" This class explores the creation (and creativity) of the modern scientific …
" This class explores the creation (and creativity) of the modern scientific and cultural world through study of western Europe in the 17th century, the age of Descartes and Newton, Shakespeare, Milton and Ford. It compares period thinking to present-day debates about the scientific method, art, religion, and society. This team-taught, interdisciplinary subject draws on a wide range of literary, dramatic, historical, and scientific texts and images, and involves theatrical experimentation as well as reading, writing, researching and conversing. The primary theme of the class is to explore how England in the mid-seventeenth century became "a world turned upside down" by the new ideas and upheavals in religion, politics, and philosophy, ideas that would shape our modern world. Paying special attention to the "theatricality" of the new models and perspectives afforded by scientific experimentation, the class will read plays by Shakespeare, Tate, Brecht, Ford, Churchill, and Kushner, as well as primary and secondary texts from a wide range of disciplines. Students will also compose and perform in scenes based on that material."
This book is a journey through the world of physics and cosmology, …
This book is a journey through the world of physics and cosmology, and an exploration of our role in this universe. We will address questions such as: What if the force of gravity were a little stronger? What if there were more of fewer atoms in our universe? What if Newton and not Einstein had been right? Would we still be here? Can the universe exist without us to observe it? Can chance explain the world around us, as well as us?
The purpose of this book is to phrase these questions and pursue the consequences of potential answers through rigorous scientific reasoning; in the process we will learn how the very small and the very large are interconnected, and even how we can affect events that happened six billion years ago.
Licensed CC-BY-4.0 with attribution instructions on page 2 of the document.
Table of Contents
Introduction 7 The fundamental forces 10 The force of gravity 18 What if … the force of gravity were different? 23 The electric and magnetic forces 26 The electric force 27 What if … the electric force were different? 39 The magnetic force 48 What if … the magnetic force were different? 58 The strong and weak forces 59 What if … ? 65 How do forces work? 74 The history of the universe 85 What if … ? 94 The history of our species 106 Odds 124 The building blocks of the universe 128 What if … ? 140 Dark energy 150 What if … dark matter were more interesting? 159 When you do not look…. 162 Manifestations of the wave nature of matter 169 The delayed choice experiment: Affecting the past 186 What if … ? 191 The story so far 195 Unification and our role 199 Fine-tuning? 214 The Multiverse and aliens 226 The laws of physics 234 The Anthropic Principle and Puddle Theory 237 Post mortem 249 Further reading and chapter notes 251
Applications of physics (Newtonian, statistical, and quantum mechanics) to fundamental processes that …
Applications of physics (Newtonian, statistical, and quantum mechanics) to fundamental processes that occur in celestial objects. Includes main-sequence stars, collapsed stars (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), pulsars, supernovae, the interstellar medium, galaxies, and as time permits, active galaxies, quasars, and cosmology. Observational data discussed. No prior knowledge of astronomy is required.
The courses on this portal are or will be Zero-Textbook-Cost courses. Course …
The courses on this portal are or will be Zero-Textbook-Cost courses. Course faculty are creating and adopting teaching, learning and research materials that permit no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.
The following course pages provide links to the syllabus and open course content, websites and learning tools:
Biology SCB 201 – General Biology I Chemistry SCC 110 – Foundations of Chemistry SCC 201 – General Chemistry I SCC 202 – General Chemistry II Physics and Astronomy SCP 101 – Topics in Physics SCP 105 – Life in the Universe SCP 140 – Topics in Astronomy SCP 201 – Fundamentals of Physics I SCP 202 – Fundamentals of Physics II
The online educational resource Physics For Everyone is the scaffolding for a …
The online educational resource Physics For Everyone is the scaffolding for a 3 contact hour, 3 credit general education course that will be offered for the first time at the CUNY College of Staten Island in the spring semester of 2021. This work has been generously supported by New America’s PIT-UN (Public Interest Technology University Network) challenge grant program, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. This slide deck provides the outline for the semester-long course. Each week’s lecture topics, with key points to be covered, are highlighted in two slides, which also list writing prompts, problem-solving exercises, and labs. Also, we have curated a list of high-quality online video resources that students (and instructors) should use to help them learn (and teach) physics ideas and concepts using demonstrations, animations, and humor. Many of those videos are parts of larger series and programs, created by some of the most skilled and popular online presenters in the world; that means some of their content is commercially sponsored, but all the content is free to students and instructors. Finally, we have envisioned this course to assess students with a large set of low-stakes, just-in-time-type assignments.
Walking up and down the hallways of Davey Lab at Penn State, …
Walking up and down the hallways of Davey Lab at Penn State, you can find astronomers searching for and characterizing exoplanets, monitoring supernovae and other exploding stars, and measuring the details of the accelerating expansion of the Universe to determine the nature of dark energy. In Astro 801, we learn that with only the ability to measure the light from these distant, unreachable objects, we can still determine how the Solar System, stars, galaxies, and the Universe formed and evolved since the Big Bang. We are all citizens of the Universe, and in fact, you are made of starstuff. Come learn where the atoms in your body came from, and what will happen to them long after we are gone.
"2010 marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo's astonishing sightings of features on …
"2010 marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo's astonishing sightings of features on the moon, stars, and moons around Jupiter that no one had seen before. Recreate these new ways of seeing and exploring from the materials and techniques Galileo had on hand, while you reflect on the times and works of Galileo. What was it like to improvise new ways of seeing and exploring from the materials and techniques on hand? What do we notice? What surprises us? How can we relate to past experience and ideas? What are we curious to research? How does our experimenting grow into our learning? Let your own curiosity drive your explorations."
Hello! Welcome to a sample/test module, Imaginary Astronomy. This module exists purely …
Hello! Welcome to a sample/test module, Imaginary Astronomy. This module exists purely for experimental purposes and was not created by Astronomy faculty. Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash
This is an introduction to the study of the solar system with …
This is an introduction to the study of the solar system with emphasis on the latest spacecraft results. The subject covers basic principles rather than detailed mathematical and physical models. Topics include: an overview of the solar system, planetary orbits, rings, planetary formation, meteorites, asteroids, comets, planetary surfaces and cratering, planetary interiors, planetary atmospheres, and life in the solar system.
The emergence of Western science: the systematization of natural knowledge in the …
The emergence of Western science: the systematization of natural knowledge in the ancient world, the transmission of the classical legacy to the Latin West, and the revolt from classical thought during the scientific revolution. Examines scientific concepts in light of their cultural and historical contexts.
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