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Models in science

Council) that formulated the IOP’s response to the White Paper Educating our Children (see Phys. Bull. 1977  28 545); rather  than  repeat its views, the working party decided not to respond directly to the subsequent Green  Paper Education in School, but chose  instead to direct  its comments  through  the Council for Science and Technology Institutes (CSTI). At this stage it is difficult to see what impact the IOP’s views will have on the education of engineers, but it is worth outlining the fears  and hopes of physicists. There is a general feeling that a study of physics is highly desirable, if not essential,  for professional engineers, though obviously this is more important in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, where the link with physics is fairly strong, than in, say, chemical or civil engineering. The trend towards integrated science teaching in schools, which could be reinforced by the debate, does not in itself concern  the physics  teaching community, provided that it is taught properly (see J M Osborne’s leader article in this issue, p393) and also provided that there is the option for 13-16-year-olds to study separate chemistry, physics and mathematics. Perhaps the one unifying aim of all the various committees, working parties and groups within the IOP is the  desire to  make physics more relevant-and therefore more attractive-to pupils in schools. To a greater or lesser extent, the future of the engineering profession will depend on pupils’ attitudes to science-including physics.