Fri Dec 5 12:52:14 2008
| Effective Term: |
New:
1109 - Fall 2010 Old: 1089 - Fall 2008 |
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| Department: |
New:
11142 - Science & Technology, Hist of Old: 11142 - IT Hist of Sci & Tech/Prog in |
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Catalog Description: |
New:
Development
and changing nature of sciences in their cultural context. Chemical
revolution. Darwinian revolution. Relativity and quantum revolutions.
Relationships among science, philosophy, technology, society, and
politics. Old: Development and changing nature of sciences in their cultural context. Newton and new mechanics. New chemistry. Light. Darwin and species. New experimental biology. Atomic/nuclear physics. Relationships among science, technology, society, and politics. |
| Editor Comments: |
New:
LE Requirement: CORE: Historical Perspectives THEME: Global Perspectives Old: <no text provided> |
| Proposal Changes: |
New:
<no text provided> Old: Change long and short course titles for Fall 2006. |
| History Information: |
New:
Change long and short course titles for Fall 2006. Course Equivalency added for Fall 2005. Old: Course Equivalency added for Fall 2005. |
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Faculty Sponsor Name: |
New:
Michel Janssen Old: Staff |
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Faculty Sponsor E-mail Address: |
New:
janss011@umn.edu Old: |
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Requirement this course fulfills: |
New:
HIS
- HIS Historical Perspectives
Old: HP - HP Historical Perspective Core |
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Other requirement this course fulfills: |
New:
GP
- GP Global Perspectives
Old: IP - IP International Perspective Theme |
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Criteria for Core Courses: |
Describe how the course meets the specific bullet points for the proposed core
requirement. Give concrete and detailed examples for the course syllabus, detailed
outline, laboratory material, student projects, or other instructional materials or method.
Core courses must meet the following requirements:
New: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: Given the important role of science in modern society, it is easy to forget that science does not lead a life of its own but that, like any other human endeavor, it is the product of and remains conditioned by historical processes. The first objective of this class is to increase student awareness of this truism. To meet this objective we examine some concrete examples of science practiced in historical environments very different from our own. Yet science also seems to have a special position among human pursuits. How do we square the recognition that science is constrained by the broader culture in which it is practiced with such key scientific virtues as objectivity and progress? Should not any result worthy of the honorific label ‘scientific’ hold independently of the circumstances under which it was first found and should it not be recognizable, at least in hindsight, as a step toward the scientific knowledge in the safe and permanent possession of today’s global society. After all, is not the object of study of the natural sciences—Mother Nature itself—the same for all scientists? The second objective of this class then is to make the students think about the challenge for the historian of science to give a balanced account of the ways in which science is constrained both by nature and by culture. Students will grapple with such questions as: To what extent are scientific objectivity and progress elements of the ideology of our own science-dominated culture, reinforced by a history of science written from a winner’s vantage point? How can we do justice to the cultural specifics of science without giving up the notion that its results can transcend cultural boundaries? To help students come to grips with such issues, the writings of various scientists and philosophers on scientific methodology will be sampled. To steer clear of anachronistic (‘whiggish’) evaluations of science, students need to develop some awareness of proper historical methodology. How do we construct our narratives about the history of science? What sources do we have to go on? What pitfalls do we need to watch out for? The third objective of this class is therefore to develop some familiarity with the methods of historical research. To achieve this goal it is especially important that the students read primary as well as secondary literature. The focus in the weekly discussion sections complementing the lectures will therefore typically be on a passage from the work of a scientist studied during that week. Old: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE. By studying a variety of scientific theories in some depth students are encouraged to enter different conceptual frameworks and to appreciate ideas in their historical context. A primary means of achieving this goal is the presentation of ideas in a way that runs contrary to the currently accepted truth of that theory. Thus, in treating outmoded theories, such as species existence and change, their intellectual coherence and explanatory power are stressed, while in treating currently accepted theories the problems confronting their development and the opposition to them are stressed. Students are introduced to historical method and interpretation. Students read and