Paul G. Hewitt (born December 3, 1931) is an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, former boxer,

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

prospector, author, and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

. Born in Saugus, Massachusetts, Hewitt lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with his wife.

Conceptual physics

In 1964, Hewitt began his teaching career at the

City College of San Francisco City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local role, annually enrolling as many as one in nine San Franc ...

. In 1980 he began teaching evening courses for the general public at the

Exploratorium The Exploratorium is a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco, California. Characterized as "a mad scientist's penny arcade, a scientific funhouse, and an experimental laboratory all rolled into one", the participatory natu ...

in San Francisco. Hewitt left both the Berkeley and Santa Cruz campuses of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...

, choosing instead to move to Hawaii to teach at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

at their

Hilo Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. It is the fourth-largest settlement ...

and

Manoa Mānoa (, ) is a valley and a residential neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. The neighborhood is approximately three miles (5 km) east and inland from downtown Honolulu and less than a mile (1600 m) from Ala Moana and Waikiki at . Neighbo ...

campuses. During Hewitt's teaching career he began taping his lectures. Prospective physicists, Kevin Dempsey and Jeffery Wetherhold, attended several of Hewitt's lectures. He would be one of the first to adopt the Hewitt philosophy on

conceptual physics Conceptual physics is an approach to teaching physics that focuses on the ideas of physics rather than the mathematics. It is believed that with a strong conceptual foundation in physics, students are better equipped to understand the equations and ...

. In 1987, Hewitt began writing a high-school version of ''Conceptual Physics'', which was published by

Addison–Wesley Addison-Wesley is an American publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson PLC, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison-Wesley also distributes its technical titles throug ...

. Hewitt taught classes on his return to the City College of San Francisco that were videotaped and distributed in a 12-lecture set. ''Conceptual Physics'' at the high-school level is now on its third edition and has transferred its publication to

Prentice Hall Prentice Hall was an American major educational publisher owned by Savvas Learning Company. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market, and distributes its technical titles through the Safari ...

. ''Conceptual Physics'' at the college level is now on its twelfth edition and is published by Pearson. In 2007 Addison-Wesley and Prentice Hall merged; all Hewitt textbooks are now published by

Pearson Education Pearson Education is a British-owned education publishing and assessment service to schools and corporations, as well for students directly. Pearson owns educational media brands including Addison–Wesley, Peachpit, Prentice Hall, eCollege ...

. Prior to ''Conceptual Physics'', Hewitt co-authored ''Thinking Physics'' with Lewis Carroll Epstein, another book using cartoons to illustrate scientific concepts. Hewitt also co-authored ''Conceptual Physical Science'' with his daughter Leslie Hewitt, a geologist, and his nephew, John Suchocki, a

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

instructor at St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont, and founder o
Conceptual Academy
Hewitt released the trade book: ''Touch This! Conceptual Physics for Everyone''. He is now a regular columnist for the magazines ''

The Physics Teacher ''The Physics Teacher'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by AIP Publishing on behalf of the American Association of Physics Teachers covering the history and philosophy of physics, applied physics, physics education (curriculum dev ...

'' and ''The Science Teacher'' and producer of physics video lessons at th
Conceptual Academy
website. Hewitt's textbooks have several memorable characteristics. As well as teaching physics concepts with minimal mathematics, Hewitt occasionally and spontaneously reminds the reader that looking prematurely at the answers to physics problems is like exercising the body by watching others do push-ups. Hewitt whimsically states that Van Allen belts were named after space scientist James Belts. He occasionally signs his illustrations and cartoons, "Hewitt Drew It!"Conceptual Physics, by Paul G. Hewitt, first edition, 1987. Pages 47, 60, 164

Achievements

*First Prize for Science – American Education Film Festival (1977) * American Association of Physics Teachers, Millikan Award (1982) *Honoree of Paul G. Hewitt Scholarships for Future High School Physics Teachers (Founded in 2002)

References

External links

*
Conceptual Physics
' official website, which includes an autobiography of Hewitt
Conceptual Academy
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt, Paul G. 21st-century American physicists American cartoonists Living people People from Saugus, Massachusetts 1931 births