My regularly sheduled office hours are Monday 2 - 2:50, Wednesday 11 - 11:50, and Friday 2:00 - 3:50. My current class schedule will be posted on my office door. I generally arrive on campus at 8:00 AM and depart around 5:00 PM.
The following is the catalogue description of this course:
These are exiting times in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics. With the aid of the orbiting Hubble telescope and other ever more sophisticated space-based and terrestrial instruments we can peer backward in time more than 10 billion years to the period of formation of the first galaxies. New radio and microwave detectors are observing structures in the universe which emerged only a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang. Cosmology, the study of the evolution of the universe, has become an experimental science. We will survey this new generation of instruments, then review our best current understanding of what's out there. Since Einstein's general theory of relativity provides the theoretical basis for the observed expanding universe, we will then briefly consider, from a layperson's perspective, this remarkable revision of our notions of space and time. The elementary particles of nature, like electrons, protons, and more exotic entities such as quarks and Higgs bosons, feature in the history of the early universe. We shall review, again in a manner accessible to non-scientists, some of essentials of elementary particle theory. Our study will then take us from a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang, through a possible brief but exaggerate expansion period known as inflation, to the release of the cosmic background radiation and the eventual formation of galaxies. Along the way we shall investigate what the microwave background might tell us about the state of the universe shortly after the Big Bang!
Here are my principle objectives:
- Survey some history of human efforts to understand the structure and evolution of the universe.
- Appreciate that modern cosmology has become an experimental science. New observing instruments are delivering a wealth of new observational data that now helps us decide among competing theories.
- Learn some basics of gravitational physics, including a layperson's introduction to general relativity and elementary particle physics.
- Learn the standard model of the thermal history of the universe, from the first fraction of a second following the big bang, through the formation of the cosmic background radiation, to the formation of galaxies.
- Experience excitement and wonder in contemplation of an evolving universe and our place in it.
- Learn effective internet search strategies and how to create web pages.
A schedule of topics to be discussed in class and related reading assignments is located here .
My own experience, buttressed by extensive studies in science education, suggests that you will learn the most in this course if you are an active participant, and if you take it upon yourself to explain what you have learned to someone else. Before class on Thursday, February 19, I want you to select a topic for which you will prepare a pedogogical introduction to be published on an internet web page. One sure place to look for topic suggestions is in your textbooks. Particularly stimulating are the projects listed at the end of each chapter in the Harrison text. The sources for each chapter can be especially useful. The Seife readings will likely also suggest several timely topics. In addition, there is now an enormous amount of cosmology-related information on the web, including breaking news, photographs, animations, movies, and tutorials. I will give you instruction on evaluating these resources, and also in composing web pages.
I do encourage you to collaborate with one or two other members of the class, perhaps on a unifying theme. However, you must clearly identify your individual contributions.
The final two meetings of the semester have been reserved for you to present your work to the class.
A complete initial draft of your pages is due by 5 PM, Friday, April 23. The final version is due by Friday, May 7.
There will be three in-class one-hour examinations, scheduled for March 2, April 1, and April 27. Please check your class schedules now to determine if you have three or more exams scheduled on these same days. In such a case I am willing to reschedule, but you must inform me during the first week of class. The final examination will be administered on May 16.
You are expected to abide by the college academic integrity policy which is outlined in the Environment, the student handbook.The following activities constitute a not necessarily exhaustive list of offenses which are in violation of the college's Academic Integrity Policy:
Turning in work done by someone else.
Working on an assignment with others when the instructor asked for individual work.
Receiving unpermitted help on an assignment.
Writing or providing a paper for another student.
Getting Q/A from someone who has taken test.
In a course requiring computer work, copying a friend's program rather than doing your own.
Helping someone else cheat on a test.
Falsifying lab or research data.
Fabricating or falsifying a bibliography.
Copying from another student during a test or examination without his or her knowing it.
Copying from another student during a test with his or her knowledge.
Copying a few sentences of material from a written source without footnoting them in a paper.
Turning in a paper either purchased or plagiarized, in large part, from a term paper "mill" or website.
Copying a few sentences of material from an Internet source without footnoting them in a paper.
Using unpermitted crib notes (cheat sheets) during a test.
Copying material almost work for word from any written source and turning it in as your own work.
Altering graded test and submitting it for additional credit.
Turning in a paper copied from another student.
Using a false excuse to obtain extension on due date.
Hiding or damaging library/course material.
Cheating on a test in any other way
Cheating on a written assignment in any other way.These general policies apply unless explicit written instructions to the contrary are distributed by the instructor. You must become familiar with the requirements set out in this syllabus. If there is ever a question about the appropriateness of an action, ask the instructor for clarification.
The final grade will be computed as follows:
Daily classroom participation 15
Hourly examinations 30 Final examination 20
Web pages and presentation 35