Wonder and Delight: Essays in Science Education in honour of the life and work of Eric Rogers 1902-1990

Eric Rogers was a great physics educator, with a worldwide reputation for the passion, profundity and quirkiness of his thinking. This book honours his memory by collecting together writings about science education which have lasting relevance, on subjects about which Eric Rogers cared deeply, by an international group of distinguished authors who each have something to say of wide and general interest. Part I contains substantial essays that deal with issues of current and lasting concern in science education. They are all matters which Eric Rogers had close to his heart and to which he made important contributions. Part II gives examples of Eric Rogers' influence on physics education in his own words and through examples given by others. It begins with his well known Oersted Medal address, in facsimile, containing one of the most powerful statements of his thinking on tests and examinations. His address to the ICPE Conference in Edinburgh in 1975 provides a further eloquent sample of his authentic voice. Part III contains personal accounts of the man, plain spoken as he would have wished and expected. Finally Eric Rogers, as he always did in life, gets the last word: the editors have chosen The Demon Theory of Friction as an example of his ability to combine wicked wit with the making of a serious point. Eric Rogers' own voice speaks throughout the book. The various contributions are introduced with short quotations from his writings. They are certainly powerfully evocative for those who knew him, and will convey better than any part of the book the essential nature of the man to those who did not.