This text is, as the title implies, a hands-on guided inquiry approach to teaching an entire spectrum of physics topics from basic motion and mechanics through vibrations and waves, heat, optics, electricity and modern physics. Materials used for the exercises are readily obtained from the supermarket, office supply store, and hardware store. The author is concurrently developing complete kits, which may also be purchased as part of a packaged curriculum.

The greatest strength is the flexibility that makes this book suitable for audiences ranging from elementary through middle school and the college level. The text has been tested and evaluated with both elementary and college students. The informal writing level is such that jargon is avoided, as is use of the third person.  The use of mathematics is minimal or non-existent.

The exercises, now supplemented by textual “commentary” at the beginning, were originally developed in part as a result of curriculum development funded by NSF Project INSPIRE, under which the author and coworkers received funding in 2001-2003. The original intent was to offer a course which teaches education majors to teach science in grades 1-8, but the course has proven popular and effective as an elective one for non-science majors and will play a significant role in general education at the author’s liberal arts college. Many exercises also came out of a highly successful “liberal arts physics” course developed and taught by the author for twenty years at Keene State College. Each exercise can be used as a standalone experience in science education or a sequence can be used to teach a semester or yearlong course in conceptual physics.

The book can be used by itself or in conjunction with currently available conceptual texts if greater depth is desired. More textual material will be added in subsequent editions, as will a greater graphics content. This represents an on-going project for the author, with annual revisions to be expected.

The author, Dr. J. Russell Harkay, has been a Professor of Physics at Keene State (NH) College since 1980 and at WVIT for four years before that. He is a 1968 graduate of Rutgers University (AB) and received his PhD in experimental condensed matter physics from the University of Vermont in 1976.  A hiatus from graduate work led to the opportunity to work on the Voyager space probe project while on active duty as an officer in the USAF. While attending graduate school, he also enrolled in education courses and worked with secondary students leading to a secondary certification. He was also involved in the early stages of development of inquiry-based approaches to teaching physics, including Harvard Project Physics.

During his tenure at Keene State, Russ Harkay developed a highly popular course in conceptual physics which he taught to hundreds of students annually before the conceptual movement had taken hold. He has continued to perform condensed matter research in his laboratory, developing a surface-sensitive tool now known as plasma resonance spectroscopy.

He is a recipient of the Janet Guernsey Prize (AAPT) for excellence in physics teaching, was the coauthor of a successful NSF grant proposal to fund curriculum development in the area of inquiry (Project INSPIRE), and has redirected his efforts to working in the area of physics education and authoring. Currently he is the President of The American Physical Society in New England.