-1- COSMOS & THE EARTH: MORSE ACADEMIC PROGRAM (MAP) NATURAL SCIENCE I COURSE NUMBER: V55.0202.001 TERM: FALL 2004 CREDITS: 4 INSTRUCTORS PROF. ALLEN I. MINCER, RM 706 MEYER, 2-4 WASH PL, E-MAIL: allen.mincer@nyu.edu PROF. MARTIN I. HOFFERT, RM 525 MEYER, 2-4 WASH PL, E-MAIL: marty.hoffert@nyu.edu TEACHING ASSISTANTS Hector Crocce, E-MAIL: hector.crocce@physics.nyu.edu Pablo Jercog, E-MAIL: pablo.jercog@physics.nyu.edu Azra Krek, E-Mail: azra.krek@physics.nyu.edu LECTURES AND LABS Class SEC DAY TIME ROOM INSTRUCTORS LECTURE 01 MW 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM 121 Meyer Mincer, Hoffert LABORATORY 02 T 11:00 AM 12:40 PM 203 Main Crocce LABORATORY 03 T 1:00 PM 2:40 PM 203 Main Crocce LABORATORY 04 T 3:00 PM 4:40 PM 203 Main Krek LABORATORY 05 T 5:00 PM 6:40 PM 203 Main Krek LABORATORY 06 W 9:00 AM 10:40 AM 203 Main Jercog LABORATORY 07 W 11:00 AM 12:40 PM 203 Main Jercog NOTE: You must be registered for the lecture and one lab session to be registered for the course. PRE-REQUISITE: CAS: Quantitative Reasoning (or exemption from QR); Other schools: The math equivalent. REQUIRED TEXTS:: Lectures: Seeds, M.A., HORIZONS: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE (8 th Edition, Brooks Cole, 2001); Kump L., Kasting J. and Crane R. THE EARTH SYSTEM (Prentice-Hall, 1999). Labs: LAB MANUAL, V55.0202 CP: COSMOS & THE EARTH.
-2- STUDY GUIDES: Study guides will be available through a COSMOS AND EARTH Blackboard Web site. The guides are intended to help students focus on key ideas and information that may appear on examinations. The texts provide supplementary information from a different point of view and background that can be helpful for the labs. A depiction of life emerging in the Cosmos. Source: NASA planetary biology program COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STRUCTURE: We live at a unique time in history. Science, by the early 21th century, has created for the first time a coherent story of the creation and evolution of the Universe, from the first moments of the cosmic explosion that created the Universe to the appearance of human intelligence on the planet Earth. This story essentially a scientific account of Genesis should be a part of the intellectual foundation of all educated persons. This course addresses some of the biggest questions in science the origin and structure of the Universe, the formation of our Sun and planet, and the origin and evolution of Life. Part I focuses on the broad astronomical questions the nature of stars and galaxies, the origin of matter, and the life history of stars. Part I will be taught by Prof. Allen Mincer, a particle- and astro-physicist, and member of the team that discovered the top quark. In Part I, homework is assigned every week (see lecture syllabus below). Although this homework is not used directly to determine the final grade (again, see below) it may be used to decide the final grade of students near a borderline (i.e., close to the boundary between a B+ and A- or an F and a D-). Part II, taught by Prof. Marty Hoffert, whose research is in global warming and sustainable energy sources, focuses on the origin of planets, the history of the Earth System (atmosphere, oceans, lithosphere and biosphere), and the evolution of life and
-3- intelligence in the Cosmos. This Fall 2004 semester, Prof. Hoffert will, time permitting, also address related policy issues; e.g., combating adverse climate change from the fossil fuel greenhouse, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and the future of space exploration. EXAMS AND GRADES: There will be two classroom exams: A Midterm (30%) and a Final (30%), both of which will consist of questions with multiple-choice answers. The exams will cover material in lectures, labs and reading assignments as summarized in the study guides, and count 60% toward the final grade. To get credit for the course these exams MUST be taken when scheduled except under extraordinary circumstances. A student absent from either of these exams may be allowed a makeup exam only upon submitting a letter from a physician (in case of serious illness). In rare instances where a makeup exam is allowed, it may take a format different from multiple choice at the discretion of the Professor. Lectures meet twice a week; Labs once a week. You must be registered for both Lecture and Lab to get course credit. Labs are a major part of this course. Science seeks to describe objective reality -- a world with measurable properties and attributes that people of different ideologies and religious beliefs can agree on. The purpose of Labs is to provide you with a hands-on experience of how