The Ascent of the “New Maths,” 1957–1970

Abstract

This chapter shifts the analysis to another radical programme that, according to its designers, would have the potential to transform students’ understandings of physics in each of the countries under study. As with the new mathematics, the United States based Physical Science Study Committee’s curricula (commonly known as P.S.S.C. Physics), had its origins in political, professional and public concerns with existing approaches to what was historically regarded as a challenging area of study for secondary school students. Once again, a concentration on the fundamental underlying structure of the discipline was to proceed hand-in-glove with fresh approaches to teaching the subject that would intimately involve students in attempting to solve some of the fundamental questions facing science and the nation.