(Offered as BIOL 265 and PHYS 265) Functional morphology is the study of relationships between the anatomy and the ecology and behavior of organisms. The course begins by focusing on the fundamental importance of body size and metabolism in governing nearly all aspects of animal biology. We then study the biomechanics of running, jumping, swimming, gliding, and flying, using examples of both living and extinct animals. We will also learn about morphological adaptations underlying unusual movements such as climbing walls, hovering in midair, and walking on water.

(Offered as BIOL 264 and PHYS 264) Functional morphology is the study of how organisms work. It integrates anatomy and biomechanics in an ecological and evolutionary framework. The course begins with basic principles of evolutionary theory and biomechanics, before turning to the fundamental importance of body size and metabolism in governing nearly all aspects of animal biology. We then focus on locomotion (running, jumping, swimming, gliding, and flying) using examples of both living and extinct animals.

The basic laws of physics governing the behavior of microscopic particles are in certain respects simple. They give rise both to complex behavior of macroscopic aggregates of these particles, and more remarkably, to a new kind of simplicity. Thermodynamics focuses on the simplicity at the macroscopic level directly, and formulates its laws in terms of a few observable parameters like temperature and pressure.

How do we gather information to refine our models of the physical world? This course is all about data: acquiring data, separating signals from noise, analyzing and interpreting data, and communicating results. Much – indeed nearly all – data spend some time as an electrical signal, so we will study analog electronics. In addition, students will become familiar with contemporary experimental techniques and instrumentation. Throughout, students will develop skills in scientific communication, especially in the written form. Six hours of laboratory work per week.

In the mid-nineteenth century, completing nearly a century of work by others, Maxwell developed an elegant set of equations describing the dynamical behavior of electromagnetic fields. A remarkable consequence of Maxwell’s equations is that the wave theory of light is subsumed under electrodynamics. Moreover, we know from subsequent developments that the electromagnetic interaction largely determines the structure and properties of ordinary matter. This course will begin with Coulomb’s Law but will quickly introduce the concept of the electric field.