Paul G. Hewitt was a Silver Medalist flyweight Boxing Champion for New England States at the age of 17. He was then a cartoonist, sign painter, and uranium prospector before beginning his physics studies. Conceptual Physics was first published in 1971, while Hewitt was teaching at City College of San Francisco. He has also served as a guest lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Hewitt returned to San Francisco to teach at the City College and the well-known science museum, The Exploratorium. He retired from full-time teaching in 2000, and currently resides in St. Petersburg, Florida.

1. About Science I. MECHANICS 2. Newton's First Law of Motion: Inertia 3. Linear Motion 4. Newton's Second Law of Motion: Force and Acceleration 5. Newton's Third Law of Motion: Action and Reaction 6. Momentum 7. Energy 8. Rotational Motion 9. Gravity 10. Projectile and Satellite Motion II. PROPERTIES OF MATTER 11. Atomic Nature of Matter 12. Solids 13. Liquids 14. Gases and Plasmas III. HEAT 15. Temperature, Heat and Expansion 16. Heat Transfer 17. Change of Phase 18. Thermodynamics IV. SOUND 19. Vibrations and Waves 20. Sound 21. Musical Sounds V. ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM 22. Electrostatics 23. Electric Current 24. Magnetism 25. Electromagnetic Induction VI. LIGHT 26. Properties of Light 27. Color 28. Reflection and Refraction 29. Light Waves 30. Light Emission 31. Light Quanta VII. ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS 32. The Atom and the Quantum 33. Atomic Nucleus and Radioactivity 34. Nuclear Fission and Fusion VIII. RELATIVITY 35. Special Theory of Relativity 36. General Theory of Relativity APPENDICES A. Systems of Measurement B. More About Motion C. Graphing D. More About Vectors E. Exponential Growth and Doubling Time