| Date |
Topic |
Reading |
Assignment |
| Wed,
Jan 17th (First day of class) |
Introduction
& Creation Myths |
Math
survey (in class) |
|
| Fri, Jan 19th | The
scientific method, experimental sciences and cosmology |
Occam
razor (Wikipedia) |
Cosmogony
research (CULearn) Reading test (CULearn) |
| Mon,
Jan 22nd |
History
of Cosmology |
In
the beginning (CULearn) |
Reading test (CULearn) Water assignment (CULearn) |
| Wed, Jan 24th | Fiske
Planetarium: the Copernican Revolution |
||
| Fri, Jan 26th | History
of Cosmology |
Cosmology becomes a sscience
(parts 1 & 2; CULearn) |
Reading test (CULearn) |
| Mon, Jan 29th | The
world around us (Forces, Energy, and matter) |
Bennett et al. Chapter 4: Motion, energy and gravity (Available on CULearn) |
|
| Wed, Jan 31st | The world around us (Forces, Energy, and matter) | ||
| Fri, Feb 2nd | The
astronomer's tool: light |
Homework due (CULearn) |
|
| Mon, Feb 5th | The
astronomer's tool: light |
||
| Wed, Feb 7th | Review |
||
| Fri, Feb 9th | MIDTERM
EXAM |
||
| Mon, Feb 12th | The
birth of Stars |
||
| Wed, Feb 14th | The life of Stars | ||
| Fri, Feb 16th | The
death of Stars |
"The H-R diagram" and "Main sequence stars" (Links available on CULearn) |
Reading Quiz due (CULearn) |
| Mon, Feb 19th | Death of massive stars and their remnants |
"Post main sequence stars", "Stars death: solar mass", and "Stars death: high mass" (All links available at CULearn) |
Reading Quiz due (CULearn) |
| Wed, Feb 21st | Planets |
||
| Fri, Feb 23rd | Galaxies |
||
| Mon, Feb 26th |
Relativity |
Extra reward assignment "The density of White Dwarf matter" due (Hardcopy) |
|
| Wed, Feb 28th | Fiske
Planetarium: Hubble's Universe |
||
| Fri, Mar 2nd |
Relativity |
Chapter 4 and 5 of "A brief history of time" (CULearn available) |
Homework 2 due before midnight (CULearn) |
| Mon, Mar 5th | Black
Holes, space and time (guest lecture by A. Hamilton) |
||
| Wed, Mar 7th | Review |
||
| Fri, Mar 9th | MIDTERM
EXAM |
||
| Mon, Mar 12th | The
Big Bang |
Chapters 1 and 2 of Rees textbook and Chapter 1 and 2 of Silk textbook |
|
| Wed, Mar 14th | The
stationary Universe |
Chapters 1 and 2 of Rees textbook and Chapter 1 and 2 of Silk textbook |
Reading quiz due (CULearn) |
| Fri, Mar 16th | The
cosmic microwave background |
||
| Mon, Mar 19th | CMB
continued |
Read Chapters 3 of both textbooks |
Reading quiz due (CULearn) |
| Wed, Mar 21st | Inflation |
||
| Fri, Mar 23rd | The
first three minutes |
Read Chapters 4 and 5 of the Silk textbook |
Reading quiz due (CULearn) |
| Mon, Mar 26th | Spring
Break |
||
| Wed, Mar 28th | Spring
Break |
||
| Fri, Mar 30th | Spring
Break |
||
| Mon, Apr 2nd | Fiske
Planetarium: Big Bang Cosmology |
||
| Wed, Apr 4th | The first three minutes | ||
| Fri, Apr 6th | Dark Matter |
Read Chapters 7 and 8 of the Silk textbook |
Homework 3 due before midnight (CULearn) |
| Mon, Apr 9th | Dark Matter |
Read Chapters 7 and 8 of the Silk textbook |
|
| Wed, Apr 11th | Review |
Reading Quiz due (CULearn) |
|
| Fri, Apr 13th | MIDTERM
EXAM |
||
| Mon, Apr 16th | Structure formation |
||
| Wed, Apr 18th | Structure formation |
Read chapters 10 and 11 of the Silk textbook and Chapter 7 of the Rees textbook |
Reading Quiz due (CULearn) |
| Fri, Apr 20th | Dark
Energy |
||
| Mon, Apr 23rd | Dark
Energy |
||
| Wed, Apr 25th | Fiske
Planetarium: The invisible Universe |
||
| Fri, Apr 27th | The
fate of the Universe |
||
| Mon, Apr 30th | The
Anthropic principle |
||
| Wed, May 2nd | Cosmological
coincidences: riddles and solutions |
||
| Fri, May 4th (Last day of class) | Review |
Homework 4 due (CULearn) |
|
| Sat,
May 5th |
FINAL |