ISP205 Section 003
Visions of the Universe
Fall 2003
Meeting time: MW
Place: Room 1410 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Bldg
Instructor: Horace Smith, Room 3272 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Bldg
Phone 517-355-9200 x2415 (smith@pa.msu.edu)
Office Hours: MW 3pm-4pm, and by appointment.
Text: The Cosmic Perspective (3rd edition) by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, & Voit
Grading: There will be three midterm exams plus a final exam. The dates for the midterms have yet to be determined, although approximate dates are listed in the attached course outline. The final exam will be Thursday, December 11, 8-10pm. If you forget this and go to look it up, remember to look under “Common Final Exams”. Each midterm will count for 20% of your course grade. The final exam will count for 30% of the course grade. The location for the final exam will be announced later.
Homeworks and in-class assignments: These will count for the remaining 10% of your course grade. That may not sound like much, but don’t neglect them. A difference of 10% can change your grade by more than a grade point.
Extra-credit: From time to time I will give a short in-class question. These will usually be worth 1 point. The extra point gets added to your next exam grade if you get the question right.
Observing: Open house nights at the MSU Observatory are scheduled for Friday and
Saturday, Sept. 5 & 6, Oct. 3 & 4, and Nov. 7 & 8, from 9-11pm, weather permitting. These are optional, but can be fun.
Web page: It’s not set up yet, but there will be one. Stay tuned. The expected web site is http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/2003fall/isp205/sec-3/ but that might change.
Course Goals
ISP205 will explore the scientific view of the universe, how that view has changed over time, and how the methods of science have been applied to give us a better understanding of the universe around us. By the end of the course, I expect that you will be able to
1. Be able to recognize the constellations and planets visible in the evening sky this fall. And be able to explain the apparent motions in the sky of the stars, planets, sun, and moon.
2. Be able to describe how our understanding of the solar system has changed over the past two thousand years because of the development of new methods and new instruments. You will be able to apply Kepler’s laws of planetary motion and Isaac Newton’s laws of motion and gravity.
3. Be able to describe how our understanding of light lets us learn the temperatures and chemical compositions of stars and planets.
4. Be able to explain how a science differs from a pseudoscience.
5. Be able to describe the modern conception of the nature, origin, and future of the planets, stars, and galaxies.
Course Outline
The dates below are tentative and will depend on our actual pace of progress. In particular, the dates of midterm exams could change, so stay tuned. Exams will focus on material covered during the lectures; this will usually (but not always) be material also in the text.
Week 1
August 25: Introduction to astronomy and the night sky. (Ch. 1, 2)
August 27: The sky and its motions (Ch. 2)
Week 2
September 3: From Copernicus to Newton (Ch 4, 5)
Week 3
September 8: Light (Ch. 6)
September 10: Telescopes (Ch. 7)
Week 4
September 15: Formation of the solar system (Ch. 8)
September 17: First midterm
Week 5
September 22: The terrestrial planets (Ch. 9)
September 24: The planet Mars (Ch. 9 & 10)
Week 6
September 29: The giant planets (Ch. 12)
October 1: Comets, asteroids, and the outer solar system (Ch. 13)
Week 7
October 6: The search for life on other planets (Ch. 13, 14)
October 8: The Sun (Ch. 15)
Week 8
October 13: Second midterm
October 15: Stars (Ch. 16)
Week 9
October 20: The lives of stars (Ch. 16)
October 22: Stellar alchemy (Ch. 16, 17)
Week 10
October 27: Deaths of stars (Ch. 17, 18)
October 29: The Milky Way (Ch. 19)
Week 11
November 3: Galaxies beyond our own (Ch. 20)
November 5: Third midterm
Week 12
November 10: The evolution of galaxies (Ch. 21)
November 12: Einstein and relativity (parts of S2 and S3)
Week 13
November 17: The mysterious dark matter and the fate of the universe (Ch. 22)
November 19: Cosmology (Ch. 22, 23)
Week 14
November 24: Cosmology (Ch. 23)
Week 15
December 1: Interstellar travel and civilizations beyond our own (Ch. 24)
December 3: Review