And finally, each chapter of the textbook includes a section on "questions for thought." These questions, and others posted by the instructor, will form the basis of an ongoing internet discussion by the students and instructor. Problems from the textbook as well as new problems posted on the internet will also be completed by the students with the answers submitted to the instructor. These activites are provided to replace the laboratory exercises which usually accompany a science course such as this one. These "activites," as well as others to be posted by the instructor over the internet, will be completed individually by the students and written reports submitted to the instructor for correction, comment and grading. In the text of each chapter of the textbook, "activites" are listed. A final exam will be given in a common area with a proctor present at the end of the eight week course. After the eighth lecture, a midterm exam will be given over the internet. GRADING METHOD: This course will consist of two internet lectures per week over an eight week period. That particular separation of the sciences is completely articifial, made as a convenience for our studies, since all of the sciences form a single comprehensive whole. All of the sciences are related in a single whole, yet chemistry and biology have been left for the second course of Integrated Science. This will complete our course, but Integrated Science will not be finished. In particular, we will look at the forces which shape the surface of our earth as well as how the rocks which make up our immediate environment came to be formed. After we study the planets in our own solar system, we will continue to specialize our study on our own planet, the earth. So we will then study the astronomy of the universe, galaxy and solar system. Such a study of the microscopic elements of our physical reality actually brings us back the the structure of the universe as a whole as well as the nuclear processes which fuel the stars themselves. So, after our study of the basic concepts of motion, the forces which make material bodies move, the energies involved in such processes, the electromagnetic forces and light, we will study structure of the basic units of matter, the atom and the nucleus. That part of astronomy which involves an explanation of the motions of planets stars and other heavenly bodies is also called astrophysics. The separation of science into many different branches is a later development. Observational astronomy was one of the motivating factors in the earliest development of concepts of change and motion in physics and science in general, even though astronomy is an independent science in our own time. Ancient philosophers carefully observed all in the world around them, including the stars in the night skies. In physics, the phenomena, events and happenings of which our physical environment consists are logically analyzed into their most fundamental components matter and motion against the common background of space and time. Physics was the first of the sciences and is still considered the most basic of all the sciences. Science began nearly two and a half millennia ago in ancient Greece. In this first section of the Integrated Science course, the areas of physics, astronomy and geology will be covered. Some familiar formulas are written in standard form while other equations are written in words for greater clarity.ĬOURSE DESCRIPTION: This course serves as an introduction to the ideas, concepts and practices which form the basis of modern science. It summarizes many fascinating aspects of physics employing only essential formulas. Accessible to nonspecialists and beginning students, this book provides insight into physics using minimal mathematics and jargon. Particle physics and the basic laws of thermodynamics can appear simple yet are very complicated. Schrödinger’s cat may be both dead and alive, and there may be two of each one of us to observe the two possibilities. Time travel that violates causality is not possible. An electric motor is an electric generator run in reverse. Many examples reveal interesting ideas, including how: -Newton had trouble determining the mass of the moon. He also delves into the stories of famous and eccentric past scientists. The author presents perplexing questions that often lack satisfying answers. The book covers both classical and modern physics in an engaging, straightforward style. An Enlightening Way to Navigate through Mind-Boggling Physics Concepts Physics Curiosities, Oddities, and Novelties highlights unusual aspects of physics and gives a new twist to some fundamental concepts.
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