Harvard Science Teaching Poor

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Kevin D. Katari's February 2 editorial ("Why Physics is a Repulsive Force") makes some very true and equally depressing points about the failures of the concentration programs in the physical sciences. But it misses the mark, I am afraid, in the analysis: it is, at best, naive to assume that the content of the introductory courses is inherently unsatisfying (although, to be fair, a great many people do have this impression). A course is, as a rule, only as good as its instructor, and this is where the physical science departments go astray. It is on this issue that they ought to focus their attentions if they are interested in fulfilling their obligation to educate.

The fact is that, in spite of the generally abysmal level of American secondary school education in the sciences, many universities start the year with no shortage of quantitative-minded and highly motivated first-year students. And the introductory physical science courses vary little in content from one university to the next. It seems to me, then, that what particularly discourages science students such as myself here at Harvard is not the quantitative nature of these courses, but rather the sad fact that their instructors often cannot teach properly. Name Withheld Upon Request   A Physics Concentrator