Teaching Electromagnetism in Terms of the Potentials Instead of the “ Maxwell ” Equations

A questionnaire circulated in Britain has documented the decreasing time spent there in teaching electromagnetic theory, and underlines the need for a reappraisal of what is taught. The advantages of a change of approach are argued here, and in a companion paper. The " field " is defined by the electrical potential 4 and magnetic vector A as computed in most numerical field packages used as teaching aids, and and B are viewed as no more than symbols denoting differentials. The energy and momentum are defined as properties of the charges, instead of the fields, and usual " Maxwell " equations are not needed.