This 12-chapter book examines different phenomena as viewed by those trained in physics. These views (or vistas) are promulgated to demonstrate that the infinite variety of things seen in the material world can be reduced to a handful of general laws and to share with the public the richness of the scientist's world view. The phenomena examined…

This book traces the first year of a magnet school called Mega Center for Learning, established in 1990 in a large midwestern urban school district. It focuses on how the primary metaphors embedded in school documents and in stakeholders' perceptions and practices helped or hindered reform. Data were obtained from classroom observation; informal…