"It
is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."
Old Chinese Proverb
ASTRONOMY 1660 – History of Astronomy
SYLLABUS - Fall 2007
Professor Information:
Name: JP Caillault
Office: 237 Physics
Office Hours: MW 10-11 AM
Phone: 542-2883
E-Mail: jpc@physast.uga.edu
Course Information:
Class Day/Time/Location: MWF
9:05-9:55 AM (Room 302)
Required book: Archives of the Universe, by Marcia
Bartusiak
Attendance: Since class participation is such an integral part of the
course, a maximum of three absences will be permitted.
Three points will be deducted from your course grade for
each absence beyond three.
Term Papers: Two
1250-word term papers on topics not discussed in
class. The
due dates for the term papers are Oct. 5
and
Dec. 5.
Grades:
The final
course grade will be calculated as follows:
∑ Exams = 60% (15% each)
∑ Papers = 20% (10%
each)
∑ In-Class
Participation = 20%
93
≤ A
90
≤ A– < 93
87
≤ B+ < 90
83
≤ B < 87
80
≤ B– < 83
77
≤ C+ < 80
73
≤ C < 77
70
≤ C– < 73
60
≤ D < 70
F
< 60
Tentative Class Schedule:
Date (Day) TOPIC (Chapter in Archives of the Universe)
Aug. 17 (F) 00. Introduction
Aug. 20 (M) 01. Proof that the Earth is a Sphere (2)
Aug. 22 (W) 02. Measuring the Earth’s Circumference (4)
Aug. 24 (F) 03. Ptolemy’s Almagest
(6)
Aug. 27 (M) 04. Copernicus and the Sun-Centered Universe (7)
Aug. 29 (W) 05. Tycho Brahe and the Changing Heavens (8)
Aug. 31 (F) 06. Johannes Kepler and Planetary Motion (9)
Sept. 5 (W) 07. Galileo initiates the Telescopic Era (10)
Sept. 7
(F) 08.
Sept. 10 (M) 09. The Speed of Light (14)
Sept. 12 (W) 10. The First Asteroid (18)
Sept. 14 (F) EXAM 1 (Topics
01-10)
Sept. 17 (M) 11. Distance to a Star (19)
Sept. 19 (W) 12. Discovery of
Sept. 21 (F) 13. Spectral Lines (23)
Sept. 24 (M) 14. Doppler Shifts and Spectroscopic Binaries (26)
Sept. 26 (W) 15. Classification of the Stars (27)
Sept. 28 (F) 16. Giant Stars and Dwarf Stars (28)
Oct. 1 (M) 17. Hydrogen: The Prime Element (29)
Oct. 3 (W) 18. Sunspot Cycle, Sun/Earth Connection, and
Helium (31)
Oct. 5 (F) 19. Special Relativity and E = mc2 (35) and Paper 1 due
Oct. 8 (M) 20. General Relativity and the Solar Eclipse test (36)
Oct. 10 (W) EXAM 2 (Topics
11-20)
Oct. 12
(F) 21. Big Bang versus Steady State (38)
Oct. 15 (M) 22. Supernovae and Neutron Stars (41)
Oct. 17 (W) 23. Black Holes (42)
Oct. 19 (F) 24. Source of Stellar Power (43)
Oct. 22 (M) 25. Creating Elements in the Big Bang (44)
Oct. 24 (W) 26. Cosmic Microwave Background Predicted (45)
Oct. 29 (M) 27. Cepheids: The Cosmic Standard Candles (48)
Oct. 31 (W) 28. Sun’s Place in the Milky Way (49)
Nov. 2 (F) 29. Discovery of Other Galaxies (51)
Nov. 5 (M) 30. Expansion of the Universe (52)
Nov. 7 (W) EXAM 3 (Topics 21-30)
Nov. 9 (F) 31. Quasars (62)
Nov. 12 (M) 32. Evidence for the Big Bang (63)
Nov. 14 (W) 33. Pulsars (64)
Nov. 16 (F) 34. Neutrino Astronomy (66)
Nov. 19 (M) 35. Binary Pulsar and Gravity Waves (68)
Nov. 26 (M) 36. Dark Matter (69)
Nov. 28 (W) 37. Gravitational Lensing (70)
Nov. 30 (F) 38. Inflation (71)
Dec. 3 (M) 39. The Bubbly Universe (72)
Dec. 4 (T) 40. Extrasolar Planets (74)
Dec. 5 (W) 41. The Accelerating Universe (75) and Paper 2 due
Dec. 12 (W) EXAM 4 (Topics
31-41) (8-11 AM)