Reading a complex subjectand comprehending the details can be a challenge, but very often an old book can help.
Old books were written before the art of educating was lost.
I am opening my old book -A Natural Philosophy published 1896 to a random page ... let me show you what I mean.
Lets just jump right into this page discussing VELOCITY OF FALLING BODIES and compare the subject covered to a typical online search.
I have written out what the image above says:
Falling Bodies
114. VELOCITY OF FALLING BODIES. — If a feather and a cent be dropped from a height at the same time, the cent will reach the ground some seconds before the feather. This fact Aristotle and his successors explained by teaching that the velocity of falling bodies is proportioned to their weight; that a body of two pounds, for instance, would reach the ground in just half the time required by a body weighing one pound. Galileo was the first to correct this error (about A. D. 1590). He held that the velocity of falling bodies is independent of their weight, and that, if no other force than gravity acted on them, all objects dropped at the same time from the same height would reach the ground at the same instant.
So startling a proposition was at once condemned by the learned men of the day ; but Galileo, convinced of the truth of his position, challenged his opponents to a trial.
The leaning tower of Pisa [pe'-zah], Italy, was chosen as the scene of the experiment, and multitudes flocked to witness it. Two balls were produced, one of which weighed exactly twice as much as the other, and after being examined, to prevent the possibility of deception, at a given signal they were dropped. In breathless anxiety the crowd awaited the result, doubting not that it would confound the bold youth of six-and-twenty years, who had dared to oppose not only the sages of his own time, but also the established opinion of centuries and the great master Aristotle himself. To their amazement, the bold youth was right ; the balls reached the earth at the same instant. Unable to credit their own senses, again and again they repeated the experiment, but each time with the same result. This triumph, though it awakened the jealousy of his defeated rivals, and cost Galileo his place as professor of mathematics in the university of Pisa, established the fact that gravity causes all bodies to descend with equal rapidity, without reference to their weight, and that all apparent differences are caused by some other agency.
115. RESISTANCE OF THE AIR. — The cause of the differfence of velocity in a falling feather and a falling cent is the Resistance of the Air....
and here we begin to expand on the reasons why.
At the bottom of the page we get some immediate questions to make sure the matter was clearly understood.
Then moving right along...
"This resistance [of the air] is proportioned to the extent of surface which the falling body presents to the air. The surface, indeed, may be so extended that gravity can hardly overcome the air's resistance; thus, gold may be beaten into a leaf so thin that it will be exceedingly slow in its descent, floating for a time in the air.
116. That the resistance of the air causes the difference of velocity exhibited by falling bodies, may be proved in two ways : — •
1. A piece of paper, a sheet of gold-leaf, or a feather, with its surface extended, floats slowly downward ; roll it into a compact mass, and it will descend rapidly like a stone.
2. Remove the air from a high glass tube (see Fig. 47) by means of an instrument called the air-pump, to be described hereafter. Then, from an apparatus provided for the purpose, drop a feather and a cent simultaneously, and they will reach the bottom at precisely the same instant. Let in the air and drop them, and the feather will be several seconds longer than the cent in reaching the bottom.
117. The Parachute. — It is the resistance of the air that enables a person to descend in safety from"... and by now we are so interested we want to go on..
and you can here.
If you are attracted to this style of learning and feel pulled in do feel free to jump back to page 46,
When I started this article I just opened the book randomly to Velocity to make a few points about the book.
One point is, - In two pages I became aware of gravity, velocity, Aristotle, Galileo, who lived in 1590 and was age 26! when he did the experiment at the Tower of Piza, resistence, gold leaf, vacuum tube ie..removing the air from a high glass tube
Now lets compare to learning onling- I searched the same title VELOCITY OF FALLING BODIES. Just beginnig to read the page here I am already confronted with terms and words that go beyond the basic foundation of the subject and these immediately cause confusion, if not the illusion that I am not just "smart enough".
If you browse through the website you can see there are ready made lessons plans
"When a teacher begins the school year, they can clone the pre-built class with its collection of ready-to-use assignments. Each pre-built class will be fully customizable."
and we get "task trackers" and 'think sheets' and, well you can look through the pages
image from Physics Classroom
yourself and imagine your preferences. A comfortable chair in a light and airy space with a old school style of learning, or a standardized desk in a classroom packed with distractions and think sheets that will task track the process. I wonder if Galileo or Aristotle are mentioned in any think sheets?
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Another point is recognizing that websites as this can be useful if utilized in the proper sequence of learning. But first it is essential to recognize the value of a proper foundation.
Taking a page out of the year 1869 is a lesson in using the old school method of reading first to actually understand and then expand.
If you feel that this article is helping you to understand the purpose of old school methods then, at this point feel free to expand with your own method.
Just remember-
Yes, we have moved on from the high glass tube to youtube and videos which can be great. But Be Careful of the term made simple. We don't actually want to be made simple do we? We want to retain real knowledge to access internally and independent of technology
Simplifed or standardized can be the path to mediocratized. Mediocracy is mediocre, which is " of only moderate quality; not very good".
Old books were written to actually educate reader and student. Somewhere along the decades complex overly complicated frameworks moved in and real knowledge had to move over for data collection.
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Take the old school test.
What causes the difference of velocity in a falling feather and a falling cent ?
To what is the resistance of the air proportioned ?
How may the air's resistance almost be made to counterbalance gravity ?
If a feather and a cent be dropped at the same time, which will reach the ground first ?
How did Aristotle explain this fact ?
What was Galileo's opinion on the subject ?
How was Galileo's theory received by the learned men of the day ?
side note-
I found this site about three pages in to the search engine discovery. In my opinion its better than the first website but still, not so useful as the old book.
