Physics Courses Change

These fluctuations have compelled the alteration of the entire structure of elementary Physics instruction. Under pre-war arrangements a student with a high school knowledge of the subject could take a two-year program of either Physics C and H or F and G. Now Physics F, G, and H have all been dropped.

Under the new plan, the introductory course, B, for students having had no previous Physics training will be supplemented with a new half of course, Physics D. While taking the first half of Physics B this group will be required to take either the half-course Math C or the first half of Math A. The alternate procedure for students having had the fundamentals of Physics before coming to Harvard consists of Physics A, which combines C with the first half of Math A. Thus instead of three alternate methods for beginning physics, the student can now choose from only two, B plus D or just A, and thus save a full year of study. Concentrated Physics CC, giving C in half a year, is a new course with 43 students meeting five days a week at Radcliffe because of the shortage of Harvard facilities. Fifteen additional applicants were refused admission to this new course.

Advanced Courses Added

In advanced Physics, new courses include 71b, Ultra-High-Frequency Techniques, which with 21a, 24a, and 25a provides the same training that the Army Signal Corps students are receiving. Eleven Seniors are now enrolled in this course. Physics 270, Electronics and Cathode Ray Tubes, is open only to Army men and civilians desiring enlistment, while Physics 4, Electrics, consists of a modified Physics 8. Electronics is being emphasized at the expense of other phases of the field.

At the same time, Engineering Sciences has not found it necessary to change the number of courses offered to undergraduates, but has bracketed several graduate school courses since last year. Within undergraduate courses, however, there has been some shifting in material and emphasis "according to the new actualities."

Math Curriculum Adjusted

The Math Department has temporarily split Math A so that students can begin it in any of the three terms. Because that course is more advanced than most college beginning courses and skips trigonometry, Math C, a half-course, will be inaugurated this summer both for students in Physics and for students seeking service commissions.