Astronomy 210 Spring 2009
T Th 12-1
. . .also by appointment
syllabus has been updated (15 April)
III. Midterm Paper
Write synopsis on paper: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-end-of-cosmology
"The End of Cosmology?
An accelerating universe wipes out traces of its own origins"
By Lawrence M Krauss and Robert J
March 2008 Scientific American
It should be 1-2 pages, 12 font, 1.5-2 space.
DUE: Thursday May 21
Be sure to indicate how this matches or compliments what you have
learned in class this quarter.
IV. Final Paper:
Paragraph describing research
topic due at the start of class,Tuesday April 21.
Final Paper DUE: Thursday June 4.
This paper should discuss a topic in Cosmology, Astronomy, or
Physics. You can either do a historical background, or look into
more modern topics, or both! Biographies are also good: you can
illuminate the individual's life and how their discoveries fit in.
You are required to use at least three, 3, references from some form of
scientific journal. There are many online journals available from
school computers. These include, but are not limited to:
Scientific American, Science, Nature, Astronomy Today, Discover, and
Here is a sample list, you can choose another but you must
let me know.
Possible Research Topics:
The Big Bang and Expanding Universe
Galaxies and Galaxy Formation
Neutron Stars and Pulsars
Worm Holes and Time Travel
Einstein's Relativity Theories--Gravity and Spacetime
Life in the Universe, extrasolar planets
Biographies of Astronomers, Cosmologists, Physicists
Historical Cosmologies compared to Scientific Cosmologies
Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory
Composition of the Universe
and much more. . .
Some helpful general references: This
list is far from complete, but gives a starting point for many
topics. Note that most of these books overlap subjects.
Big bang cosmology, general
Harrison, Edward R., Cosmology: The Science of the Universe, 2nd ed.
(Cambridge U.P., Cambridge, 2000).
Hogan, Craig J., The Little Book of
the Big Bang: A Cosmic Primer, ( Springer, February 11, 1999 ).
Silk, Joseph, The Big Bang, 3
ed. (Times Books; December 6, 2000).
Singh, Simon, Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe (Fourth
Estate, HarperCollins, 2004).
Kaku, Michio, Parallel Worlds: A Journey through Creation, Higher
Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos (Doubleday, Random House,
Rees, Martin, Before the
Beginning: Our Universe and Others (Addison-Wesley Longman,
Reading, MA, 1997).
History of Cosmology and Astrophysics:
Kragh, Helge S., Conceptions of Cosmos: From Myths to the
Accelerating Unverse: A History of Cosmology (Oxford Univ. Press,
Oxford, UK, 2007).
Longair, Malcolm, The Cosmic Century: A History of Astrophysics and
Cosmology (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006).
Black holes, time travel, etc:
Hawking, Stephen, A Brief
History of Time, (Bantam; September 1, 1998)
Melia , Fulvio, The Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy,
(Princeton University Press; April 21, 2003)
Thorne, K.S., Black Holes
and Time Warps, (Norton, NY, 1994).
Krauss, Lawrence, Quintessence: The Mystery of Missing Mass in
the Universe (Basic Books, NY, 2000).
Rubin, Vera C., Bright Galaxies, Dark Matters (American
Institute of Physics, NY, 1997).
Greene, Brian, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden
Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (
W.W. Norton & Co., October 20, 2003)
Susskind, Leonard, The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and
the Illusion of Intelligent Design (Little, Brown, 2005).