Office Hours: 3:00 - 4:00 M & W, 1:00 2:00 T & Th, and by appointment
Text: Universe , 5th ed. (Kaffmann and Freedman)
This course is primarily a descriptive introduction to astronomy. There are, however, two other goals: to provide some experience with quantitative thinking and to approach the science of astronomy as a human activity rather than a sterile collection of data and ideas. For this reason a number of homework assignments will involve your own observations and you will have the opportunity to attend sessions at the observatory. For the homework and exams you will need a simple (+, -, x, /) calculator; capability for doing square roots will be useful occasionally.
Two observatory visits during the course of the semester will be required. We will discuss the details of this in class.
A few words about grading: I will do my best to keep you informed
of your grade as we go through the semester, but feel free to
ask me whenever you would like to know. I do not grade "on
a curve" (the practice of shifting the grade distribution
to match the student performance distribution, usually resulting
in an A for the strongest student in the class and an F for the
weakest, independent of their actual levels of performance) because
it makes your grade dependent on the performance of other students.
You will receive a grade that reflects your performance, regardless
of what other students do.
Approximate Grading Scheme:
Total of 3 hour exams 60% Homework and projects 15% Final exam 25%
Approximate Class Schedule:
|
Week of |
Topics |
Chapters |
| Aug. 27 | Preliminaries; the Big Bang | (28, 29) --overview |
| Aug. 30 | Formation of galaxies, stars, and planets | (7, 20, 26) -- overview |
| Sept. 6 | The sky; simple observations | 1, 2 |
| Sept. 13 | History; motion of sun, moon, and planets | 3,4 |
| Final Exam Sept. 22 | ||
| Sept. 20 | Gravity; light | 4,5 |
| Sept. 27 | Telescopes; spectra | 5,6 |
| Oct. 4 | Solar system; earth; moon, planets | 7-11 |
| Oct. 11 | planets | 12-16 |
| BREAK | ||
| Oct. 25 | Comets, etc.; stars | 17 |
| Second Exam Nov. 1 | ||
| Nov. 1 | Stars; the sun | 18, 19 |
| Nov. 8 | Stellar evolution; binary stars | 20,21 |
| Nov. 15 | Late stellar evolution | 22, 23, 24 |
| Nov. 22 | Our galaxy, other galaxies (Thanksgiving) | 25, 26 |
| Nov. 29 | Galaxies; cosmology | 27, 28 |
| Third Exam Dec. 6 | ||
| Dec. 6 | Cosmology; life elsewhere | 29-30 |
FINAL EXAM: 9:00 AM, Tuesday, December 14
Physics
Faculty/Staff ~ Physics
Courses ~ Physics
Research ~ Physics
Events ~ Physics
Links ~
Back to the Physics Department
Homepage ~ Visit the Grinnell College
HomePage.
Page last updated on January 20, 2001.
Please contact the WebEditor
with site-related questions.