these measurements are made, and to illustrate some important concepts in the lectures. Labs count 40% toward the final grade -- of which 10% is from quizzes given by Lab TA's and 30% from Lab Report grades. In all, there are 26 lectures and 12 Labs with experiments and/or demonstrations. There is no Lab the first week. The last week's Lab session is devoted to review. If you know in advance that you will miss a lab, you may try to arrange to do the lab in another section. No lab makeups are permitted other than this. You cannot pass this course if you miss more than 2 Labs. MORE COSMOS PEOPLE: Morse Academic Program, Main Building, 100 Wash Square East, 9th floor Andre Adler (MAP/Lab coordinator), 212-998-7802, E-mail: andre.adler@nyu.edu Esther Nemethy (Lab, 204 MAIN), 212-998-3537, E-mail: esther.nemethy@nyu.edu Michael Summers (Enrollments), 212-998-3807, E-mail: mps4@nyu.edu *************************************************************************** WEEKLY LECTURE SYLLABUS: PART I: The Cosmos Lec Date Topics, Readings, Homework (P = Problems, Q = Questions) & Lab 1 W 9/08 Distance and Brightness READ: HORIZONS: 1-8, 454-457, Table A15 HOMEWORK: p.8 fi Q:1,6; P: 1,2, 4, 5, 7 NO LAB
-4-2 M 9/13 Energy, Luminosity, Waves READ: HORIZONS: 12-14, 136-138 HOMEWORK: p.19 fi Q:7; P:1, 3; p.154 fi Q:4; p. 154 fi P:5 3 W 9/15 Wave Properties, Measuring wavelength READ: HORIZONS: 68-71 HOMEWORK: p.91 fi Q:1; P:1, 2 LAB: Powers of 10, Math Review ----------- 4 M 9/20 Atoms and light READ: HORIZONS: 92-97 HOMEWORK: p.108 fi Q:1, 3, 6; p.109 fi P:6 5 W 9/22 Chemical fingerprints and thermal radiation in starlight READ: HORIZONS: 97-105, 107-108 HOMEWORK: p.108 fi Q:8, 10; p.109 fi P:1, 2, 3, 5 LAB: Young s Experiment 6 M 9/27 Properties of Stars READ: HORIZONS: 132-142, 149-154 HOMEWORK: p. 109 fi Q:15; p.154 fi Q:4, 15; p. 155 fi P:1, 5, 7 7 W 9/29 Planetary motion: Kepler and Newton READ: HORIZONS: 42-66 HOMEWORK: p. 66 fi Q:15; p. 67 fi P:4, 5, 7, 9 LAB: Parallax 8 M 10/04 Doppler effect, binary systems, mass of stars READ: HORIZONS: 105-107, 142-148 HOMEWORK: p.109 fi Q:13, P :9; p.155 fi P:11 9 W 10/06 Formation and structure of stars READ: HORIZONS: 156-180 HOMEWORK: p.180 fi Q:7, 11, 12; p.181 fi P:2, 9 LAB: Spectroscopic Analysis of Light 10 M 10/11 The death of stars READ: HORIZONS: 182-205 HOMEWORK: p.205 fi Q:1, 3, 7; P:2; p.206 fi P:6, 7 11 W 10/13 Neutron Stars & Black Holes READ: HORIZONS: 207-226 HOMEWORK: p. 227 fi Q:4, 12; P:1, 2, 4 LAB: A Trip to the Planetarium 12 M 10/18 Galaxies READ: HORIZONS: 228-243, 254-267 HOMEWORK: p. 252 fi Q:6, 8; p. 253 fi P:4; p.294 fi P:1, 6, 8, 9 13 W 10/20 Cosmology I READ: HORIZONS:295-320 HOMEWORK: p.320 fi Q:3, 5, 7; p.321 fi P:3, 5, 8 LAB: REVIEW 14 M 10/25 Cosmology II LAB: Observing the Cosmological Red Shift 15 W 10/27 MIDTERM EXAM
-5- PART II: The Earth Lec Date Topics, Readings & Lab 16 M 11/01 Formation and early evolution of the Solar System. READ: Study Guide #7: KUMP, CHAPT. 1 17 W 11/03 The Moon: Giant Impact Theory of the Moon's Origin, and early Earth/Moon history. The early (hellish) bombardment. READ: Study Guide #7, KUMP, CHAPT. 2 LAB: Impact cratering 18 M 11/08 Mars and Venus: The Goldilocks Problem. What Makes a Planet Habitable? READ: Study Guide # 8, KUMP, CHAPT. 3 19 W 11/10 The Earth: Composition and Structure of the Earth. READ: Study Guide #8, KUMP, CHAPT. 4 LAB: The Goldilocks Problem 20 M 11/15 Rocket Science I: Newton and satellite orbits READ: Study Guide #9, KUMP, CHAPT. 5 21 W 11/17 Formation of planetary atmospheres, oceans, continents and mountains. History of continental drift. READ: Study Guide # 9, KUMP, CHAPT. 6 LAB: Location of Earthquakes 22 M 11/22 Rocket Science II: Chemistry, Hardware and Future READ: Study Guide # 10, KUMP, CHAPT. 7 23 W 11/24 Evolution: How does it work, and what is the evidence? READ: Study Guide # 10; KUMP, CHAPT. 9 LAB: Evolution of Life (Museum Trip) 24 M 11/29 Atmospheres and Oceans. READ: Study Guide #11, KUMP, CHAPT. 10 25 W 12/01 The early history of life: From cells to animals. READ: Study Guide #11; KUMP, CHAPT 13 LAB: Fossils and Mass Extinction's 26 M 12/06 Evolution of Humans and Intelligence. READ: Study Guide #12; KUMP, CHAPT. 14 27 W 12/08 The Human Impact on the Biosphere READ: Study Guide #12; KUMP, CHAPT. 15, RE-READ: KUMP, CH. 16 LAB: The Drake Equation and Life in the Universe. 28 M 12/13 Human origins and beyond. Explosive growth of the human brain. Intelligent Life in the Universe? READ: Study Guide How many People Ever Lived? LAB: Review 29 M 12/20 FINAL EXAMINATION (2:00 PM to 3:50 PM) See, e.g.: http://www.nyu.edu/registrar/12exams-fall.shtml Revised 9-11-04