Re: is free-fall an inertial frame?

[Joel Rauber <Joel_Rauber@SDSTATE.EDU>]

> As am I. Part of this is a mid-life crisis about whether I think
> Newton's Laws are worded very well. From a teaching standpoint, I
> have found that Newton's 1st (and 3rd) Laws are responsible for as
> many wrongs answers from physics learners as right answers (maybe
> more!). IOW, they can get you in as much trouble as they get you out
> of.

You are not alone in thinking N's laws are "not worded well"; Mach, Hertz,
Helmholtz are early folks who have written along those lines.  For an
english language and more modern discussion I highly recommend that one
looks at L. Eisenbud's AJP article "On the Classical Laws of Motion", Vol.
26, pg 144, (1958).

Joel Rauber