discuss in recitation sections a number of recent historical works, some containing original sources. Scientific developments are placed in their appropriate historical and social context, to introduce students to the complex interactions between science and society. Multiple, often conflicting, explanations of the same event are always presented, and students are encouraged to evaluate and choose between them. INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES. This course treats the development of Western science in an international context. The transmission of scientific concepts and the results of experiments from one nation and culture to another, i.e., its international nature, is an essential feature of the sciences and their history. The mechanisms for transmission, e.g., educational systems and publication, national scientific institutions, and the different character that scientific knowledge acquires in different cultures is an integral part of the course. When studying topics such as the evolution of species, discussion and reading ranges across the contributions of scientists from Britain, Scotland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and the United States. We take both a comparative approach, i.e., what differences in research problems and experimental results emerge from different national endeavors, and how are they interdependent such that a concensus develops over time. |
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Criteria for Theme Courses: |
Describe how the course meets the specific bullet points for the proposed theme
requirement. Give concrete and detailed examples for the course syllabus, detailed outline,
laboratory material, student projects, or other instructional materials or methods. Theme courses have the common goal of cultivating in students a number of habits of mind:
New: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES: Given the three objectives listed under Historical Perspectives, the episodes covered in some depth in this class are chosen to represent different times and places. The section on chemistry takes us to 18th-century Paris, the period, not coincidentally of both the French and the Chemical Revolution. The section on biology takes us to 19th-century London, where the Industrial Revolution and laissez-faire Capitalism made themselves felt and left their marks on evolutionary theory. The section on physics takes us to early-20th-century Berlin, the capital of the young German empire heading for the disaster of World War I, the failure of the Weimar republic, and the Nazi nightmare. The seemingly esoteric new physics, much of it produced in Germany in the midst of all this turmoil, eventually made possible the development of nuclear weapons. The three main protagonists of the course, Lavoisier, Darwin, and Einstein, were intricately involved in and swept up by the broader currents in the societies they belonged to. To develop a better appreciation for these lives devoted first and foremost to science, the course examines what it was like for these three scientists to spend significant parts of their lives in Paris, London, and Berlin, respectively. The comparison of these three environments will put the students in a better position to appreciate the increasingly international character of science during this period despite strong national differences in the way science was done and organized. While most of the emphasis is on Europe, the course also covers the emergence of the United States as a scientific powerhouse in the 20th century. Old: <no text provided> |
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Provisional Syllabus: |
Please
provide a provisional syllabus for new courses and courses in which
changes in content and/or description and/or credits are proposed that
include the following information: course goals and description;
format/structure of the course (proposed number of instructor contact
hours per week, student workload effort per week, etc.); topics to be
covered; scope and nature of assigned readings (texts, authors,
frequency, amount per week); required course assignments; nature of any
student projects; and how students will be evaluated. The University policy on credits is found under Section 4A of "Standards for Semester Conversion" at http://www.fpd.finop.umn.edu/groups/senate/documents/policy/semestercon.html . Provisional course syllabus information will be retained in this system until new syllabus information is entered with the next major course modification, This provisional course syllabus information may not correspond to the course as offered in a particular semester. New: HSCI 1815/3815: REVOLUTIONS IN SCIENCE: LAVOISIER, DARWIN, AND EINSTEIN SPRING 2010 TIME AND PLACE Lecture: MWF, 9:05 – 9:55 am, Physics 131 Discussion: 2 M, 12:20 – 1:10 pm, AkerH 211 3 Tu, 9:05 – 9:55 am, AkerH 215 4 W, 11:15 am – 12:05 pm, Phys 157 NOTE: here will be NO discussion sessions the first week of classes. INSTRUCTORS Lecture: Michel Janssen. 