SCIE 636
The Universe

William Herbst

Texts
Kuhn, "The Copernican Revolution"
Kirshner, "The Extravagant Universe"
Course Schedule
January 24 The Sky
January 31 Discovering the Universe
(Kuhn, Chapters 1-3)
February 7 Gravity and Motion
(Kuhn, Remainder of the book, including Appendices)
February 14 Light, Atoms, Telescopes
(Class handout)
February 21 Stars and Galaxies
(Kirshner, Chapter 1)
February 28 Expansion of the Universe
(Kirshner, Chapters 2-4)
March 7 The Cosmic Background Radiation
(Finish Kirshner)
March 14 & 21 SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS
March 28 Mapping the Universe
Topic Selections/Outline Due
April 4 Black Holes and Missing Mass
(WMAP Web site)
April 11 Student Presentations I
April 18 Student Presentations II
April 25 Summary and Future Work
Papers Due