First-Year Seminar (110-6-2)

Instructors

Melville P Ulmer
847/491-5633
Dearborn Observatory (2131 Tech Drive), Room 3B, Evanston
Office Hours: M, W, F 3:00-4:00pm (but call ahead for exceptions or if you can't make those times).

Meeting Info

Dearborn Observatory 23: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

We'll discuss a book in class with 1 discussion leader per meeting which is twice a week. The book is for non-experts on the topic of cosmology. On one hand, cosmologists have made a story that fits together beautifully. On the other hand the fit is produced by evoking Dark Energy and Dark Matter, which have not been verified in the laboratory. The goal of this class is to discuss the pros and cons of our way forward to understand where we came from and where we are going.

The book is: "Facts and Speculations in Cosmology" by Jayant Narlikar.

Evaluation Method

Teams will be assigned to present their version as a skit for their description of the Big Bang after inflation, why astronomers evoke inflation, why astronomers evoke Dark Matter, and why astronomers evoke Dark Energy = 4 teams.

Then 3 papers especially addressing aspects of what's good (1 paper) or bad (one paper) about our current model of Cosmology and one discussion related to that Cosmologists tell us dark matter must exist whereas Physicists have so far failed to find the dark matter particles.

Class Materials (Required)

"Facts and Speculations in Cosmology" by Jayant Narlikar, ISBN-10: 0521865042

Class Attributes

WCAS First-Year Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for First Year & Sophomore only