354B Physics; email: janss011@umn.edu; tel. 624 5880. Office Hours: M, 10:30–11:30 am; W, 1:30–2:30 pm; or by appointment. Discussion: TBA. COURSE DESCRIPTION This is a Liberal Education Course certified for both a Core (Historical Perspectives) and a Theme (Global Perspectives). It is the second part of a two-semester introductory survey of the history of the natural sciences. The two parts can be taken independently of one another. This part covers a selection of developments in chemistry, biology, geology, and physics from the 18th through the 20th century. We study the work of some of the leading scientists involved, paying close attention to the broader social and cultural contexts in which they practiced their science. To allow for meaningful analysis of the material, the course is clustered around three celebrated examples of fundamental change in our understanding of the natural world: the chemical revolution of the 1780s led by the Parisian Antoine Lavoisier, who lost his head to the guillotine; the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859 by the Victorian gentleman-scientist Charles Darwin; and the annus mirabilis 1905 of a Swiss civil servant, who started out a German and ended up an American—Albert Einstein. We also study the impact of these scientific revolutions on society. In particular, we look at debates over Darwin’s theory of evolution and at the development of nuclear weapons made possible by the development of modern physics. The lectures cover and supplement the textbooks. The focus in the discussion section is typically on a passage from the work of a scientist covered in the lecture. Given the important role of science in modern society, it is easy to forget that science does not lead a life of its own but that, like any other human endeavor, it is the product of and remains conditioned by historical processes. The first objective of this class is to increase your awareness of this truism. To this end we examine some concrete examples of science practiced in historical environments very different from our own. Yet science also seems to have a special position among human pursuits. Even though you may personally prefer Van Gogh’s paintings to Rembrandt’s, you probably would not claim that Van Gogh is better than Rembrandt. The same holds for literature, music, architecture, and even, depending on whom you ask, for religion, philosophy, and political systems. Yet, you probably would say that Einstein’s theories are better than Newton’s. I find this fascinating. How do we square the recognition that science is constrained by the broader culture in which it is practiced with such key scientific virtues as objectivity and progress? By those lofty standards, any result worthy of the honorific label ‘scientific’ should hold independently of the circumstances under which it was first found and should be recognizable, at least in hindsight, as a step toward the scientific knowledge in the safe and permanent possession of today’s global society. After all, is not the object of study of the natural sciences—Mother Nature itself—the same for all scientists? The second objective of this class then is to make you think about this tension facing the historian of science. One of his or her challenges is to give a balanced account of the ways in which science is constrained both by nature and by culture. To what extent are scientific objectivity and progress elements of the ideology of our own science-dominated culture, reinforced by a history of science written from a winner’s vantage point? How can we do justice to the cultural specifics of science without giving up the notion that its results can transcend cultural boundaries? To help you come to grips with such issues, we sample the writings of various scientists and philosophers on scientific methodology. When studying science from other times and places, we must be careful not to measure its results against what we now know about the relevant phenomena. In particular, we need to resist the temptation to classify those results as either ‘steps in the right direction’ or ‘blind alleys.’ To steer clear of this type of anachronistic evaluation (called ‘whiggish’ or ‘whig history’), we need to develop some awareness of proper historical methodology. How do we construct our narratives about the history of science? What sources do we have to go on? What pitfalls do we need to watch out for? Only if we use criteria appropriate to evaluating past science can we hope to find interesting answers to the questions about the nature of science raised above. If not, we will only find confirmations of whatever opinions we had at the outset. The third objective of this class is therefore to develop some familiarity with the methods of historical research. To achieve this goal it is especially important that we read primary texts (i.e., texts written by the scientists we study) in addition to secondary texts (i.e., texts written about these scientists and their work by historians of science). Given our objectives in this class, the episodes covered in some depth are chosen to represent different times and places. The section on chemistry takes us to 18th-century Paris, the period, not coincidentally, of both the French and the Chemical Revolution. The section on biology takes us to 19th-century London, where the Industrial Revolution and laissez-faire Capitalism made themselves felt, leaving their marks on the theory of evolution in the process. The section on physics takes us to early-20th-century Berlin, the capital of the young German empire heading for the disaster of World War I, the failure of the Weimar republic, and the Nazi nightmare. The seemingly esoteric new physics, much of it produced in Germany in the midst of all this turmoil, eventually made possible the development of nuclear weapons. Our three main protagonists, Lavoisier, Darwin, and Einstein, were