Schedule: Astronomy 130 Texts: Astronomy: A Beginner’s Guide to the Universe, 5th ed., Chaisson & McMillan, Pearson/Prentice Hall. Astronomy through the Ages, Wilson, Princeton University Press. Below is an approximate schedule for the course, which will follow two "great threads" of ideas.  Taking an Aristotelian view, the test dates come from the heavenly realm, and the rest of the schedule comes from the earthly realm.  "C&M" refers to sections in the Chaisson & McMillan text; "W" refers to page numbers in the Wilson text. Thread I:  Where are we, and where are we going?  (Location and Motion)      June 5:   Intro, positions           C&M: E.1      June 6:   motions, days, years, Sun's motion, seasons           C&M: E.2      June 7:   Moon's motion, eclipses, planetary motion           C&M: E.3, 1.1,  W: pp 7-14      June 8:   Maya, Anasazi calendars           (instructor's notes)      June 11:  Calendars - Babylonian, Egyptian, etc.           W: pp 14-22      June 12:  "Science," Babylonians, Thales, Pythagoras, Plato           C&M: E.5 (pp 19-21),  W: pp 23-26      June 13:  Aristotle, Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Ptolemy           C&M: pp 27-28,  W: pp 27-39   * Test 1:  Thursday, June 14      June 15:  Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler           C&M: 1.1, 1.3,  W: pp 51-74      June 18:  Kepler, Galileo           C&M: 1.2,  W: pp 74-82      June 19:  Newton, Einstein           C&M: 1.4, 13.6 (pp 358-363),  W: pp 125-137      June 20:  Einstein, light           C&M: 2.1-8      June 21:  Telescopes, the AU           C&M: 3.1-5,  W: 94-96, 101-102      June 22:  The Galaxy           C&M: 10.5-6, 14.1-7,  W: 99-101, 104-5, 162-70      June 25:  The cosmic distance ladder & structure           C&M: 15.1-3, 16.1, 16.5   * Test 2:  Tuesday, June 26 Thread II:  Where did we come from?  (Origins and Development)      June 27:  Creation "myths"           (instructor's notes)      June 28:  The big bang I           C&M: 17.1-8,  W: 257-276      June 29:  The big bang II (Paper Due)           C&M: 17.1-8,  W: 257-276      July 2:   Star formation, solar system formation           C&M: 11.2-5, 4.3,  W: 205-219      July 3:   Life in the solar system           C&M: 18.1-2,  W: 194-198      July 5:   Life beyond the solar system           C&M: 18.3-4,  W: 198-204         Final Exam:  Friday, July 6, 8:10 AM - 10:00 AM Astro 130 home page | Syllabus | Schedule | Contact Information | Links | Assignments Physics and Astronomy Department Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 37235 (615) 322-2828 E-mail Dr. Farris Search | Site Index | People Finder | Help Copyright © 2007 Vanderbilt University