Mak Press – Makerere University Press

Classical Mechanics

Mak Press — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 12:38:31 +0000

Dr. Daniel Mukiibi is a senior lecturer at the Department of Physics, School of Physical Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere university. He attended his Ordinary level studies at St. Mary’s Secondary School – Namaliga where he obtained a first grade in the national examinations of 2002. He completed his Advanced level certificate at Merryland High School – Entebbe in 2004. He was admitted for a Bachelor of Science degree with Education at Makerere University, which he completed in 2008 with a major in Physics and a minor in Mathematics. He later attended the postgraduate diploma in basic Physics of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. He was re-admitted for another postgraduate diploma (Msc. equivalent) in Earth System Physics at ICTP, which he completed in 2013. He completed his doctoral studies in 2016 at the University of Hamburg, Germany. He has since taught undergraduate courses at Makerere University such as; classical mechanics, quantum mechanics and properties of matter. He has also taught mathematical physics at postgraduate level. It is upon this background and experience that the idea of writing thismanuscript was born. His research interests are in computational fluid dynamics and mathematical physics. He is currently supervising postgraduate students working on projects in computational fluid dynamics, solar energy and thin films.

Dr. Annet Eva Zawedde is a lecturer at the Department of Physics, School of Physical Sciences, Makerere University. She started as a teaching assistant in 2009 and has risen through the ranks after attaining her PhD in Space Physics at the University of Bergen, Norway in 2018. She also attained a Masters degree in Space Physics at the University of Bergen, Norway in 2014; and a Bachelor of Science with Education from Makerere University in 2009. She completed the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education at King’s College, Budo and the Uganda Certificate of Education at Entebbe Secondary School. She has taught several undergraduate course units and supervised both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Her research interests are in Space Physics, in particular the impact of energetic precipitating particles on the atmospheric chemistry.

Dr. Dennis Muyimbwa holds both a masters degree and a PhD from the university of Bergen, Norway attained in 2013 and 2016, respectively. He also holds a bachelors degree – BSc. (Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry) from Makerere University, which he obtained in 2006. He did his Ordinary and Advanced level studies at Kasawo Senior Secondary School in 2000 and 2002, respectively. His research interests are nuclear physics
and optics.

Quantum Mechanics

Mak Press — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 07:35:24 +0000

The primary aim of this book is to cover the undergraduate quantum mechanics levels one and two. Many students view
quantum mechanics as abstract and difficult. Some of the wave function and state vector expressions scare some learners.

We give sufficient explanation for every quantum system described. Quantum systems are real and there are many exam-
ples to adduce this fact. Students are expected to have basic knowledge of classical mechanics. The calculations are

presented with sufficient steps for the student to follow up to the final stage.
We also give numerical examples and exercises for each and every chapter of the book. This is intended to give students,
who are new to the subject, a better feel of the concepts and formulae discussed in the text. In the end, we hope that this
will help students have the much needed practice, using the different formulae and hypotheses to solve numerical
problems. It is the latter that according to our experience has led many students to consider not only quantum mechanics,
but theoretical physics as a hard subject. Some of the features in the book are examples and applications showing that
quantum mechanics is not abstract but a rather an integral part of our daily lives. There are a few sections which appear
to be a little advanced. These are included for completeness. A curious student may read those sections too.
The authors are grateful to Prof. Ezra K. S. Mugambe for his comments drawn from his long experience of teaching
quantum mechanics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. We would like to thank the physics major students
of the years between 2000 and 2016 who attended the quantum mechanics lectures. Their comments helped us to
improve the earlier versions of this monograph, particularly, to include some illustrations in the text.

Gender, Social Norms And Agency: Perspectives from East Africa

Mak Press — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 11:25:55 +0000

This Publication was made possible with the support from California San Diego, Center on Gender Equity and Health.