intricately involved in and swept up by the broader currents in the societies they were members of. To develop a better appreciation for these lives devoted first and foremost to science, we examine what it was like for these three scientists to spend significant parts of their lives in Paris, London, and Berlin, respectively. The comparison of these three environments also puts us in a better position to appreciate the increasingly international character of science during this period despite strong national differences in the way science was done and organized. While most of the emphasis is on Europe, we also study the emergence of the United States as a scientific powerhouse in the 20th century. REQUIREMENTS The main requirement of this class is that you keep up with the readings. It’s especially important that, before coming to the discussion section, you read the material on the agenda that week. If it turns out that some of you are not doing these readings, we may require all of you to turn in (at the beginning of the discussion section each week) a written statement that can serve as the starting point for discussion of the material. In week 13 (April 21–25), the discussion sections are used for the ‘Georgina Hoptroff Montgomery Mini-Conferences’: you team up with one or two other students to give a short presentation on a physicist of your choice. Coffee and doughnuts are provided. This presentation counts toward your grade for participation in the discussion section. If you keep up with the material, you should have no trouble with the formal requirements of this class: a midterm, a cumulative final, and three take-home short-essay-questions (about a page and a half each) spread over the semester (see schedule below). ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR HSCI 3815 STUDENTS In addition to the requirements listed above, you are required to write a term paper of about 2000–2500 words (7–10 pages). A list of books you can use as the basis for your paper will be passed out the week after the midterm. You need to clear it with me (Michel) if you want to use a book not on this list as a main source for your paper. A short proposal for your paper is due at the beginning of the lecture on Friday, April 11. If you are considering a minor in History of Science and Technology, you are strongly advised to take 3815 rather than 1815. The university rule is that you cannot count 1000-level credits toward a minor. GRADING 85% of your grade will be based upon: Hsci 1815 students: three take-home short-essay-questions (worth 15% each), midterm (worth 15%), and final (worth 25%); Hsci 3815 students: three take-home short-essay-questions (worth 15% each), midterm (worth 10%), final (worth 10%), and term paper (worth 20%). Portion of your grade based on attendance and participation: 15% of your grade will be based on attendance of the lectures (worth 5%) and attendance of and participation in the discussion sections (worth 5% each; you can boost your participation grade with your class presentation in week 13). Your attendance grade is essentially the percentage of classes you attended. Those sitting in rows 1–5 during the lectures receive a bonus of 5%. You also receive a bonus of 5% for attending the lectures on Friday. If your cell phone rings (or, worse, plays some annoying jingle) during class, you forfeit all credit for attending that class. All grades will initially be given on a scale from 0 to 100 (110 for attendance of the lectures) and will only in the end be converted to letter grades. The conversion is roughly: 85–100: A; 70–85: B; 55–70: C; 40–55: D; less than 40: F. ATTENDANCE There tends to be a strong correlation between attending class (in a seat that optimizes oral and visual reception of the various offerings and without distractions) and doing well on the exams and the assignments. As an extra incentive to come to class, attendance makes up a small portion of your grade. There is a (modest) bonus for sitting in the front rows, a penalty for not switching off your cell phone, and another bonus for resisting the temptation to start your weekend on Fridays. It is especially important that you come to the discussion sections. This is reflected in the grading policy: attending the discussion section once a week is worth almost as much as coming to the lecture three times a week. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES STATEMENT In this class you will learn the following. By attending the lectures and reading the textbooks for this class, you will acquire some in-depth knowledge of developments in the natural sciences (chemistry, biology, geology, physics) over the last three centuries in various European countries and the US. This will include information about key practitioners of these sciences, about their contributions to science, and about the different times and places in which they lived. Drawing on this knowledge, you will analyze, during the discussion sections for this class, some key passages from texts with which these scientists reported their theories or the results of their experiments. You will also read and discuss some of their reflections on how science works. All these materials will help you develop a sense of how historians of science go about constructing their narratives. By thinking about the question of how science has been constrained both by nature and by culture, an issue raised throughout the course, you will develop