THE
LEARNING CURVE Fall
2008
Art History, Archaeology, Astronomy, History, Literature, Philosophy, Music
Understanding the Universe
From Big Bang to New Frontier
How are we able to understand the universe of which we are such a tiny part? Modern cosmology finds surprising relationships between matter and energy, galaxy and sub-atomic scales, and structure and chaos. Scientists are accumulating evidence in support of a story that begins in the phenomenal heat of the big bang and ends in the cold and vast present-day universe with over fifty billion galaxies. Join award-winning teacher and scholar Chris Impey for an 8-session course based on lectures developed to teach cosmology to Tibetan monks in Dharamsala.
Weekly Topics
On Knowing:
The method of science, the limits of knowledge
On Space:
The size of space, counting stars and galaxies
On Time:
The origin and meaning of time and entropy
On Matter:
The particle zoo, the amazing story of atoms
On Energy:
Endless transformations, gravity engines
On Structure:
Patterns, scaling laws and self-organization
On Life:
Habitability and the possibility of companionship
On Meaning:
Coincidences and fine-tuning in the multiverse
When: Tuesdays and Thursdays Oct 28 - Dec 4,
9:30-11:30am (No class Nov. 4, 6, 25, 27)
Where: The Windmill Inn, 4250 N. Campbell Ave.
Cost: $145 (8 sessions)
Instructor:
Chris Impey is a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Arizona and Deputy Department Head of Astronomy. He has authored 180 research papers on extralactic astronomy and cosmology and has had 24 projects approved with the Hubble Space Telescope. He is the author of two introductory textbooks with Bill Hartmann and is the creator of a web site that serves more than a thousand students each year with astronomy content and interactive teaching tools. Impey has won 11 University of Arizona teaching grants and awards. For five years, he was the Associate Director of the NASA Arizona Space Grant, ranked by NASA as the best among 50 in the country. Impey is founder member of the editorial board of the Astronomy Education Review, a peer-reviewed education journal sponsored by the American Astronomical Society. In 2002, he was one of 6 people nationwide chosen as NSF Distinguished Teaching Scholar, and was named the Arizona Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
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