Robert Karplus
Encyclopedia
Robert Karplus was a theoretical physicist and leader in the field of science education
.
, where he lived until the German occupation of Austria
in 1938. He emigrated with his mother and brother to escape the Anschluss
. After a six-month stay in Switzerland
, the family moved to the United States
and settled in the Boston
area. He entered Harvard University
in 1943 and completed his Ph.D
at the age of twenty-one. His thesis under E. Bright Wilson was on microwave spectroscopy and included both experimental and theoretical work. He was recognized by those he worked with for his brilliance, originality, energy, and cheerful, positive outlook. His brother, Martin Karplus
, became an internationally recognised chemist at Harvard.
in Princeton
, where he became interested in the developing, but yet untested, theory of quantum electrodynamics
(QED). The magnetic moment
of the electron
had been determined very precisely by means of a variety of experiments, but the best theoretical calculations of this quantity, based on quantum mechanics
, were seriously at variance with the experimental results. There was great interest among physicists in knowing whether or not a calculation based on QED would agree with the experimental results, but because of the ambiguities and complexity of QED, no one had so far been able to do such a calculation. Karplus, in collaboration with Norman Kroll, used QED to calculate the value of the magnetic moment of the electron. This was an extremely difficult calculation, requiring more than a year of intense effort from both men; the agreement between their result and the experimental measurements was the first, dramatic confirmation of QED.
Karplus continued his work at the highest level in theoretical physics for more than 10 years, at Harvard from 1950 to 1954 and then at the University of California, Berkeley
, publishing 50 research papers, mostly in QED but also in other areas of physics, including the Hall effect
, Van Allen radiation, and cosmic rays. He also thoroughly enjoyed experimental work, investigating the chemistry of Land Camera
instant pictures and setting up an experimental germanium
purification assembly line for transistor
s.
group he organized while at Harvard. They had seven children born between 1950 and 1962. When the oldest child, Beverly, was 7, Karplus accepted her invitation to present a science lesson on electricity
to her third-grade class, using the Wimshurst machine
he had inherited from his grandfather. Unfortunately, while the children enjoyed the demonstration, the lesson was a conceptual disaster. This stimulated Karplus to think about how to teach science better, and as the other children entered school, he continued to visit their classes on a "show and tell" basis with various science experiments or demonstrations. Conversing with his children and their classmates, he became increasingly interested in children's learning, reasoning, and science concept development.
. Characteristically, Karplus also immediately began generating his own questions about children's thinking, collecting evidence, and developing his own interpretations and explanations of what he observed.
Karplus’ new passion coincided, serendipitously, with the post-Sputnik
wave of efforts to upgrade US science education. Beginning in the late 50s, many other scientists also devoted themselves to science education and the schools, but Karplus was from the start a leader at the elementary level. Initially there was substantial reluctance at the National Science Foundation
(NSF) to fund science curriculum projects at the elementary level, but this was overcome in 1959, when Karplus and three colleagues received the first of many NSF grants for the improvement of science content at the elementary level. This work evolved into a monumental 15-year effort called the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). Under the direction of Karplus and Herbert D. Thier, SCIS became a comprehensive, fully tested, hands-on, laboratory-based program in both physical and biological science for grades K-6.
Robert Karplus realized the importance of converting the SCIS elementary science materials into a systematic teaching process that would enable teachers to successfully use these materials while enabling students to learn and enjoy science. He, along with others, developed the learning cycle
instructional strategy.
Karplus extended Piaget's theory to college students and adults; Piaget's theory included four stages, and he had documented children's thinking in great detail, finding that most children made the transition from the 3rd stage (concrete operations) to the 4th stage (abstract reasoning) by about 16 years of age. Karplus, however, extended Piaget's methodology to older groups and found that many of these individuals had important gaps in their ability to use abstract reasoning in solving scientific, logical, and mathematical problems. His most famous test of proportional reasoning
was the Mr. Tall-Mr. Short problem. Karplus further explored and documented the details of college students’ and adults’ thinking as they confronted the issues involved in this critical intellectual transition, finding that many of the issues and problems that he, Piaget, and others had discovered as critical for younger students were still relevant for older individuals, particularly when they were attempting to solve a problem in a discipline that was new to them.
In 1977 Karplus was elected President of the American Association of Physics Teachers
(AAPT), and in 1978 the National Science Teachers Association
awarded him their Citation for Distinguished Service to Science Education. Karplus was chairman of the Graduate Group in Science and Mathematics Education (SESAME) from 1978 to 1980. In 1980 he was awarded the AAPT's highest honor, the Oersted Medal
, "for his many contributions to physics teaching at all levels and especially for his work in revealing the implications for physics teaching of research in the development of reasoning." Karplus was appointed the Dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education
in 1980.
