Mechanics
This course will begin with a description of the motion of particles and introduce Newton’s dynamical laws and a number of important force laws. We will apply these laws to a wide range of problems to gain a better understanding of the laws and to demonstrate the generality of the framework. The important concepts of work, mechanical energy, and linear and angular momentum will be introduced and the unifying idea of conservation laws will be discussed. Additional topics may include, the study of mechanical waves, fluid mechanics and rotational dynamics.
Geometry and Relativity
(Offered as PHYS 102 and MATH 102) On January 27th, 1921, Albert Einstein gave a lecture titled “Geometry and Experience" at the Prussian Academy of Science. In this lecture he reflects on the interdependence of geometry and physics. To commemorate the centenary of such an inspiring event, this course will explore the natural connections between geometry (axioms, the notions of space and time, dimension and curvature) and relativity (the relativity principle, simultaneity, thought experiments).
Special Topics
Independent reading course. Reading in an area selected by the student and approved in advance by a member of the Department.
Admission with consent of the instructor. Fall and spring semesters. The Department.
The Later Wittgenstein
In 1930, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) returned to Cambridge, England and to philosophy, more than a decade after having solved, in his earlier work, all its problems to his satisfaction. He now had some doubts. In 1933, he began to dictate to his students a series of notes on his revolutionary new ideas "so that they might have something to carry home with them, in their hands if not in their brains." These notes were not published during his lifetime but were circulated privately; they eventually came to be known as The Blue Book. This course
Kant and the 19th Centur
Immanuel Kant's philosophy set off a revolution that reverberated throughout 19th-century Europe. For Kant, it is our own reason, not God or nature, which is the original source of all moral principles, freedom, and even goodness itself. Human beings are autonomous in that we determine what is morally right.