Teaching
- PHY 108. Science for a better environment. This class is based on
David MacKay's wonderful
book
Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air . This is a survey course on the most pressing issue
of our time: energy consumption and environmental sustainability based on sound science.
This course fulfills either the science or science with lab (if taken with PHYS 108L)
requirement. The math used in the course is minimal at the level of a typical survey course
such as Astronomy 103 or Environmental Studies 101. Free online textbook.
-
PHY 109. The Physics of Climate Change.This is a survey course on climate change.
Simple physics is introduced and used to analyze the absorption and emission of light by the
atmosphere and the effect of various gases on these processes. The level is set for
beginning students in any field. 3 credits. We use
David Archer's
book
Global Warming Understanding the Forecast . The students get experience running
online interactive models.
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AST 103 The Solar System
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AST 104: Stars and Galaxies
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AST 710 Observational Astronomy
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AST 727 Cosmology