Teaching

We will discuss the variety of approaches humans have taken to predicting their own future. Early weeks will focus on Omens, Oracles, Religion and Prophecy. Next, we will move on to the so-called Scientific Revolution, exemplified by the work of Galileo, and the Age of...

Part of what makes us human is our desire to learn our own future. Throughout recorded history, people have sought ever-more-powerful methods of Prediction. In ancient times, sheep were sacrificed and priests read signs from the gods in their entrails; revered oracles were...

As data sets get larger and larger, visual tools for exploring them become even more important. "The Art of Numbers" focuses on the insight into quantitative information offered by graphs, tables, charts, maps, and other illustrations. The course explores which graphical...

Nature of the Interstellar Medium (ISM): composition, energetics, densities and interactions; observations and theory. Processes leading to the formation of stars and planets, as well as studies of the feedback on the ISM from stellar death. Paper: Nathan E. Sanders, Chris...

Topics in Contemporary Astrophysics , This full year half course will cover a broad range of contemporary topics in observational and theoretical astrophysics through a set of 10-12 two-week modules taught by members of the Astronomy Department faculty. The course will meet...

This course focuses on the insight into quantitative information offered by graphs, tables, charts, maps, and other illustrations. We analyze which of these tools are best for communicating what kinds of data, and why. Ideas about causality, approximation, statistical...

Nature of the Interstellar Medium (ISM): composition, energetics, densities and interactions; observations and theory. Processes leading to the formation of stars and planets, as well as studies of the feedback on the ISM from stellar deaths. WORDPRESS SITE (Online ISM "Book...

Also offered 2004 & 2005