, Karplus suffered a severe cardiac arrest that ended his academic career. After an eight-year illness, he died on March 20, 1990.
(1) He resigned as Dean within a few weeks when it became clear he would not be allowed to make changes he believed were necessary.
Science education
Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. The target individuals may be children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education comprises...
.
Early life
Robert Karplus was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where he lived until the German occupation of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1938. He emigrated with his mother and brother to escape the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
. After a six-month stay in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the family moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and settled in the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
area. He entered Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1943 and completed his Ph.D
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
at the age of twenty-one. His thesis under E. Bright Wilson was on microwave spectroscopy and included both experimental and theoretical work. He was recognized by those he worked with for his brilliance, originality, energy, and cheerful, positive outlook. His brother, Martin Karplus
Martin Karplus
Martin Karplus is an Austrian-born American theoretical chemist. He has been Theodore William Richards Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University since 1979...
, became an internationally recognised chemist at Harvard.
Early career in physics
After completing his education Karplus worked at the Institute for Advanced StudyInstitute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
in Princeton
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, where he became interested in the developing, but yet untested, theory of quantum electrodynamics
Quantum electrodynamics
Quantum electrodynamics is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved...
(QED). The magnetic moment
Magnetic moment
The magnetic moment of a magnet is a quantity that determines the force that the magnet can exert on electric currents and the torque that a magnetic field will exert on it...
of the electron
Electron
The electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...
had been determined very precisely by means of a variety of experiments, but the best theoretical calculations of this quantity, based on quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
, were seriously at variance with the experimental results. There was great interest among physicists in knowing whether or not a calculation based on QED would agree with the experimental results, but because of the ambiguities and complexity of QED, no one had so far been able to do such a calculation. Karplus, in collaboration with Norman Kroll, used QED to calculate the value of the magnetic moment of the electron. This was an extremely difficult calculation, requiring more than a year of intense effort from both men; the agreement between their result and the experimental measurements was the first, dramatic confirmation of QED.
Karplus continued his work at the highest level in theoretical physics for more than 10 years, at Harvard from 1950 to 1954 and then at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, publishing 50 research papers, mostly in QED but also in other areas of physics, including the Hall effect
Hall effect
The Hall effect is the production of a voltage difference across an electrical conductor, transverse to an electric current in the conductor and a magnetic field perpendicular to the current...
, Van Allen radiation, and cosmic rays. He also thoroughly enjoyed experimental work, investigating the chemistry of Land Camera
Land Camera
Land cameras are instant cameras with self-developing film named after their inventor, Edwin Land, manufactured by Polaroid between the years of 1947 and 1983. Though Polaroid continued producing instant cameras after 1983, the name 'Land' was dropped from the camera name since Edwin Land retired...
instant pictures and setting up an experimental germanium
Germanium
Germanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors tin and silicon. The isolated element is a semiconductor, with an appearance most similar to elemental silicon....
purification assembly line for transistor
Transistor
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and power. It is composed of a semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current...
s.
Family life
In 1948, Karplus married Elizabeth Frazier, whom he had met at an international folk danceFolk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
group he organized while at Harvard. They had seven children born between 1950 and 1962. When the oldest child, Beverly, was 7, Karplus accepted her invitation to present a science lesson on electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
to her third-grade class, using the Wimshurst machine
Wimshurst machine
The Wimshurst influence machine is an electrostatic generator, a machine for generating high voltages developed between 1880 and 1883 by British inventor James Wimshurst ....
he had inherited from his grandfather. Unfortunately, while the children enjoyed the demonstration, the lesson was a conceptual disaster. This stimulated Karplus to think about how to teach science better, and as the other children entered school, he continued to visit their classes on a "show and tell" basis with various science experiments or demonstrations. Conversing with his children and their classmates, he became increasingly interested in children's learning, reasoning, and science concept development.
Second career in science education
Within a few years, Karplus had changed careers—from theoretical physics, to research on science and math learning, and then to curriculum developer. Karplus quickly learned what was already known about the development of thinking and reasoning, studying various psychologists, especially Jean PiagetJean Piaget
Jean Piaget was a French-speaking Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology"....
. Characteristically, Karplus also immediately began generating his own questions about children's thinking, collecting evidence, and developing his own interpretations and explanations of what he observed.
Karplus’ new passion coincided, serendipitously, with the post-Sputnik
Sputnik crisis
The Sputnik crisis is the name for the American reaction to the success of the Sputnik program. It was a key event during the Cold War that began on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite....
wave of efforts to upgrade US science education. Beginning in the late 50s, many other scientists also devoted themselves to science education and the schools, but Karplus was from the start a leader at the elementary level. Initially there was substantial reluctance at the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
(NSF) to fund science curriculum projects at the elementary level, but this was overcome in 1959, when Karplus and three colleagues received the first of many NSF grants for the improvement of science content at the elementary level. This work evolved into a monumental 15-year effort called the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). Under the direction of Karplus and Herbert D. Thier, SCIS became a comprehensive, fully tested, hands-on, laboratory-based program in both physical and biological science for grades K-6.
