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Category III : Scientific Principles These courses focus on basic scientific principles and examines the way these principles were developed through gradual evolution, the elimination of competing ideas, and scientific revolution. A lab or field experience is required.These courses focus on cultures and civilizations generally perceived as alternatives to those in Category I, and based on traditions prevalent in Africa, Asia, Latin American, the Middle East, Native America, and elsewhere.
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ASTRONOMY 100Lg
The Universe
Dappen
MW, 2:00 - 3:50
Please contact the department for course description, reading and assignments list.
Note: For another section, see the next entry.
ASTRONOMY 100Lg
The Universe
Warner
TTh, 12:00-1:50
Please contact the department for course description, reading and assignments list.
CHEMISTRY 160Lg
The Earth's Surface
Bauer
TTh, 12:30 - 1:50
Please contact the department for course description, reading and assignments list.
CHEMISTRY 105aLg
General Chemistry I
Professor: varies
Goals:
Teach fundamental principles and laws of chemistry through lecture, problem solving, and quantitative procedures in the laboratory.
Structure:
Lecture given by professor
1 Laboratory per week, taught by graduate teaching assistant
This course examines the nature of scientific inquiry by teaching principles discovered by scientists through the review of key discoveries of chemical principles that occurred over the last several hundred years.
Readings and assignments:
Chapters 1-11 in "Chemistry." by S. Zumdahl, 4th Edition
4 hours of laboratory per week.
GEOLOGY 105Lg
Planet Earth
Henyey
MWF, 11:00-11:50
This course examines the geologic structure and evolution of the planet earth.
Please contact the department for course description, reading and assignments list.
GEOLOGY 107g
Oceanography
Douglas
MWF, 11:00-11:50
This course introduces students to oceanographic and geologic processes active at the Earth's surface and their relationship to the human environment. Processes include plate tectonics, oceanic and atmospheric circulation, the hydrologic cycle, marine sedimentation, marine biology, and physical aspects of climate including Global Change issues. The course also surveys relationships between oceanographic processes and the availability of mineral/energy resources and pollution problems.
Please contact the department for reading and assignments list.
GEOLOGY 130Lg
The Nature of Scientific Inquiry
Lund and Patterson
TTh, 8:00-9:20
This course is designed for anyone with an interest in science, and will consider:
(1) our current knowledge of selected fields in the physical sciences (relativity, quantum mechanics, chaos theory, and planetary/solar system development),
(2) the nature of scientific inquiry which has led us to that current knowledge and
(3) the relationship of scientific inquiry to other aspects of human knowledge and experience.
We will explore current scientific ideas, how these ideas have evolved - how new scientific paradigms (broad scientific hypotheses) are developed (and older paradigms junked), and what are the limitations of science. By the end of the semester, we hope that all students acquire a more 'modern' scientific view of the natural world around us, both what we know and what we don't know, and also develop a more questioning attitude with regard to the learning process and observation of the world around us.
Required Texts:
Gamow, G., Mr. Tompkins in Paperback, Cambridge Univ.Press, 1965, 1993.
Gleick, J., Chaos - Making a New Science, Penguin Books, 1987.
Gribbin, J., In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, Bantam Press, 1984.
Hatton, J., and P. B. Plouffe, Science and its Ways of Knowing, Prentice Hall Inc., 1997.
Hawking, S., A Brief History of Time, Bantam Press, 1988.
Wolpert, L., The Unnatural Nature of Science, Harvard University Press, 1992.
Grading: 3 Midterm Exams (20% each, drop lowest score, no makeups) 40%
Final Exam: 30%
Discussion/Lab (participation, essays) 30%
PHYSICS 100Lg
Conceptual Physics
Bars
TTh, 2:00-3:20
This course presents some of the advances in modern physics in the 20th century from a conceptual point of view. It is intend as a cultural enrichment course rather than a technical course. It is primarily addressed to non-specialists, but would also be enriching for students majoring in technical fields. Topics will range from the Big Bang cosmology of the Universe to the microscoping structures of matter including atoms, nuclei, quarks, superstrings, black holes, superconductivity, etc. Attempts will be made to explain the deeper theories of Physics by making analogies and relating them to commonly encountered events in daily life. The lab for this course will help to demonstrate the relationship between concepts learned in lecture.
Grading and Course Requirements:
Homework and Reading 15%
Lab 20%
First Midterm 20%
Second Midterm 20%
Final 25%
Please contact the department for reading and assignments list.
PHYSICS 125aLg
Physics for Architects
Undesignated
This course satisfies the G.E. requirements in Category III, but is usually taken in preparation for major requirements in the sciences or professional schools. Please contact the department for course description.
PHYSICS 151Lg
Fundamentals of Physics I: Mechanics and Thermodynamics
This course satisfies the G.E. requirements in Category III, but is usually taken in preparation for major requirements in the sciences or professional schools. Please contact the department for course description.