We also appreciate the coordinating team for the Eastern Africa Agency, Social and Gender Norms Learning Collaborative (EALC)-comprising the Institute of Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) at Makerere University; Impact and Innovations Development Centre (IIDC); Care International-Uganda; and the Agency for All Project for their leadership in fostering a platform for shared learing and action.

From Records to Publication: A Guide to Academic Authorship

Mak Press — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 11:07:00 +0000

In the beginning was the word. Words created the world. Human beings were given the right to name the world. We created languages, words and sentences, and meanings. Out of words and sentences we created stories, stories about reality, out of our imagination. These stories were passed from generation to generation, and later written down, The spoken word was exchanged for written text. This book is about the development of writing and about writing as an academic practice. It also expounds on publishing and reading, the two necessary companions of writing. This book entitled: “From Records to Publication: a Guide to Academic Authorship” contains contributions from the most distinguished writers from different parts of Africa and should be widely read.

– Jorgen Iorentzen, International Secretary, Norwegian

Association of Nonfiction and Translators (NFFO).

This book offers a comprehensive roadmap for academics at every stage of their writing journey. It is an essential resource for scholars, researchers, and students navigating the complexities of academic writing and publishing. The guide demystifies the writing process. It is user-friendly with practical advice, real-world examples, and expert insights. The topics covered are rooted in the essence of science and philosophical thoughts, which shape the principles and practices of academic writing. Undoubtedly, the book will facilitate research, learning, credibility, critical thinking, collaboration, dissemination, and academic integrity. This book provides the tools, guidance, and motivation to succeed as an academic author.

– Professor Sihawukele Ngubane, University of

KwaZulu-Natal, Durban South Africa.

This book “From Records to Publication: A guide to Academic Authorship” will go down in the history of literature on publishing as a valuable treatise and a useful contribution to a subject not yet sufficiently covered. This book will be a useful guide to authors, editors and publishers.

– Prof. Syed Ameer Haider Abidi, Former Chairman,

Makerere University Press, Chairman Kampala University
Council, and East African University Council.

The Cultures Of The Banyakitara

Mak Press — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 10:46:27 +0000

The term Runyakitara was officially recognised by Makerere University in the early 1990s to serve as an umbrella name for an academic subject to be taught at degree level. This comprised four mutually intelligible languages/dialects of Western Uganda, namely, Runyoro, Rutooro, Runyankore and Rukiga. The name has taken root and is used more and more by the wider public to represent the four languages/dialects referred to earlier. Runyakitara in fact covers a wider group of mutually intelligible languages and dialects including, but not limited to, Ruhororo, Runyaruguru, Rutagwenda, Rusongora, Rutuku, Rugangaizi and Ruruli in Uganda, but also Kikerewe and Ruhaya in Tanzania as well as Ruhema in the DRC.

Runyakitara as an academic discipline and as taught in Ugandan universities, has three major components: Language, Literature and Culture. It is this third component that the present publication is endeavouring to cater for. The term Banyakitara is the plural form of a Munyakitara or native speaker of Runyakitara. One would like to recall that the Bunyoro-Kitara Empire at one point in history covered most of the areas where Runyakitara is spoken today, spreading up to some territories in the present day Tanzania and DRC.

The authors in this book have covered a wide range of topics relating to culture, which include: what culture entails in general terms, kingship institutions among the Banyakitara, gender issues, friendship functions and rituals, marriage, forms of address, kinship and time references, the Empaako, a special form of address among the Banyoro, Batooro and Bahema, among others, recognised by UNESCO as part of its intangible heritage, taboos, omens and signs, traditional religion as well as death and its rituals.

Suffice it to say, however, that this kind of work, where cultures of related groups of people are compared, should be a challenge for other scholars in Uganda and beyond to do the same for a better appreciation and understanding of our societies.

