A305
Frontiers in Astronomy

Astronomy 305
Prof. Lynn Cominsky
Fall 2003

See the groups for Class

This course, by its very nature, is concerned with the big questions in the Universe. We don’t know the answers to these questions. Big ground-based observatories, such as Keck in Hawaii, are often important in helping to find the answers. However space-based observations at other wavelengths, such as microwaves, X-ray and gamma-rays are also very important in changing our views of the Universe on a daily basis. The book listed below is a good starting point for our discussions, however, the most recent information will be found on the Internet, as well as articles in magazines such as Science and Nature, which are available in the SSU library. There is also a suggested reading list, from which to choose your book reports. In this course, I am going to try to supplement your reading with much of this new information. However, it will be up to you to locate most of these resources on your own, as well, for follow-up work. A detailed course outline is given below.

REQUIRED TEXT: On the Cosmic Horizon by Jeffrey Bennett (10 Great Mysteries for Third Millennium Astronomy)

COURSE PHILOSOPHY: Ten of the lectures will be concerned with the mysteries presented in the 10 chapters of the textbook. These will be supplemented by projects that class members will do, and by other topics that I have selected.

GRADING:

A) ATTENDANCE IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THIS CLASS, AS IT MEETS ONLY ONCE PER WEEK. Each class is therefore going to be worth 1% of your final grade. Since there are 15 weeks, this is 15% of the total, which is more than an entire letter grade. Each class will feature various activities that have been designed to teach or demonstrate some of the more abstract concepts. There will be activity sheets or evaluations that accompany these activities, which will be collected at the end of class, in order to verify your participation. There are six What Physicists Do lectures that may be used for extra attendance points. They are all on Mondays at 4 PM in Darwin Hall 108: 9/22, 9/29, 10/13, 11/10, 11/24, 12/1. Make sure I see you to get the extra credit.

B) There will be a long, research style paper that is also worth 20% of the grade. This paper will be on a topic of your choice, but the topic must be approved by the instructor. Topics for this paper are due on 11/11/03. The paper itself is due 12/9/03.

C) You will be expected to read (at least) two of the books on the recommended reading list (see the handout or the class web site.) You may either buy the book (all are available from Amazon) or use the copy on reserve in the Library (if available). The grading criteria for the book report are given in the attached handout, which is also on the class web site. Each book report will be worth 15% of your total grade. The reports are due on: 9/30/03 and 10/28/03.

D) There will be an individual in-class presentation, that will be 15-30 minutes long, and that will be worth another 15% of the grade. The topics for these presentations will correspond to the chapters in the book, and will take place during classes 4-13. I will hand out pieces of paper to determine your assigned week, during the first class. If you prefer not to do an in-class presentation, and you obtain prior permission of the instructor, you can substitute another book report. In this case, the extra book report will be due the week that you would otherwise be presenting.

E) There will be a final exam, worth 20% of the total grade, which will consist of several short answer questions. A list of questions will be handed out prior to the exam, from which several will be chosen. It will be held on: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 5-6:50 PM.

POLICIES:

If you do not know how to write a research-style paper, please see the class web site for more information. Anyone who copies material from a printed or Internet source and does not properly cite references will receive zero credit for this paper!

Office hours will be on Tuesdays from 2-3 PM, before class. If you are having trouble with your work or if you would like to discuss some of your work with me, this is your best chance! Due to lack of space, private office hours are by appointment only.

I hope that this course will inspire you to think about the universe!


BOOKREPORTS:

Book List – Choose two books from the list below-
First report is due 9/30, second report is due 10/28.

Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip Thorne

Black Holes and the Universe by Igor Novikov

Accelerating Universe by Mario Livio

Runaway Universe by Donald Goldsmith

Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony by Marcia Bartusiak

The Hole in the Universe by K. C. Cole

Flash! The Hunt for the Biggest Explosions in the Universe by Govert Schilling

How the Universe Got Its Spots by Janna Levin

Wrinkles in Time by George Smoot

Unveiling the Edge of Time by John Gribbin Gribbin (Black Holes, White Holes and Wormholes)

Before the Beginning by Martin Rees

The Inflationary Universe by Alan Guth

Strange Matters by Tom Siegfried

The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos" by Robert P. Kirshner

Cosmic Bullets by Roger Clay and Bruce Dawson

Grading for Book Report

1) Present a succinct, yet thorough overview of the book that encompasses the key elements of the book’s content. The goal here is to convince me that you have read the entire book.

2) Connect the book’s main topic to the material presented during one or more of the classroom sessions (or chapters of the Jeff Bennett book). Your goal here is to convince me that you have learned something about at least one of the subjects we are discussing in class.

3) Book report must be well written, and free of grammatical and spelling errors.

4) Book report must not contain any plagiarized material – use quotes and refer to page numbers!!

5) Book reports are expected to be approximately 5 pages. Your grade will be lowered if your report is either too short or too long. Use 12 point type, double spaced, and standard margins from Word or other program.

6) Make sure to put your name on the report. No fancy covers please.

A305 Schedule

Final Questions

How to reach me:
I can be reached on Tuesdays in Darwin 329A (inside of 329), on M, W and F in my other office at the EPO building , at 664-2655, or most easily through e-mail: lynnc@charmian.sonoma.edu
During the Fall semester 2002, I will be on campus mostly on M, Tu and W and some Fridays.