Physics needs an approach different from what is currently pursued in most schools and colleges. Basic physics is about simple observations made by scientists as they looked around the world they lived in. Many questions got thrown up in trying to understand the physical world and these questions were answered by seeking order and finding some connecting principle in the diverse observed behaviours.Whoever would have thought that just three laws of motion are all one needs to explain behaviour of any moving object, be it a bullock cart on a dirt road or a speeding rocket in free space or a feather lazily wafting in air!!! One at once is wonderstruck by the simplicity of the theory that is needed to explain the complex motion of such objects.
   It would be best for a beginner to go about learning physics the way it was learnt. Observe a physical process and try to fit the observations in to a pattern.True, it is not all times possible to do experiments in all areas, but the exposure to a few such practices where possible, would open up the mind of the student and there is a change in perspective.
   The software on the CD titled “General Physics Java Applets” is such a tool. It presents models for physical behaviour - the kind of things student has to imagine to develop a ‘feel’ for physics.

Some of the applets on the CD are available on the web at www.surendranth.org and are mirrored in websites in Australia, Canada, Germany, etc. They have been received very
well by the teachers and students all over the world.They are referred in many websites as very useful learning material. Merlot (www.merlot.org) has reviewed and listed several of the applets as valuable learning material.

This applet collection is now being offered in India in a CD form. Most times all one needs to do is to look up an item in the menu, and click on it.       This CD is developed by B.Surendranath, a physics teacher with nearly 30 years of experience. He has been a part of an institution ( Ramaiah institute) which pioneered IITJEE preparation in Hyderabad about 20 years ago.