Robert Karplus realized the importance of converting the SCIS elementary science materials into a systematic teaching process that would enable teachers to successfully use these materials while enabling students to learn and enjoy science. He, along with others, developed the learning cycle
Proportional reasoning
Proportionality is a mathematical relation between two quantities. According to Piaget’s theory of intellectual development, Proportional reasoning is one of the skills a child acquires when progressing from the stage of concrete operations to the stage of formal operations.In mathematics and in...
instructional strategy.
Karplus extended Piaget's theory to college students and adults; Piaget's theory included four stages, and he had documented children's thinking in great detail, finding that most children made the transition from the 3rd stage (concrete operations) to the 4th stage (abstract reasoning) by about 16 years of age. Karplus, however, extended Piaget's methodology to older groups and found that many of these individuals had important gaps in their ability to use abstract reasoning in solving scientific, logical, and mathematical problems. His most famous test of proportional reasoning
Proportional reasoning
Proportionality is a mathematical relation between two quantities. According to Piaget’s theory of intellectual development, Proportional reasoning is one of the skills a child acquires when progressing from the stage of concrete operations to the stage of formal operations.In mathematics and in...
was the Mr. Tall-Mr. Short problem. Karplus further explored and documented the details of college students’ and adults’ thinking as they confronted the issues involved in this critical intellectual transition, finding that many of the issues and problems that he, Piaget, and others had discovered as critical for younger students were still relevant for older individuals, particularly when they were attempting to solve a problem in a discipline that was new to them.
In 1977 Karplus was elected President of the American Association of Physics Teachers
American Association of Physics Teachers
The American Association of Physics Teachers was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members that reside in over 30 countries. AAPT publications include two peer-reviewed journals, the American...
(AAPT), and in 1978 the National Science Teachers Association
National Science Teachers Association
The National Science Teachers Association , founded in 1944 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is an association of science teachers in the United States and is the largest organization of science teachers worldwide...
awarded him their Citation for Distinguished Service to Science Education. Karplus was chairman of the Graduate Group in Science and Mathematics Education (SESAME) from 1978 to 1980. In 1980 he was awarded the AAPT's highest honor, the Oersted Medal
Oersted Medal
The Oersted Medal recognizes notable contributions to the teaching of physics. Established in 1936, it is awarded by the American Association of Physics Teachers. The award is named for Hans Christian Ørsted. It is the Association's most prestigious award....
, "for his many contributions to physics teaching at all levels and especially for his work in revealing the implications for physics teaching of research in the development of reasoning." Karplus was appointed the Dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education
The University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley...
in 1980.
Later life
In June 1982 while jogging at Green Lake in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Karplus suffered a severe cardiac arrest that ended his academic career. After an eight-year illness, he died on March 20, 1990.
Appointments
- 1948-50 F. B. Jewett Fellow, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton University
- 1950-54 Assistant Professor of Physics, Harvard University
- 1954-58 Associate Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
- 1958-1982 Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
- 1960-61 Guggenheim Fellow and Fulbright Research Grantee
- 1962-63 Visiting Professor, University of Maryland
- 1969-1982 Associate Director, Lawrence Hall of Science
- 1973-74 Guggenheim Fellow and Visiting Professor, M. I. T.
- 1961-77 Director, Science Curriculum Improvement Study
- 1975-1982 Director, Intellectual Development Project
- 1976-77 Acting Director, Lawrence Hall of Science
- 1976-1979 Director, CAUSE Project
- 1978-1980 Chairman, Graduate Group in Science and Mathematics Education (SESAME)
- 1980 Dean, School of Education, University of California, Berkeley (1)
(1) He resigned as Dean within a few weeks when it became clear he would not be allowed to make changes he believed were necessary.
Honors and awards
- Fellow of American Physical Society
- Distinguished Service Citation, American Association of Physics Teachers, 1972
- National Science Teachers Association Award for Distinguished Service to Science Education, 1978
- President, American Association of Physics Teachers, 1977
- Honorary degree, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Gothenburg, 1980
- Oersted Medal, American Association of Physics Teachers, 1981
Books
- R. Karplus and H. D. Thier., A New Look at Elementary School Science. Chicago: Rand McNally and Co., 1967.
- R. Karplus, Introductory Physics: A Model Approach. W. A. Benjamin, New York, 1969; reissued in 2003 by Fernand Brunschwig (editor), Captains Engineering Services (publisher).
- R. Karplus (Ed.), Physics and Man, W. A. Benjamin, Inc., New York, 1970.