Course Catalog

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ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT (SC2040)

This is a conceptual physics course for non-scientists. It discusses the principles of physics involved in the production, distribution and consumption of energy using various types of fuel. It also considers the environmental issues related to the use of fossil fuels from a scientific viewpoint. Renewable sources of energy and the economic and political implications of their development as well as ways of conserving energy are also discussed.

*Lab required.

ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT: NO LAB (SC2040N)

This is a conceptual physics course for non-scientists. It discusses the principles of physics involved in the production, distribution and consumption of energy using various types of fuel. It also considers the environmental issues related to the use of fossil fuels from a scientific viewpoint. Renewable sources of energy and the economic and political implications of their development as well as ways of conserving energy are also discussed.
https://aupforms.formstack.com/workflows/science_without_lab_request

CLIMATE CHANGE (SC2050)

Have you ever been asked where you stand on 'the climate issue'? Do you believe that humanity stands at the brink of extinction? Do you think that climate change is a concern, but that technology will see humanity through? This course will allow you to construct an educated point of view.
We will start by understanding what drives weather events and what drives climate and climate change. We will then move on to the environmental and societal dependencies on specific climate factors (precipitation,seasonality, predictability, etc.) and we will identify the impacts that certain climatic changes can have on human society and the environment. In carrying out our investigation of the climate system and its impacts we will rely on the latest Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We will study the emerging results from the reports focusing on observations, impacts, mitigations, and adaptation strategies suggested by the worldwide community of climate scientists contributing to the IPCC. Students are expected to develop a fact-based physics-based opinion of humanities present-day climate change predicament.

CLIMATE CHANGE: NO LAB (SC2050N)

Have you ever been asked where you stand on 'the climate issue'? Do you believe that humanity stands at the brink of extinction? Do you think that climate change is a concern, but that technology will see humanity through? This course will allow you to construct an educated point of view.
We will start by understanding what drives weather events and what drives climate and climate change. We will then move on to the environmental and societal dependencies on specific climate factors (precipitation,seasonality, predictability, etc.) and we will identify the impacts that certain climatic changes can have on human society and the environment. In carrying out our investigation of the climate system and its impacts we will rely on the latest Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We will study the emerging results from the reports focusing on observations, impacts, mitigations, and adaptation strategies suggested by the worldwide community of climate scientists contributing to the IPCC. Students are expected to develop a fact-based physics-based opinion of humanities present-day climate change predicament.

https://aupforms.formstack.com/workflows/science_without_lab_request

EVOLUTION OF HUMAN SEXUALITY (SC2087)

Using the scientific method and data on humans, primates, and other animals, we will investigate the evolutionary basis of human sexuality, mating systems, and family structures. Why are there males and females, and how are they different? What are the underlying biological and social factors that shape human and non-human sexual identities and behaviors? Are humans “naturally” monogamous?

TOPICS IN SCIENCE (SC2091)

Topics vary by semester

TOPICS IN SCIENCE (SC2910)

TOPICS VARY BY SEMESTER

CONCEPTS IN RELATIVITY AND QUANTUM THEORIES (SC3007)

The nature of reality changed in fundamental ways in the early part of the 20th century. Concepts of duration, length, sequential order, simultaneity, weight, energy, location, mass, substance and void became a matter of perspective or ‘reference frame’. Scientists had been trying to explain apparently ‘absurd’ results, such as Maxwell’s EM wave equations or the photovoltaic effect, within the framework of classical physics. Much like what Ptolemy did with Aristotle’s model of the dynamics of the heavens before Copernicus and Kepler got it right, or, at least, not so wrong. In this course, I will present the basic principles, and derive the implications, of the theory of Special Relativity, I will describe the concepts and equivalences underlying the theory of General Relativity and show you why we know them to be correct (or at least not very wrong), I will introduce quantum theory and the quantum model of the atom and explain why it is better than plum pudding (see J. J. Thomson’s 1904 “plum pudding” model for the atom). In this course, you will learn about time travel, e=mc², black holes and wormholes. Is it true that if you run straight towards a cement wall it is just possible that you will make it through to the other side unharmed? Yes.