Eugene Hecht

Eugene Hecht (born 2 December 1938 in New York City) is an American physicist and author of a standard work in optics.

Hecht studied at New York University (B.S. 1960) and Rutgers University (M. Sc. 1963). During his graduate study he worked at Radio Corporation of America. Adelphi University hired Hecht to teach and he became professor in 1978.

Hecht challenged the notion of potential energy in 2003.[1] The elusive nature of a universal definition of energy was argued by Hecht in a letter to the editor of The Physics Teacher in 2004.[2] Then in 2006 he wrote "There is no really good definition of mass".[3] He continued with the topic in 2011[4] and 2016.[5]

Eugene Hecht is also widely published authority on George E. Ohr and American art pottery and a founding member of the American Ceramic Arts Society.

Books

His first textbook on optics was co-authored with Alfred Zajac, a colleague at Adelphi, in 1974[6]

In 1975 Hecht wrote the text Theory and Problems of Optics for Schaum's Outlines. In 1977 he began writing about polarization.[7] For the second edition of Optics in 1987 Hecht was the sole author.[8] A third edition was published in 1998, and the fourth in 2001.

Brooks/Cole published Physics:Calculus in 1996 in which reviewers "found something intriguing on every page".[9]

Celebrated potter[10] George Ohr was discovered after his workshop was consumed in fire.[11]

References
  1. E. Hecht (2003) "An historico-critical account of potential energy: in PE really real ?", The Physics Teacher 41: 486 doi:10.1119/1.1625210
  2. E. Hecht (2004) "Energy and Work", The Physics Teacher 42 L1 doi:10.1119/1.1787752
  3. E. Hecht (2006) "There is no really good definition of mass", The Physics Teacher 44(1): 40–45 doi:10.1119/1.2150758
  4. E Hecht (2011) "On defining mass, The Physics Teacher 49: 40 doi:10.1119/1.3527755
  5. E. Hecht (2016) "On relativity, potential energy, and mass", European Journal of Physics 37(6) doi:10.1088/0143-0807/37/6/065804
  6. Orestes Stavroudes (1975) "Review: Optics by Hecht & Zajac", Physics Today 28(2):54 doi:10.1063/1.3068822
  7. E. Hecht (1977) "Note on an operational definition of the Stokes parameters", American Journal of Physics 38(9):1156–8 doi:10.1119/1.1976574
  8. "Review: Optics, Second edition, Sky & Telescope July 1988
  9. Amy J. Kolan & Amy E. Larsen (1997) "An introductory physics text that conveys the author's enthusiasm", Physics Today 50(4) 65 doi: 10.1063/1.881732
  10. Clark, Garth; Ellison, Robert A.; Hecht, Eugene (1989). The Mad Potter of Biloxi: The Art & Life of George E. Ohr. New York: Abbeville Press. ISBN 978-0-89659-927-7.
  11. Hecht, Eugene (1994). After the Fire: George Ohr, an American genius. Lambertville, NJ: Arts and Crafts Quarterly Press. ISBN 978-0-9637896-9-3.
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