Teaching electromagnetism in terms of the potentials instead of the `Maxwell´ equations

A questionnaire circulated in Britain has documented the decreasing time spent there in teaching electromagnetic theory, and underlines the need for a reappraisal of what is taught. The advantages of a change of approach are argued. The field is defined by the electrical potential φ and magnetic vector A as computed in most numerical field software packages used as teaching aids, and E and B are viewed as no more than symbols denoting differentials. The energy and momentum are defined as properties of the charges, instead of the fields, and the usual Maxwell equations are not needed