| HPS 0410 | Einstein for Everyone | Spring 2024 |
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| Week | Lecture Date | Recitation Dates | Lecture Topic | Recitation discussion questions, Assignment Due | Tests, Papers |
| 1 |
Tues. Jan. 9 |
Introduction: the questions. | |||
| Wed. Jan. 10 |
0. Warm up exercise (No submission, not for credit) |
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| Thurs. Jan. 11 |
Special
Relativity: the Principles. Special Relativity: Clocks and Rods |
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| 2 |
Tues. Jan. 16 |
Special
Relativity: Adding Velocities. Relativity of simultaneity |
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| Wed. Jan. 17 |
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| Thurs. Jan. 18 |
Is special relativity paradoxical? | ||||
| 3 |
Tues. Jan. 23 |
Origins of special
relativity Einstein's Pathway to Special Relativity |
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| Wed. Jan. 24 |
2. Relativity of Simultaneity | ||||
| Thurs. Jan. 25 | E=mc2 | |
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| 4. |
Tues. Jan. 30 | Spacetime Spacetime and the Relativity of Simultaneity |
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| Wed. Jan. 31 |
3. Origins of Special Relativity | ||||
| Thurs. Feb . 1 | Spacetime and the
Relativity of Simultaneity Spacetime, Tachyons, Twins and Clocks |
Test available in Canvas Thursday at
3pm for 27 hours. Be sure to hit SUBMIT QUIZ button on completion. |
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| Fri. Feb. 2 | Test 1 due 6:00 pm What is it on? grades This test failed as a vehicle of assessment since it was set in Canvas so that students could see which of their answers were correct. They could resubmit new versions repeatedly to correct any incorrect answers. They did. |
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| 5. |
Tues. Feb. 6 | Skeptical Morals. Morals About Theory and Evidence. |
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| Wed. Feb. 7 |
4. Spacetime | ||||
| Thurs. Feb. 8 | Morals About Theory
and Evidence. Morals About Time. |
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| 6. |
Tues. Feb. 13 | Euclidean
Geometry: The First Great Science Euclid's Fifth Postulate Non-Euclidean Geometry: A Sample Construction Non-Euclidean Geometry and Curved Spaces |
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| Wed. Feb. 14 |
5. Philosophical Significance | ||||
| Thurs. Feb. 15 | Test available in Canvas Thursday at 3:00pm for 27 hours. | ||||
| Fri. Feb. 16 | Test 2 due 6:00 pm What is it on? grades |
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| 7. |
Tues. Feb. 20 | ||||
| Wed. Feb. 21 |
6. Curvature | ||||
| Thurs. Feb. 22 | General
relativity Gravity Near a Massive Body |
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| 8. |
Tues. Feb. 27 | Gravity
Near a Massive Body Einstein's Pathway to General Relativity |
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| Wed. Feb. 28 |
7. General Relativity | ||||
| Thurs. Feb. 29 | Relativistic cosmology | Test available in Canvas Thursday at 3:00 pm for 27 hours. | |||
| Fri. Mar. 1 | Test 3 due 6:00 pm What is it on? grades |
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| 9. |
Tues. Mar. 5 | Time Travel Universes | |
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| Wed. Mar. 6 | 8. Relativistic Cosmology | ||||
| Thurs. Mar. 7 | Our Universe: What We See | ||||
| Tues. Mar. 12; Thurs Mar. 14 | Spring recess | ||||
| 10. |
Tues. Mar. 19 | Big bang cosmology | |||
| Wed. Mar. 20 |
9. Big Bang Cosmology I | ||||
| Thurs. Mar. 21 | Big bang
cosmology Must There Have Been a Big Bang? |
Test available in Canvas Thursday at 3:00 pm for 27 hours. | |||
| Fri. Mar 22 |
Test 4 due 6:00 pm What is it on? grades |
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| 11. | Tues. Mar. 26 | Black holes Einstein on Black Holes Reminder: Term paper due soon. |
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| Wed. Mar. 27 |
10. Big Bang Cosmology II | |
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| Thurs. Mar. 28 | A Better Picture of Black Holes | ||||
| 12. | Tues. Apr. 2 | A Better Picture of Black Holes | |||
| Tues. Apr. 2 | Term paper topic submitted, due 5pm. | ||||
| Wed. Apr. 3 | 11. Black Holes | ||||
| Thurs. Apr. 4 | Origins of Quantum Theory | Test available in Canvas Thursday at 3:00 pm for 27 hours. | |||
| Fri. Apr. 5 | Test 5 due 6:00 pm What is it on? grades |
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| 13. |
Tues. Apr. 9 | Origins of Quantum Theory | |||
| Wed. Apr. 10 | 12. Origins of Quantum Theory | ||||
| Thurs. Apr. 11 | Quantum Theory of Waves and Particles | ||||
| 14. | Tues. Apr. 16 | The Measurement Problem | |||
| Wed. Apr. 17 |
13. Problems of Quantum Theory | ||||
| Thurs. Apr. 18 | Einstein on the Completeness of Quantum Theory | Test available in Canvas Thursday at 3:00 pm for 27 hours. | |||
| Fri. Apr. 19 | Test 6 due 6:00 pm What is it on? grades |
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| Mon. Apr. 22 | Term paper due11:59pm |
Test 1. 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. 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. 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," "Einstein's Pathway to General Relativity"; and the assignments 6 and 7.
Test 4. The material examinable is the content of the chapters: "Relativistic Cosmology," "Time Travel Universes," "Our Universe"; and the assignments 8 and 9.
Test 5. The material examinable is the content of the chapters: "Big Bang Cosmology," "Must there have been a big Bang?", "Black Holes," and "A Better Picture of Black Holes"; and the assignments 10 and 11.
Test 6. 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.
