Paul G. Hewitt

Former silver-medal boxing champion, sign painter, uranium prospector, and soldier, Paul began college at the age of 27, with the help of the GI Bill. He pioneered the conceptual approach to teaching physics at the City College of San Francisco. He has taught as a guest teacher at various middle schools and high schools, the University of California at both the Berkeley and Santa Cruz campuses, and the University of Hawaii at both the Manoa and Hilo campuses. He also taught for 20 years at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, which honored him with its Outstanding Educator Award in 2000. He is the author of Conceptual Physics and a co-author of Conceptual Physical Science and Conceptual Physical Science Explorations (with John Suchocki and Leslie Hewitt Abrams).

Suzanne Lyons

Suzanne received her B.A. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. She earned her M.A. in education and her California teaching credential both from Stanford University. She earned another M.A. degree in Integrated Earth Sciences from California State University Sacramento. Suzanne was editor of Conceptual Physics and other books in the Conceptual series for 16 years and has authored 7 books on physics, hands-on science activities, and other topics in science and education. She has taught science and education courses to students of diverse ages and ability levels, from elementary school through college. She is always interested in developing new ways to teach and to that end, she founded the small business CooperativeGames.com.

John A. Suchocki

John is the author of Conceptual Chemistry and coauthor of Conceptual Physical Science. John obtained his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology. As a tenured professor at Leeward Community College his interests turned to science education, the development of distance learning programs, and student-centered learning curricula. Currently an adjunct professor at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, John also produces science multimedia through his company Conceptual Productions. His popular tutorial video lessons, as well as those of his coauthors, are freely available at ConceptualAcademy.com.

Jennifer Yeh

Jennifer earned a Ph.D. in integrative biology from the University of Texas, Austin, for her work on frog skeleton evolution. She obtained her B.A. in physics and astronomy from Harvard University. Following her graduate work, Jennifer was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, where she studied the genetics of breast cancer. Jennifer has taught courses in physics, cell biology, human embryology, vertebrate anatomy, and ecology and evolution. She is the author of various scientific papers as well as the book Endangered Species: Must They Disappear? (Thomson/Gale, © 2002, 2004). Jennifer continues to work on a wide variety of introductory biology materials, including various online materials.

1. About Science

Part I. Physics

2. Describing Motion

3. Newton’s Laws of Motion

4. Momentum and Energy

5. Gravity

6. Heat

7. Electricity and Magnetism

8. Waves–Sound and Light

Part II. Chemistry

9. Atoms and the Periodic Table

10. The Atomic Nucleus and Radioactivity

11. Investigating Matter

12. Chemical Bonds and Mixtures

13. Chemical Reactions

14. Organic Chemistry

Part III. Biology

15. The Basic Unit of Life–The Cell

16. Genetics

17. The Evolution of Life

18. Diversity of Life on Earth 

19. Human Biology I–Control and Development

20. Human Biology II–Care and Maintenance

21. Ecology

Part IV. Earth Science

22. Plate Tectonics: The Earth System

23. Rocks and Minerals

24. Earth’s Surface–Land and Water

25. Surface Processes

26. Weather and Climate 

27. Environmental Geology

Part V. Astronomy

27. The Solar System

28. The Universe

APPENDIX A: On Measurement and Unit Conversion

APPENDIX B: Linear and Rotational Motion

APPENDIX C: More on Vectors

APPENDIX D: Exponential Growth and Doubling Time

APPENDIX E: Physics of Fluids

APPENDIX F: Chemical Equilibrium

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