My Background and Personal Interests:

I am Madhuri Bapat-Physics Instructor here at Eastern Arizona College since fall of 1999. I was born and raised in India. I earned my M.Sc. in Nuclear physics from University of Poona, India in 1972. I came to United States in 1978. I earned my second M.S. in Plasma physics from Wright State University from Dayton, Ohio.

I taught math and astronomy for some years and physics for over 15 years mostly at community college level.

My high school teacher encouraged me at age of 15, to read biography of Marie Curie and at that point I decided to study physics.

I am interested in figuring out physics of day-to-day observations. I take pictures and videotape while I cook and try to analyze the physics of the cooking processes. On broader scale, I try to relate culture with science.

I enjoy reading books by Fritjo Capra, Deepak Chopra, Stephen Hawking, and Richard Feynman. I love gardening, pottery, cooking, and freelance writing. I enjoy classical music and a good movie like Beautiful Mind.

I like this rural area of Arizona that provides no city hassle but quiet and peaceful atmosphere that is just perfect for creative activities. As Einstein said, ‘Monotony of quiet life, stimulates the creative mind.’

B: My philosophy of teaching physics:

Critical thinking

• Concepts
• Communication
• Collaboration/team work
• Applications
• No memorization
• Modeling
• Exploring

I believe anybody can do science if you put your mind to it. To me it is more exploring it or discovering it all over again. Since physical laws basically model the world around us including our body’s functions. All of us have that knowledge inherently. It is only a question of channeling our energy to rediscover it.

In old days three "R"s (reading , writing and arithmetic) used to be important in school. Now in 21 st century I say three "C"s concepts, critical thinking and communication are important.

Contact Information:428- 8205, Madhuri Bapat
Office Location: Math/Science Building, Room 112
Office hours: M W F 11-12pm, TR 12 to 1pm