Robert Karplus, professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and an international science educator, died last month in Moraga, Calif., at the age of 63. Karplus' early research centered on theoretical particle physics. He later became very active in developing new successful science teaching methods for grade school students. His "Science Curriculum Improvement Project" produced a series of teaching kits that has been used in thousands of classrooms in the United States and adapted for use in other countries, including Japan, Sweden, Canada, and Korea.
Karplus was associate director of UC-Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science for more than 10 years and led the development of an innovative "hands on" discovery approach of teaching the life and physical sciences to kindergarten through sixth-grade level.
Karplus studied at Harvard University, where he earned his B.S. in chemistry and physics in 1945, his M.A. in chemistry in 1946, and his Ph.D. ...
