Back to main course page

Lectures

Monday/ Wednesday 12:00 - 12:50 pm, 324 Cathedral of Learning (John D. Norton)

Recitations

(Register for one.)

Monday 2:00-2:50 pm, 219 Cathedral of Learning (George Borg)

Tuesday 11:00-11:50 am, 337 Cathedral of Learning (George Borg)

Tuesday 5:00-5:50 pm,2318 Cathedral of Learning (George Borg)

Instructors

John D. Norton, 412-624-1051, jdnorton@pitt.edu
Room 817 CL. Office hours: Monday1:00-1:50 pm, Wednesday 1:00-1:50 pm.

George Borg, 412-624-7599, geb43@pitt.edu
Room 901N CL. Office hours: Tuesday, 4-4:50 pm; Friday, 11-11:50 am.

Course website

Course materials will be posted at the course website
http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/HPS_0410
Click here http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/HPS_0410
We will communicate grades through the Blackboard website at
https://courseweb.pitt.edu/
These websites will be the primary means of obtaining course material. To take this course, you must have access the internet.

Topics

Special relativity: The two postulates and their strange consequences: rods and clocks run amuck. The light barrier. Relativity of simultaneity: the confusion of when and where and the puzzles it solves. Spacetime: time as the fourth dimension. Origins of special relativity: how did Einstein do it?. Puzzles and paradoxes. The most famous equation: E=mc². The philosophical dividend.

General relativity: Straightening out Euclid. Acceleration provides the clue: gravitation is just spacetime bent. General relativity passes the tests. Applications of general relativity: Goedel universes and the like: could we take a journey into the past? Cosmology: the biggest picture possible; a beginning and end for time? Black holes: when the geometry of spacetime collapses.

Quantum theory: The puzzle of black body radiation: light comes in lumps. The Bohr atom: where electrons jump. The perversity of matter in the small: both particle and wave. The uncertainty principle. The failure of determinism. The puzzle of Schrödinger's cat: neither alive nor dead.

Assessment

Short tests There will be 6 short in-class tests, roughly one each two weeks. (Schedule) The grade is the best 5 of 6.	35%
Assignments An assignment is due each week in the recitation. The assignment grade is the best 10 of 13.	35%
Term paper The term paper is by electronic submission to your recitation instructor on the day of the final lecture, Wednesday April 15.	30%

Short Test

The short tests will examine material covered roughly in the preceding two weeks. They will be held in the first 15 minutes of class and consist of a series of 3-4 related questions requiring a few sentences each as answers.

Policy on Missed Tests and Late Assignments

   No make up tests will be offered. Since the test grade is the best 5 of 6, one missed test is automatically forgiven. It is strongly recommended that this one forgiven test be used only when illness or emergencies preclude class attendance.
   Assignments are due each week at the start of the recitation. Late assignments are not accepted. Since the assignment grade is the best 10 of 13, three missed assignments are automatically forgiven. It is strongly recommended that these forgiven assignments be used only when illness or emergencies preclude class attendance.
(An exception is made for students who add the course after the start of term. Assignments due prior to the date on which the class was added may be submitted at the next scheduled recitation.)
   For added flexibility, a universal makeup assignment is offered to all students. The makeup assignment is a second term paper conforming to the term paper guidelines, but only 500 words in length, due on the day of the last lecture, Wednesday April 15.

What do I do if a university break cancels a recitation in which an assignment is due?

There will be no recitation held on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 19. Assignment 2, due in these cancelled recitations, may be submitted to the recitation instructor at the beginning of the lecture that immediately follows the cancelled recitation on Wednesday January 21.

Texts

The primary text for the class is available on this website as the online text Einstein for Everyone.
Supplementary readings are:

J. Schwartz and M. McGuinness, Einstein for Beginners. New York: Pantheon.

J. P. McEvoy and O. Zarate, Introducing Stephen Hawking. Totem.

J. P. McEvoy, Introducing Quantum Theory. Totem.

Special Needs

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services (DRS), 140 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890, drsrecep@pitt.edu, or 412-228-5347 for P3 ASL users,as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course. For more information, see http://www.drs.pitt.edu/

The Undergraduate Dean of Arts and Sciences has requested instructors to alert all students to University of Pittsburgh Policy 09-10-01, "E-mail Communications Policy."