Modern Physics as Introductory Course for Physics Majors: Capturing the Futuristic Problem Solvers

"We think it is important and desirable to introduce students sooner than usual to some of the major ideas that shape contemporary physicists’ views of the nature and behavior of matter." is a quote from the promotional blurb for the text "Introductory Modern Physics, 2e" (2010 Holbrow, Lloyd & Amato, Springer). Capturing the efforts of Colgate University's Charlie Holbrow and Joe Amato to reinvigorate the curriculum for physics majors, the argument is that learners deserve to motivated and intrigued by the physics behind most of the current research and jobs today's physicists will encounter. Western Kentucky University restructured its introductory sequence for majors to commence with a pre-calculus presentation of special relativity and quantum science. We have found that ALL students appreciate being able to work with these inherently interesting topics, while continuing to build their foundations of calculus and linear algebra skill.