This is an up-to-date, searchable version of the PIRA Demonstration Bibliography produced and maintained by the PIRA DCS Committee. It contains all of the latest additions and revisions approved by the Committee. There are about 9265 entries including all of Sutton, Freier & Anderson, Meiners, Hilton, AJP, The Video Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations, the Minnesota Demonstration Handbook, articles from the Physics Teacher, and listings of the PIRA 200, PIRA 500, and PIRA 1000 demonstrations.

A spreadsheet version (which does not include the bibliographic references) is available here http://www.wfu.edu/physics/pira/PIRAHome3.html. This site http://demoroom.physics.ncsu.edu/resources.html, contains a search engine to an old version of the Bibliography, containing about 7500 entries. This site http://faraday.physics.uiowa.edu, mirrors the old 7500 entry version of the Bibliography with static HTML pages as well as the search engine to the old version.

If you do not have a copy of one of the references listed above and would like to find out more about a particular demonstration, ask for help on TAP-L.

Information in the main body of this bibliography is listed in four columns: PIRA Demonstration Classification Scheme Code, Demonstration Name, Reference, and a very brief Description.

The structure of the bibliography is based on the Physics Instructional Resource Association (PIRA) Demonstration Classification Scheme. This classification scheme is intended to provide a framework to organize all demonstrations, old and new, current and obsolete, good and bad.

The demonstration name listed in the bibliography is either the name listed on the reference or, if none is given, a simple descriptive name. In cases where there are several common names for a demonstration, the committee has chosen a preferred name.

Each reference has a unique numbering format. This unique format is used in the bibliography as the sole means of identifying the source of each entry. A list of the formats for the reference column is listed at the bottom of each table.

The description is very brief. It is not intended to be a summary of the reference. One sentence is, in general, sufficient to describe the unique characteristics, if any, of an item.

Each demonstration is listed in only one location, even if it is commonly used to illustrate several concepts. The committee has tried to determine the most useful location for any demonstration and included reference pointers to other common locations of demonstration use.

If you can find the location of a particular demonstration, all references relating to that demonstration should be located in the immediate vicinity. Unfortunately, this work is incomplete, as most of the volumes from the Physics Teacher and some from The American Journal of Physics are not included at this time.

This version includes entries for the PIRA 200, PIRA 500, and PIRA 1000. The PIRA 200 is a list of demonstrations which should be considered fundamental to any demonstration collection. This is a preliminary list adopted by PIRA at the 1996 Summer Meeting. Generic names and descriptions are complete for these demonstrations. The PIRA 500 and PIRA 1000 have not yet been adopted and are only listed here as a starting point for defining these lists. No descriptions have yet been written for these lists.

All suggestions are welcome and thoughtfully considered. Since this work is based on publications, many unpublished demonstrations do not appear in this compilation. It is important that we include as many unpublished demonstrations as possible in the next draft. If you notice demonstrations in your collection that do not appear on this list, please communicate with a committee member. The current list of members is:

The DCS committee would like to acknowledge the work done on this project by the late Philip Johnson of the University of Minnesota. His leadership and guidance were key to the development of this database.