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Please excuse the diatribe, but.  .  .

The problem with the term "Non-Newtonian" is that it presumes some
understanding of what "Newtonian" is and is not. Non-Newtonian movement
is a pretty sophisticated concept, but an important one. it governs such
things as the movement of glaciers which cannot be explained by
pressure, melting and freezing alone. Non-Newtonian fluid dynamics
allows us to model Earth processes and engineer materials. It is hard to
avoid the need for this concept on a planet in which water is a major
and important constituent, not to mention other processes which include
non-compressible materials subject to pressure.

Non-Newtonian modeling allows us to understand the "mysterious" aspects
of materials, which mechanical modeling is inadeqaute to explain. It
also allows us to deal, at least to some degree, with non-linear motion,
which Newtonian physics must ignore to remain consistent. At a time when
the enormous implications of 20th-Century physics are just beginning to
sink in, I would suggest  that avoiding these complexities, does a
disservice to our audience. On the other hand, I think we need to
seriously scrutinize the language,  and the assumption of prior
knowledge we have of our audience, so we can find ways to explain these
things to kids so they do not go off thinking simplistically that
Newtonian mechanics does not apply to things which can otherwise modeled.

If we look at any science curriculum for any school, the scarcity of
dealing with 20th-Century physics will be telling. I think this would be
a good area for science centers to begin partnering with schools, so we
can help shape the discourse and create the kinds of inquiring minds we
want to foster in our institutions.


Natasha Aristov wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
>
> Dear List Members,
>
> I've done the polymer demos a number of times, rod climbers, gluep, corn
> starch putty...
>
> You can always think of an analogous macroscopic system that displays
> similar behavior (e.g., wet sand on beach) ergo:  these fluids are as
> newtonian as any other matter in the universe.
>
> I really think that the expression "non-Newtonian" should be banned from
> the books.
>
>
> Natasha
>
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