and has served as the Associate Chair of the department for several years. She has played a pivotal role in the ongoing evolution of the undergraduate physics curriculum at Guelph-for physics majors and non-physics majors alike. At the national level, Joanne has held executive positions with the Division of Physics Education within the Canadian Association of Physicists and chaired the National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics Revitalization. Joanne is committed to the betterment of physics education at all levels, as evidenced by her development of instructional videos, physics demonstration shows, and teacher workshops for elementary and secondary schools, as well as her repeated appearances on the Discovery Channel's Daily Planet show.