Quarantined: My Ordeal in Uganda’s Covid-19 Isolation Centers

Mak Press — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 10:33:11 +0000

An Inside Account from Uganda’s Coronavirus ‘Quarantine Prison Hotels’

Medical and Veterinary Ectoparasitology In The Tropics (Insects, ticks, mites and the vector-borne diseases in man and domestic animals)

Mak Press — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 11:42:32 +0000

In this book, the author endeavours to make farmers, medical and veterinary practitioners, students of veterinary and human medicine, laboratory technology and zoology, and the students of Biology at the Advanced Certificate level appreciate parasitism as a lifestyle, the structure and function of the critical arthropods and the basis of arthropod identification, the relationship between the vector, the pathogen and the vertebrate host, and the rationale of control of the vectors and vector-borne diseases in the tropics.

Religious Movements Shaping Society: The Pentecostal Movement in Uganda

Mak Press — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 10:00:53 +0000

We see, hear and live with them. They cannot define themselves definitively; neither can we. Their enthusiasm is magnetic, bordering on inconvenience. Their roots are not well known or documented, yet their fruit is evident in their presence and activities. They defy categorisation as sect, cult, and denomination. They detest being identified as ‘religion’ but manifest all its attributes. They have been known by names such as ‘Mungu Mwema’, ‘Balokole’, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Neo-Pentecostals, Born Again, Evangelical. Their meeting places may be a Fellowship, Church, Palace, Cathedral, Healing Centre, Celebration Centre, or a Community. While in the past it was majorly the middle aged and old, with little or no education who dominated membership, now it is both the elite youth and professionals who lead the pack. While in the past they were other-worldly, today we cannot miss them in the political pursuits and economic engagements. They claim Divine Mandates to rule over the earth in all spheres of life.

Since Pentecostals view historic religious institutions as hinderances to spiritual growth, will their movement itself, with the passing of time, become a monument?

Can the Movement navigate the social, cultural, economic, political and technological influences without conformity? Will the different groups in the Movement ever unite? This book seeks to initiate a discussion on the teachings (doctrines) and practices of the Pentecostal Movement in Uganda. By documenting an overview of the Movement through Church History, it seeks to situate it in the Ugandan society.

Reinventing Uganda – The Uganda Past and Future team

Mak Press — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 11:56:18 +0000

In April 1979, as Idi Amin’s government crumbled in the face of the Tanzanian military advance, a moment of opportunity opened. After years of dictatorship and terrifying violence, Ugandans had the opportunity to start again. This book attempts to do justice to the multiple ways in which they imagined their future at the time, before the tragic end to these turbulent months—Milton Obote’s fraudulent election and the start of the civil war. For the first time in many years, men and – to a lesser extent – women were able to ask critical questions about what it might mean to be Ugandan, how state and society should be organised, about who should hold authority—and in the name of what. This was a time of fear and economic deprivation, in an international context largely defined by the Cold War and the emergence of neoliberalism. But it was also a time of hope, and of the flourishing of political imagination that would nurture the public debate for many years to come.

English – Luganda Linguistics Dictionary

Mak Press — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 12:18:09 +0000

The Luganda-English Linguistics Dictionary is probably Luganda’s first and most comprehensive specialized dictionary. It is a memorial to the history of teaching and learning Luganda as a subject, which began with the arrival of missionaries in Uganda in 1877 (Anglicans) and 1879 (Catholics). More than two thousand terms representing various concepts from linguistic fields such as phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, among others, are coined, evaluated, and standardized. The PEGITOSCA criterion guided the creation and harmonization of the terms. PEGITOSCA is a mnemonic reformulation of designating principles of term formation for pPecision, Economy, Generativity, Internationality, Transparency, anti-Obscenity (objectivity), Systematicity, Clarity, and Acceptability. Each of these terms is defined and processed as a dictionary entry, with examples drawn from Luganda or other languages where applicable. It is a guide not only to those teaching Luganda linguistics but also to those teaching Africa’s indigenous languages. We believe that this volume will go a long way toward empowering Uganda’s indigenous languages, especially in the field of linguistics at all levels of education.