some skill in assessing historical evidence for or against a historical thesis. During the semester you will be exposed to a selection of fascinating and well-written books from the growing literature on the history of science aimed at a broad audience. The knowledge gained in this class will enhance the pleasure of reading such books; the skills mastered will help you read them more critically. For students taking this class at the 3000 rather than the 1000-level, these benefits for further reading get special emphasis. Starting from a semi-popular book and tracking down some of the original texts on which the book is ultimately based, you will write a short term paper on an episode in the history of science of the last three centuries. OFFICE HOURS If you have difficulty with the material, do not wait too long and come see one of us during office hours. One of our office hours is by appointment, so there will always be a time that fits your schedule. We will do our best to answer any questions you may have, from very specific ones to “I’m lost!” NOTE ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY This course is governed by the Board of Regents’ Student Conduct Code, available on-line on the webpages of the Office for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity (OSCAI) (URL: http://www1.umn.edu/oscai/index.html). All students should be familiar with this code. It defines Scholastic Dishonesty as: “Submission of false records of academic achievement; cheating on assignments or examinations; plagiarizing; altering, forging, or misusing a University academic record; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty permission; acting alone or in cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades, honors, awards, or professional endorsement.” Students on this class have lost credit and/or have been reported to the OSCAI for violating the following rules in the past. (1) the midterm and the final in this class are both closed-book exams. That means that during the exam you cannot consult books, notes, laptops (or any other electronic devices that could be used for the storage and/or transmission of information pertinent to the exam), or the work of your fellow students. (2) In all written material you submit (the three take-home essays and, for students in Hsci 3815, the term paper), present your own ideas and your own arguments in your own words. Use quotations sparingly and give detailed citations whenever you do. Note that simply changing a few words in a quotation does not change the fact that you are quoting. Paraphrasing of this sort, where you use a source almost verbatim without acknowledgment, is one of the most common forms of plagiarism. Another common problem may arise from collaborating with other students. You are free, even encouraged, to discuss the take-home short-essay questions with other students but the work you submit must be your own, not something jointly written or copied from another student. At a minimum, you will lose all credit for work that violates these rules against plagiarism. In addition and depending on the seriousness of the offense, you may lose credit for other parts of the class or fail the class outright and/or be reported to OSCAI for academic misconduct. WEBVISTA COURSE SITE There is a website for this class, on which various readings, lecture notes, short essay questions, study guides etc. will be posted. There is also a page called “announcements” on which important information pertaining to this class will be posted (such as, if necessary, reminders about due dates of assignments or information about changes in the schedule). Check the website, including the announcement page, at least once a week for new material and/or messages. The line “I did not see that announcement” will not be accepted as an excuse for failing to meet any of the requirements of the course. To log on to the WebVista course site for this class, go to www.myu.umn.edu. Sign in to “myu.” You will be prompted for your UofM Internet ID (i.e., your username as in username@umn.edu) and password (if you do not know your Internet ID or have forgotten your password, call 1-HELP (612 301 4357, from on campus dial 14357). Go to the tab “my courses.” There you will find a list of all WebVista sites for courses that you are currently enrolled in. Click on the link to this course. The first time you use WebVista, go to webvista.umn.edu and follow the instructions on configuring your browser (this site also provides an alternative path to WebVista course sites: go to WebVista B and log in). Only a few of the features of WebCT will be used for this class (e.g, the gradebook). The main purpose of the site is to make readings and handouts available to you online. Unfortunately, some scans of journal articles and book chapters are not very legible on screen, but they print out just fine. Let me remind you that copyright laws only allow you to make a copy for your own personal use. All files are in html- or pdf-format. To read and print pdf-files, you need (a reasonably recent version of) Adobe Acrobat Reader. For instructions on how to download this program (for free), go to www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. There is a link to this site on the home page of the course site. REQUIRED TEXTS Trevor H. Levere, Transforming Matter: A History of Chemistry from Alchemy to the Bucky- ball. