Newton’s Mechanics: Who Needs It ?

Newton’s Mechanics: Who Needs It ?

This question challenged delegates at a symposium held at the Møller Centre Cambridge in July 2008. They were faced with a growing problem arising at the school-university interface a problem affecting schools and universities industry and the Government’s STEM agenda:

Newtonian mechanics plays a vital role in preparing students at 16-19 for physics engineering and applied mathematics at university but each year more students arrive with little or no experience of it.

But just how vital is the role of Newtonian mechanics? Is there a decline in access and take-up at 16-19? If so what impact does that have and what can be done about it?