Teaching Physics in the First Iranian Physics Textbooks: Nāẓim al-ʿUlūm’s Usūl ʿIlm Fīzīk and Krziž’s Jarr al-Thaqīl

Document Type : Research/Original/Reqular Article

Author

Physics Department, Nasibeh Campus, Farhangian University

Abstract

Modern physics for the first time was introduced to Iran in the 19th century. August Karl Krziž’s Jarr al-Thaqīl as the first modern physics textbook in Iran was a translation of Krziž’s oral teachings in Dār al-Funūn by his assistance, Mīrzā Zakī Māzandarānī, published in 1857. Following this translation, among other similar translations of western textbooks, some of the west educated Iranian students came back to Iran and started teaching in Dār al-Funūn and writing textbooks. Nāẓim al-ʿUlūm’s Ḥikmat Tabīʿī Usūl ʿIlm Fīzīk (1876) is the first physics textbook written by an Iranian. Although this textbook was not without errors and was in fact a compilation of western textbooks, it was a turning point in pedagogy of physics in Iran. A comparison between Krziž’s and Nāẓim al-ʿUlūm’s books shows two forms of physics textbooks with two approaches. The first one is a textbook concentrating on mathematical formulas of physics and their solutions, while the second teaches physics through examples of experiments and industrial instruments, deepening the understanding of the physical concepts in simple words. Nāẓim al-ʿUlūm applies four French sources which will be compared with some phrases of the text.

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References

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