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. Edward J. Larson, Evolution. The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory. New York: The Modern Library, 2004. James D. Watson, The Double Helix. A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. New York: New American Library, 1991. Jeremy Bernstein, Oppenheimer. Portrait of an Enigma. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee Publisher, 2004. These books are available at the U of M Bookstore in Coffman Union. Additional readings will be posted on the WebVista site for this class. Among these supplementary readings will be passages from the work of various scientists covered in the lectures that will serve as the focal points for the discussion sections. You are expected to bring to discussion all required readings for that week (including printouts of the required readings posted on the web for that week). Failure to do so will be reflected in your participation grade for the discussion section. SCHEDULE & READINGS Week, date, topic, readings for lectures and discussion section: CHEMISTRY 1 Jan. 23 Introduction; Alchemy. Lecture: Levere, ch. 1, pp. 1–13 [14 pages]. There will be no discussion sections the first week of classes. 2 Jan. 28 Greek matter theory; Iatrochemistry (Van Helmont, Paracelsus); Boyle, Chymistry, and the English Civil War. Lecture: Levere, chs. 2–3, pp. 14–38 [25 pages]. Discussion: passages from Boyle’s Skeptical Chymist (1661) 3 Feb. 4 The Chemistry of Airs: Priestley and Lavoisier. Lecture: Levere, chs. 5–6, pp. 51–79 [29 pages]. Discussion: passages from Priestley’s Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air (1775). 4 Feb. 11 Lavoisier, the Chemical Revolution, and the French Revolution; Elements from Dalton to Mendeleev. Lecture: Levere, chs. 7 and 9, pp. 80–93 & pp. 107–120 [28 pages] Discussion: introduction of Lavoisier’s Elements of Chemistry (1789) Friday, February 15: First take-home short-essay-question assigned. BIOLOGY 5 Feb. 18 Natural History and Geology in the 18th Century: Linnaeus and Buffon on species, Werner and Hutton on geology (Neptunists vs. Vulcanists). Lecture: Larson, preface and ch. 1, pp. xiii–xiv & pp. 5–26 [24 pages] Discussion: help you get started on the take-home short-essay question. 6 Feb. 25 Early 19th Century. Three Arguments against the Transmutation of Species: Cuvier’s Comparative Anatomy; Lyell’s Uniformitarianism; Paley’s Natural Theology. Lecture: Larson, ch. 2, pp. 29–51 [22 pages] Discussion: Paley’s appropriation of the mechanical philosophy’s ‘watch’-metaphor in his Natural Theology (1802). Monday, February 25: First take-home short-essay-question due at the beginning of the lecture. 7 Mar. 3 Darwin’s Beagle Voyage, Malthus’ Population Principle, and Evolution through Natural Selection. Lecture: Larson, ch. 3, pp. 55–75 [21 pages] Discussion: passages from Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859). 8 Mar. 10 Wallace and the Victorian Scientific Establishment; Darwin’s The Origin (1859) Lecture: Larson, ch. 4, pp. 79–101 [23 pages] Discussion section: Review for the midterm. Friday, March 14, 9:05 – 9:55 am, Physics 131: Midterm (on most of the material covered in weeks 1–8; a review sheet will be made available). Friday, March 14: Second take-home short-essay-question assigned. March 17–21 Spring Break. 9 Mar. 24 Dinosaurs; Decline of Darwinism; Eugenics; Social Darwinism; Mendel. Lecture: Larson, chs. 5 and 7 (1st half), pp. 105–129 & pp. 153–165 [38 pages] Discussion: passages from Whewell’s Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (1840s). Friday, March 28: Second take-home short-essay-question due at the beginning of the lecture. 10 Mar. 31 Mendelians vs. Biometrists; Modern Synthesis; Scopes Trial; DNA. Lecture: Larson, chs. 7 (2nd half), 10, and 9, pp. 165–174 & 221–243 & pp. 201–218 [51 pages] Discussion: Watson, foreword, preface, chs. 1–29, and epilogue, pp. vii–x , pp. 13–143 [135 pages] PHYSICS 11 Apr. 7 Einstein’s ‘Miracle Year’ (1905); Industrial Revolution; Thermodynamics; Kinetic Theory; Brownian Motion and the Reality of Atoms. Lecture: lecture notes Discussion: road map of the physics section of the course Sign-up for presentations at mini-conference in week 13. Friday, April 11 (for students in 3815 only): Short proposal for term paper due at the beginning of class. 12 Apr. 14 Electricity and Magnetism from Parlor Tricks to Dynamos and from Forces to Fields; Special Relativity. Lecture: lecture notes Discussion: review/preview of material covered in lecture in weeks 11–12. 13 Apr. 21 General Relativity: Einstein in Berlin During World War I. Quantum Theory: Planck, Einstein, and Bohr Lecture: lecture notes Discussion: ‘Georgina Hoptroff Montgomery Mini-Conferences’: student presentations on physicists covered in lecture in weeks 11–12. Friday, April 25: Third take-home short-essay-question assigned. 14 Apr. 28 From the Old Quantum Theory to Matrix Mechanics; American Contributions (Van Vleck in Minnesota) Lecture: lecture notes Discussion: Bernstein, preface, pp. vii–xi, Chs. 1–3, pp. 3–90 [93 pages] 15 May 5 Nuclear Physics; Manhattan Project. Lecture: lecture notes Discussion: review for final exam. Monday, May 5: Third take-home short-essay-question due at the beginning of the lecture. Friday, May 16, 1:30–3:30 pm (place to be confirmed but probably Phys 131): Final Exam (cumulative; a review sheet will be made available); Term paper for Hsci 3815 students due at the beginning of the exam period. Old: <no text provided> |