Three new courses, please inform students!

99-226 Rachel Carson: Her Work and Legacy

Mini 3, 6 units

Time: TBA, TR

Instructor: Eden Fisher

Rachel Louise Carson, born nearly a century ago into a Western Pennsylvania family of modest means, is widely known as “the mother of the environmental movement.” More than forty years after her death, she continues to be both honored and disparaged in public debate, largely due to the power of her most famous book: Silent Spring. The goal of this course is to introduce students of all disciplines to Rachel Carson and her writings, and to heighten awareness of the enormous influence her writings have had on the way human interaction with the environment is viewed and addressed by a wide range of stakeholders across the globe.

Through this course, students will:

• Learn about the life of Rachel Carson, a famous daughter of Western Pennsylvania
• Study a range of Rachel Carson’s writings and interpret her messages
• Explore and describe the cultural, scientific and policy context for her work
• Analyze the impact of her work in her lifetime
• Critically consider how and why Rachel Carson’s work and her name continue to influence public debate and public policy

99-241 Revolutions of Circularity (9 units)

Instructor: William Alba

MWF 11:30-12:20 in Baker 231B.

Consider the circle. In this course we will investigate how the

apparently simple concept of circularity (both in stillness and in

motion) has accreted meaning. Starting with the circle as presented

in early geometry, we will encompass circularity in ancient and

Renaissance astronomy as well as classical and modern physics. We

will also discuss appearances of the circle in literature,

philosophy, and art since our study will reveal connections such as

how Aristotle's views on nature influenced Ptolemy and an

understanding of our place in relation to the world, including

central imagery in the poetry of Donne. As we demonstrate proofs and

analyze texts, circularity will emerge not only as a device through

which intellectual revolutions have occurred, but also as an object

that has itself been transformed over the centuries.

Registration for this course requires permission of the instructor.

Please contact Dr. William Alba at alba@cmu.edu or 412-268-7333.

99- 305: “The Year is 1905”: E= mc², photons and relativity

Spring 2006; Wednesdays 6:30 to 8:30

Instructors: Gregg Franklin, Physics

Indira Nair, Engineering and Public Policy

“2005 has been declared as The World Year of Physics, an international celebration of physics by the United Nations, timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's "miraculous year”." http://www.physics2005.org/

1905 has been called “Annus Mirabilis”, the year of miracles in Physics because Albert Einstein, then a patent clerk in Switzerland, published four papers that changed the face of physics. In 1905, Einstein revolutionized much of science with three groundbreaking advances: he proved the existence of atoms and molecules, he validated the emerging field of quantum mechanics, and he developed the theory of special relativity - which led to the most famous equation ever written, E=mc².

The United Nations has officially declared 2005 the International Year of Physics, and more than thirty nations are participating in the year-long celebrations with public lectures, museum exhibits, and educational projects.” (http://www.physics2005.org/, http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/).

The primary objective of the course is to make the “miracle” of 1905 conceptually accessible to all students and to place the discoveries in the contexts of history and culture. In addition to the basic physical principles of the discoveries, this course will look at the phenomenon of 1905 with lenses of history, sociology and of the culture of science. The first reference below has all these components, and will be augmented by some of the readings on the culture and history of science, such as works by Thomas Kuhn and Gerald Holton. Students will discover the significance of Einstein’s work with a survey of the history of concepts that led up to that point, the culture of the doing of science, the importance of the 1905 papers, and the social and historical consequences of E=mc².

The course is open to students of all majors and years. Students are not expected to have a mathematics background, but are required to read the readings completely, be active in class and Blackboard discussions and complete several writing assignments and projects.

The students will read, and discuss 2 books and several papers in depth:

1. E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis

2. Einstein: A Life in Science – Michael White and John Gribbin

3. A collection of readings on the implications and consequences of the physics that was unraveled in 1905.

The course will meet once a week for two hours, in order to give students time for reading the books, and to write a reflective piece each week. It is our hope that the students will leave the course with an appreciation for physics in general and aware of the meaning of the great conceptual leaps in 1905.