A Search for Structure. Selected Essays on Science, Art and History

All M. I. T. undergraduates have to satisfy an "institute requirement" of two semesters of introductory physics. For a number of years the freshman sequence offered for this purpose has consisted of one semester mostly on classical mechanics and one semester largely devoted to electricity and magnetism. An advanced option, typically using Kleppner and Kolenkow, An Introduction to Mechanics, and Purcell's Electricity and Magnetism, is available to students with a strong mathematical background (typified by advanced placement in calculus); about 20% of the freshmen take this sequence.