Catalogue

Additional Courses in the Sciences

Courses listed under this heading are introductory courses in branches of science that do not fit into the six divisional programs, or that approach the study of science from historical or philosophical points of view.

The Story of Water: From Drops to Drips
Science 122
What journey has a drop of water taken to get to our tap? How can we determine if toxic or harmful contaminants are present? This course addresses the composition of natural waters and the analytical methods used to assess water quality. Foundational principles of chemistry are used to explore the weird and wonderful properties of water, which make life, as we know it, possible. Integrated laboratory work focuses on the analysis of water quality parameters as a means to understand and evaluate water treatment.

Paints and the Examination of Paintings
Science 123
Students investigate the composition of pigments, dyes, and paints; the chemistry underlying selected techniques (e.g., Attic vase and fresco painting); and scientific methods for examining paintings. As light, atoms, and molecules are central to paints and techniques for examining paintings, the course begins with these foundational topics. Laboratory work includes synthesis and analysis of pigments and dyes, and preparation of binders and paints.

Photographic Processes
Science 125
Topics covered range from the chemistry of silver and nonsilver photographic processes to the physics of CCD cameras. Laboratory work emphasizes the chemical transformations involved in making gum dichromate prints, cyanotypes, blueprints, salted paper prints, and black-and-white silver emulsion prints.

Learning about Learning
Science 127
What is learning? How can we learn more quickly? What happens in our brains when we learn? This course offers an experimental investigation of what influences the depth and quality of learning. A major focus is on student-generated, quantitative experiments designed to test ideas about learning.

Monitoring Environmental Change
Science 129
DESIGNATED: OSUN COURSE
This course introduces the practical aspects of environmental monitoring while exploring the related climate change and public health connections. Case studies cover worldwide programs (e.g., the UN Global Environment Monitoring System program) and local initiatives. Online course content and activities guide students from across the Open Society University Network through the process of identifying potential local climate-related challenges. Students design an environmental monitoring study, resulting in a project proposal. Selected proposals will be eligible for support as pilot projects through the OSUN Community Science Coalition program. 

The Life and Death of Stars
Science 143
Whether faint or bright, stars look like unchanging dots of light in the night sky, but stars are not all alike and they do change. They are born, live, age and die, often spectacularly. Everything we know about stars, e.g., temperature, luminosity, size, mass, and composition, comes from the light they radiate. This course begins with the closest star, the Sun, before considering different types of stars and their evolution. Labs consists of working with astronomical data and spreadsheet calculations. 

Thinking about Thinking: Models of Reality
Science 150
How have we learned to make sense of the physical world? The answer is far from obvious. Indeed, most of our knowledge is counterintuitive. We know the Earth goes around the sun, not the converse, but that’s not the way it seems. Seeing is often misleading, and our contemporary grasp of reality is rooted instead in deep thinking and testable models. Students grapple with five transformative ideas that have changed the way we see the world, focusing on what it means to explain something quantitatively and how we test the validity of that explanation.

Physical Science after Newton
Science History and Philosophy 223
CROSS-LISTED: STS, VICTORIAN STUDIES
A survey of major agendas of physical science since 1750. Characteristic episodes include Lavoisier and the theory of elements; Maxwell and the mathematization of physics; arguments about light from Newton, Young, Michelson, and Einstein; 20th-century atomic theory; and the emergence of “big science.”