Professor of Physics, Emeritus - Calif.
Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
EDUCATION AND TEACHING EXPERIENCE
B.A., M.A., Ph.D. (1968) - Physics - Univ. of California, Riverside
Experimental solid state physics, A. W. Lawson, dissertation
advisor
Sept. 1974 - present - Lecturer, Asst. Prof., Assoc. Prof.,
Professor; Physics Dept, Cal Poly
Feb. 1968-June 1974 - Assistant Professor of Physics,Harvey Mudd
College, Claremont, Calif.
Last updated: September 2008
DEPARTMENT AND UNIVERSITY COURSES, ACTIVITIES, AND AWARDS
General Physics, Physics for Architects, Modern Physics, Solid State
Physics,
Advanced
Topics
in Solid State Physics, special topics seminars, and senior
projects.
President's
Seminar "Science, Society, and the University" - Coordinator
Physics Dept. Tenured Faculty Chair
Academic Senate
Honors Council - University committee to develop and oversee the
Cal Poly Honors Program
Provost's Forum on Teaching and Learning
College of Engineering Award - Outstanding Teacher in College of
Science and Math (1988, 1994)
College of Architecture Award - Honored Teacher in College of
Science and Math (1988)
Cal Poly Distinguished Teaching Award (1995)
Golden Key National Honor Society - honorary member (1998)
RECENT PUBLICATIONS, PRESENTATIONS AND COLLOQUIA
Brown, Ronald F.
SOLID STATE PHYSICS - An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers
El Corral, Fall 2008 450 pp, 10 Chs, 250 questions and problems.
Manuscript is used for the solid state physics sequence
at Cal Poly:
Physics 412 (Solid State Physics), 413 (Advanced Topics in Solid State
Physics), 452 (Solid State Physics Laboratory) - courses taken by
students of physics, materials and electrical engineering, and physical
chemistry. The manuscript has also been used at a several other
universities in undergraduate courses in solid state physics for
scientists and engineers.
Brown, Physics 141 - SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES AND
PROBLEMS - Forces, Motion, and Newton's Laws El Corral (2008)
Brown, Physics 132 - SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES AND
PROBLEMS - Oscillations and Waves, Thermodynamics, Optics El
Corral (2008)
Two monographs of supplemental notes and sample
problems for use in
the first two calculus-based physics courses.
"So...What Would Happen If You Dropped a Magnet Down a
Superconducting Tube?" - Invited talk, AAPT meeting (2002)
Discussion of a question originally raised at an AAPT meeting with
Richard Feynman and David Goodstein fifteen years ago.
Brown, "Meissner Effect AND Persistent Current - A Simple Demo", The
Physics Teacher Mar. 2000.
An extension of the usual levitating magnet demo to show that the
superconducting sample also supports a persistent current.
"On Levitating Magnets and Persistent Currents" - Physics Dept.
Colloquium (May 2000)
"Magnetic Levitation, Currents, and Fields" - AAPT Meeting,
Northern
Sect., Stanford Univ. (Apr. 2000)
Brown, "Weight, Don't Use the Word at All", The Physics
Teacher121, Apr. 1999
Discussion of the mis-use of the word "weight" for "force due to
gravity" in current textbooks.
"Electrons in Flatland - the 1998 Nobel Prize" - Physics Dept.
Colloquium (Feb. 1999)
"Hot Topics in Solid State Physics" - EE Dept. Graduate Seminar
(Mar.1998)
[Survey of three "hot" topics: Quantum Hall effect,
superconductivity, and superfluidity.]
"Soccerballs and Superfluids" - Physics Dept. Colloquium (Feb.
1997)
[A discussion of the 1996 Nobel Prize research in Chemistry (the
Fullerenes) and in Physics (Superfluid He3) as triumphs in condensed
matter research. ]
"Transistor Amplification - or how nearly pure silicon amplifies a
signal" contributed paper - American Assoc. of Physics Teachers, Palo
Alto, April 1994
Member of Polymer Electronics faculty - a group of faculty in
support of the semiconducting
polymer LED work of Dr. David Braun (EE).
RECENT ESSAYS
"Great Ideas
that have Changed our Worldview" Physics is ultimately about ideas
- and some of those ideas have changed the way we view our universe.
"The Nature
of Solids" An essay introducing the study of solid state physics.
"Demonstrating
Magnetic Levitation AND Persistent Current" Recently
published in The Physics Teacher
"Science
at the
University" A recent essay on the role of science at the
university.
"Soccerballs
and Superfluids" The 1996 Nobel prizes in Chemistry and Physics
as grand discoveries in condensed matter.
"Five
Short Stories On Teaching" Personal vignettes about teaching -
including my only two encounters with Richard Feynman.
"October 4,
1957" A personal reminiscence about one of the defining
moments in science education in this half century.
"Some
Thoughts on Educational Quality"The role of the university.
"Studying
and Doing Science" Science as a puzzle. Back
Back
to Ron Brown's Home Page