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Textbooks play a fundamental role in teaching and learning in school scienceclassrooms. In this paper we investigate the presentation of the nature of theelectromagnetic field in a dozen of the world's most popular introductoryuniversity physics textbooks. We analyse, from an epistemologically basedteaching approach, the didactic treatment of the electromagnetic field inrelation to its sources, Maxwell's laws and electromagnetic waves. With thisobjective, we elaborate a rational reconstruction of the developments that ledto the formulation of the nature of the electromagnetic field, Maxwell's lawsand their meaning, as well as electromagnetic waves. Next, we formulatecriteria based on the key aspects derived from the reconstruction that areuseful in the evaluation of electromagnetism textbooks at the introductorylevel and apply them to the sample of selected books. In light of the results,we reflect on their consequences for teaching. Our analysis indicates theexistence of certain inconsistencies in the approach to the electromagneticfield and its relationship with its sources, Maxwell's laws and electromagneticwaves in many of the books analysed.

Presentation of the electromagnetic field in introductory physics textbooks and consequences for its teaching