Department
of Physics,
Fall 2008
Course Title: HONR228K: Great Ideas in Physics and Their Implications in Other Disciplines
Instructor: Prof. Ted Einstein
Office: Physics Bldg., Room 2310; Phone: 301-405-6147
e-mail: einstein at umd.edu
Office hours: Usually Mondays 11-12, Wednesdays 3:30-4:30, and by request; see Message Center for weekly updates
Time & Place: Mondays
& Wednesdays, 2:00 - 3:15 p.m. (extended to 3:30p.m. to make up for canceled class)
Room 1304, John S. Toll Physics Bldg.
Text: Text: Primaries:
Nathan Spielberg and Bryon D. Anderson, Seven Ideas That Shook The Universe (2nd ed.), (Wiley, New York, 1995) [0-471-30606-1] in paperback (out of print, buy used--there is an overpriced 3rd edition available)
William H. Cropper, Great Physicist: the Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to Hawking, Oxford University Press, 2001 [0-19-517324-4] in paperback
These are both on reserve at the Engineering
and Physical Sciences Library in the
Other books on reserve include:
Ioan James, Remarkable Physicists: From Galileo to Yukawa, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004 [0-521-01706-8]
Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (2nd ed.), Q175 .K95 1970
Isaac Asimov et al., Concepts in Physics, CRM Books, Del Mar (CA), 1973
Tony Rothman, Instant Physics, Fawcett Columbine, New York, 1995, 0-449-90697-3
Robert H. March, Physics for Poets (1st ed), McGraw-Hill, New York, 1970 [0070402434]
Paul G. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics, Pearson/Addison-Wesley, 1993
Timothy Ferris, Coming of Age in the Milky Way, Morrow, New York, 1988 [0688058892]
Additional noteworthy books:
Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe, Simon & Schuster, 2008 [978-0743264747] pbk
Edwin F. Taylor and John Archibald Wheeler, Spacetime Physics, W.H.Freeman & Co Ltd, 1971 [978-0716703365] pbk
Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, Bantam, 1998 (10th anniv edition) [978-0553380163] pbk
Richard P. Feynman, QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, Princeton Univ. Press, 1988 [ 978-0691024172] pbk
Grading: Since this is a seminar course, there will be no tests. Grades will be based on a course paper (~50%), plus one or two class presentations (~25%), reaction papers (biweekly—15% total), and contributions to class discussion (~10%). To make the seminar worthwhile for all, students are expected to come to class having done, and thought about, assigned readings and being prepared to discuss the ideas and their impact.
The class paper should be an exploration of the contributions and impact of a physicist not discussed in class. It is easiest to pick someone from Cropper's text, but other suggestions are welcome. Students may work together in researching physicists with some common interests (e.g., Bohr and Pauli), but each student must take primary responsibility for a single scientist. Thus, back-to-back presentations are welcome, even encouraged, but joint papers are not okay.
Expectations for Short Presentations: In the short presentation, students should discuss why the selected topic, usually the life and impact of a notable physicist, is of interest and importance. The subject's lifespan and area[s] of research (and major contributions) should be mentioned. The subject's contemporaries should be noted. The presenter should indicate the general impact of the subject's work on physics and on other fields. The talk should be about 5-10 minutes long and show that the student has done some background reading and thinking about the subject. The student should also specify plans for proceeding, including books or online sources to be used. Other seminar members are expected to contribute to the discussion following each presentation, making suggestions from their distinctive perspectives and proposing questions for the presenter to answer in the course of subsequent work on the paper. There is no need for PowerPoint, but the student should be prepared to write key ideas on the board with chalk.
Expectations for Paper and Long Presentations: The paper should be 15 pages long; somewhat longer is okay, but not more than 20 pages. There should be references to books and online sources. Wikipedia is ok. The paper should show that the student has thought deeply about the topic and not just shoveled-in text from the sources. Anything directly quoted should be indicated with quotation marks or indentation, with appropriate attribution. The paper should address the issues raised in the short presentation and the discussion that followed. It should note distinctive and formative aspects of the subject's life, personality quirks, and lifestyle themes. It should comment on the subject's opinions on the issues of the day, both scientific and otherwise, and how s/he interacted with contemporaries. The impact of the subject's work on subsequent scientific and other (social science, literary or artistic, etc.) thinking should be explored as much as possible. The paper should be submitted both electronically and as a hard copy.
The long presentation should distill the findings of the paper into a 20 minute talk in which the student shares the findings of his/her research with the members of our seminar. It likely will be easiest to use PowerPoint, but chalkboard or viewgraph (overhead projector) presentations are fine.
Schedule: Below is a VERY tentative schedule for the semester. Reaction papers due on dates that are in italics and boldface.
|
DATE |
7 Ideas |
Cropper [or other] |
TOPICS, KEYWORDS |
|
Sept. 3 |
Chap. 1 |
|
Overview |
|
Sept. 8 |
Chap. 2, A,B,C |
[Ferris, chap.4] | Geocentric vs. heliocentric |
|
Sept. 10 |
Chap. 2, D,E, 3 A,B |
|
Kepler's laws, Aristotle, Galileo |
|
Sept. 15 |
Chap. 3 |
G. Galileo |
|
|
Sept. 17 |
" |
I. Newton |
|
|
Sept. 22 |
" |
|
|
|
Sept. 24 |
Chap. 4 |
|
|
|
Sept. 29 |
Chap. 5 |
W. Thompson (Kelvin) |
|
|
Oct. 1 |
" |
R. Clausius |
|
|
Oct. 6 |
|
J. Maxwell |
|
|
Oct. 8 |
" |
L. Boltzmann |
|
|
Oct. 13 |
" |
|
|
|
Oct. 15 |
Chap. 6 |
|
|
|
Oct. 20 |
" |
A. Einstein |
|
|
Oct. [22] m.u. |
" |
|
|
|
Oct. 27 |
|
|
Short presentations |
|
Oct. 29 |
|
|
Short presentations |
|
Nov. 3 |
|
|
Short presentations |
|
Nov. 5 |
" |
|
|
|
Nov. 10 |
Chap. 7 |
|
|
|
Nov. 12 |
" |
M. Planck |
|
|
Nov. 17 |
" |
|
Blackbody radiation |
|
Nov. 19 |
" |
|
Photoelectric effect |
|
Nov. 24 |
" |
|
Uncertainty principle; determinism vs. free will |
|
Nov. 26 |
" |
W. Heisenberg |
Bohr orbitals & planetary model |
|
Dec. 1 |
|
|
Long presentations & discussion |
|
Dec. 3 |
|
|
Long presentations & discussion |
|
Dec. 8 |
|
|
Long presentations & discussion |
|
Dec. 10 |
|
|
Long presentations & Summation |
Last updated Nov. 24, 2008