| HPS 0410 | Einstein for Everyone | Fall 2020 |
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| Week | Lecture Date | Recitation Dates | Lecture Topic | Assignment Due | Tests, Papers | |
| 1 |
Wed. Aug. 19, Thurs. Aug. 20 | 0. Warm up exercise (No submission, not for credit) |
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| Thurs. Aug. 20 | Introduction: the questions. | |||||
| 2 |
Tues. Aug. 25 | Special
Relativity: the Principles. Special Relativity: Clocks and Rods |
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| Wed. Aug. 26, Thur. Aug. 27 | ||||||
| Thurs. Aug 27. | Special
Relativity: Adding Velocities. Relativity of simultaneity |
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| 3 |
Tues. Sept. 1 |
Is special relativity paradoxical? | ||||
| Wed. Sept. 2, Thur. Sept. 3 |
2. Relativity of
Simultaneity |
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| Thurs. Sept. 3 |
E=mc2 | |
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| 4. |
Tues. Sept. 8 | Origins of special
relativity Einstein's Pathway to Special Relativity |
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| Wed. Sept. 9, Thur. Sept. 10 |
3. Origins of
Special Relativity Optional E = mc2 review questions |
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| Thurs. Sept. 10 | Spacetime Spacetime and the Relativity of Simultaneity |
Test available in Canvas Thursday
at 12:30pm for 24 hours. Be sure to hit SUBMIT QUIZ button on completion. |
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| Fri. Sept. 11 | Test 1 due 12:30pm What is it on? Grades |
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| 5. |
Tues. Sept. 15 | Spacetime and the
Relativity of Simultaneity Spacetime, Tachyons, Twins and Clocks |
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| Wed. Sept. 16, Thur. Sept. 17 |
4. Spacetime | |||||
| Thurs. Sept. 17 | Skeptical Morals. Morals About Theory and Evidence. |
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| 6 |
Tues. Sept. 22 | Morals About Theory
and Evidence. Morals About Time. |
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| Wed. Sept. 23, Thur. Sept. 24 |
5. Philosophical Significance | |||||
| Thurs. Sept. 24 | Euclidean
Geometry: The First Great Science Non-Euclidean Geometry: A Sample Construction Non-Euclidean Geometry and Curved Spaces |
Test available in Canvas Thursday at 12:30pm for 24 hours. |
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| Fri. Sept 25 | Test 2 due 12:30pm What is it on? Grades |
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| 7 |
Tues. Sept. 29 | |||||
| Wed. Sept. 30, Thur. Oct. 1 |
6. Curvature | |||||
| Thurs. Oct. 1 | ||||||
| 8 |
Tues. Oct. 6 | General
relativity Gravity Near a Massive Body |
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| Wed. Oct. 7, Thur. Oct. 8 |
7. General Relativity | |||||
| Thurs. Oct. 8 | Gravity
Near a Massive Body Relativistic cosmology |
Test available in Canvas Thursday at 12:30pm for 24 hours. | ||||
| Fri. Oct 9 | Test 3 due 12:30pm What is it on? Grades |
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| 9 |
Tues. Oct. 13. | Relativistic
cosmology Time Travel Universes |
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| Wed. Oct. 14 | Student self-care day (no classes) | |||||
| (Wednesday recitation students,
assignment due 9am, Thurs. Oct 15.) Thur. Oct. 15 |
8. Relativistic Cosmology | |||||
| Thurs. Oct. 15 | Our Universe: What We See | |
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| 10 |
Tues. Oct. 20 | Big bang cosmology | ||||
| Wed. Oct. 21, Thur. Oct. 22 |
9. Big Bang Cosmology I | |||||
| Thurs. Oct. 22 | Big bang
cosmology Must There Have Been a Big Bang? |
Test available in Canvas Thursday at 12:30pm for 24 hours. | ||||
| Fri. Oct. 23 | Test 4 due 12:30pm What is it on? Grades |
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| 11 |
Tues. Oct 27 | Einstein's Pathway to General Relativity | ||||
| Wed. Oct. 28, Thur. Oct. 29 |
10. Big Bang Cosmology II | |
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| Thurs. Oct. 29 | Black holes Reminder: Term paper due soon. |
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| 12 |
Tues. Nov. 3 | A Better Picture of Black Holes | ||||
| Wed. Nov. 4, Thur. Nov. 5 | 11. Black Holes | |||||
| Thurs. Nov. 5 | Term paper topic submitted | |||||
| Thurs. Nov. 5 | Origins of Quantum Theory | Test available in Canvas Thursday at 12:30pm for 24 hours. | ||||
| Fri. Nov. 6 | Test 5 due 12:30pm What is it on? Grades |
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| 13 |
Tues. Nov. 10 | Origins of Quantum Theory | ||||
| Wed. Nov. 11, Thur. Nov. 12 | 12. Origins of Quantum Theory | |||||
| Thurs. Nov. 12 | Quantum Theory of Waves and Particles | |||||
| 14 | Tues. Nov. 17 | The Measurement Problem | ||||
| Wed. Nov. 18, Thur. Nov. 19 | 13. Problems of Quantum Theory | |||||
| Thurs. Nov. 19 | Einstein on the Completeness of Quantum Theory | Test available in Canvas Thursday at 12:30pm for 24 hours. | ||||
| Fri. Nov 20 | Test 6 due 12:30pm What is it on? Grades |
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| THANKSGIVING break |
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| Mon. Nov. 30 | Term paper due11:59pm |
Test 1. Fri Sep. 12. The material examinable is the content of the chapters: "Special relativity: the Principles," "Special Relativity: Clocks and Rods," "Special relativity: Adding Velocities," "Relativity of Simultaneity," "Is Special Relativity Paradoxical?" "E=mc2," "Origins of Special Relativity," "Einstein's Pathway to Special Relativity"; and the assignments 1, 2 and 3.
Test 2. Fri. Sept. 25. The material examinable is the content of the chapters: the three "Spacetime" chapters, the three "Morals" chapters and the assignments 4 and 5.The conventionality of simultaneity is excluded from the examinable "morals" sections.
Test 3. Fri. Oct 9. The material examinable is the content of the chapters on Non-Euclidean Geometry, especially as summarized in "Spaces of Constant Curvature" and "Spaces of Variable Curvature," the chapters "General Relativity," "Gravity Near a Massive Body,"; and the assignments 6 and 7.
Test 4. Mon. Oct. 23. The material examinable is the content of the chapters: "Relativistic Cosmology," "Time Travel Universes," "Our Universe," "Big Bang Cosmology," "Must there have been a big Bang?"; and the assignments 8 and 9.
Test 5. Fri. Nov. 6. The material examinable is the content of the chapters: "Einstein's Pathway to General Relativity," "Black Holes" and "A Better Picture of Black Holes"; and the assignments 10 and 11.
Test 6. Fri. Nov. 20. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Origins of Quantum Theory," "Quantum Theory of Waves and Particles," "The Measurement Problem" and the assignments 12 and 13.
