[kwoff]

"He also helped to create an advanced physics course for M.I.T. freshmen with more than a rudimentary knowledge of the subject. He and Robert J. Kolenkow wrote a 2013 textbook for the course, “An Introduction to Mechanics.”"

I used Kleppner/Kolenkow's intro to mechanics (copyright 1973) in 1993 or so, not at MIT. Seems 2013 is referring to the 2nd edition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kleppner#Books Maybe the 1st edition was created for the "mechanics for masochists" MIT course.

[mng2]

I think you're right; I imagine the reporters wouldn't be familiar with physics pedagogy and just picked up the first date they saw in the google search.

I was too intimidated to take the honors series in undergrad but I sat in on one lecture and was totally lost in a room that seemed to be nodding along with the preacher, so to speak. From the syllabus I found out they used K&K, so I asked my father to buy it for me so I could study it at my leisure.

At the end of one of the first chapters there's a statement about how we can trivially extend the equations of mechanics to three dimensions. It blew my mind at the time, but after spending enough time studying physics, I am in agreement.