About the Authors

Tom Griffith is now Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, having retired after 36 years of teaching physics at Pacific. His continued interests in teaching and research mean that he can still be spotted about the halls of the science building or library, and he makes occasional quest appearances with his guitar in physics courses. Over the years he has also enjoyed hiking, bicycling, singing, reading, and performing in stage plays and musical comedies. During his years at Pacific, he has served as Physics Department Chair, Science Division Chair, Interim Dean of Enrollment Management and Director of Institutional Research among other things, but his primary focus has always been teaching. He has been active in the Oregon Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the Pacific Northwest Association for College Physics (PNACP). <a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073512117/590205/Author_Griffith.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (53.0K)</a> The author, Tom Griffith, and his wife, Adelia, hiking in the mountains of Oregon. Juliet Brosing is a Professor of Physics at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, and has taught there for the past 20 years. Her research interests include nuclear physics, medical physics, and the application of teaching methods grounded in physics educational research. She helped run a summer science camp for 7th and 8th grade girls for ten years (as director for six). She is on the Reactor Operations Committee for the Reed Nuclear Reactor in Portland and often takes her students there for field trips. She is also the proud owner of three potato guns; therefore, parties with students at her home usually involve projectiles and noise. She remains active in both the state and national American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the Pacific Northwest Association for College Physics (PNACP). Above all, Dr. Brosing is dedicated to teaching physics with a positive outlook and the use of methods that encourage and benefit her students, regardless of their chosen field of study. <a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073512117/590205/Author_Brosing.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (45.0K)</a> The author, Juliet Brosing, and her husband Keith LeComte at the Tualatin River near their home in Cherry Grove, Oregon.