Magnet Moving In And Out Of A Coil Of Wire
Magnet Falling Through A Ring With Non-zero Resistance
Magnet Levitating Above A Ring With Zero Resistance
Magnet Falling Through A Ring With Zero Resistance
How Are The Magnetic Field Lines In This Section Calculated?
How Is The Motion Of The Magnetic Field Lines Defined?

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Magnetic Dipole Radiation Due To A Sinusoidally Varying Dipole
Magnetic Dipole Radiation From a Dipole That Turns Off

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Professor John W. Belcher was born in 1943 in Jennings, Louisiana. In 1965, he graduated summa cum laude from Rice University with a double major in mathematics and physics. He received his doctorate in Physics from Caltech in 1971 under the supervision of Professor Leverett Davis, Jr., an astrophysical theorist with expertise in interstellar and solar system magnetic fields.

Professor Belcher came to MIT in January of 1971 as a postdoctoral fellow, and became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics in the Fall of 1971, working with Professor Herbert Bridge on the Voyager Mission to the Outer Planets, now the Voyager Interstellar Mission.

He has twice received the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, once for his contributions to the understanding of the plasma dynamics of the Jovian magnetosphere, in 1980, and once for his role as Principal Investigator on the Plasma Science Experiment on Voyager during the Neptune encounter, in 1990.

He succeeded Professor Bridge as Principal Investigator on the Voyager Plasma Science Experiment in 1986, and continued on in that role until the Spring of 1997, when he stepped down from the day-to-day management of that project to devote more time to the hypertext effort described in this proposal.

Professor Belcher's teaching interests over the years have been mainly to do with classical electromagnetism at various levels. Most recently he has lectured 8.07 (junior/senior E&M) in the Fall of 1994 and 8.02 (freshman E&M) in the Spring of 1994.

He received the Physics Department's 1994 Buechner Teaching Prize in connection with his lectures in 8.02, Electromagnetism I, which has the largest enrollment of any course offered at MIT.

b) Comments about 8.02 from the 1995 MIT Course Evaluation Guide

Professor John Belcher is highly praised by most of his 8.02 students. "He was one of the best professors I have had here -- interesting, relevant, and a good teacher. He is funny too!" Three students claim: "Everything about him is effective." Over half the class remarks on his "awesome board technique," noting especially his excellent use of colored chalk to keep diagrams clear, and respondents refer to his in-class experiments as "awesome demos." Belcher also receives high marks for his ability to explain concepts clearly, for the outlines he uses in lectures, and for his reviews of previous lectures. Most class members praise his attitude toward teaching and toward his students: "He definitely knows how to teach," and "He cares about his students." One individual states that Belcher is "phenomenal in his organization." Another student writes: "Belcher obviously prepares his lectures ahead of time and is the best professor I have had yet. He makes it a point to be structured and organized."

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