Mondays from 16th April 2018 for 10 weeks
Explore the wonders of modern physics, from the stupendously big to the mind-blowingly small. Learn about chaos, the universe, Einstein and the private lives of atoms without any complicated maths.
Course Outline:
(Links to notes to be included as the course progresses. Just click on the topic title.)
- Basic stuff. What is physics? The portrayal of science in the media. A brief history of scientific investigation, including Aristotle, Archimedes and Newton. (Handout)
- Basic stuff 2. Gravity. Light and waves. The speed of light. Wave/particle duality. (Handout)
- Very small stuff. Particle physics. A look at the structure of matter, starting at the familiar level and then moving steadily closer in. (Handout)
- Uncertain stuff. Particle/wave duality. What happens when measuring alters the observations? Teleportation. (Handout)
- Very, very small stuff. Quarks, their colours and why smashing stuff together at close to the speed of light is useful. The search for the Higgs Boson. A look at the uses of physics in the everyday world using the evolution of recordings from wax cylinders to DVDs as an example. Lasers. (Handout)
- Very fast stuff. Relativity. What happens when stuff travels very fast? The speed of light and its implications. The effects of where an observer is standing. The link between space and time. (Handout)
- Powerful stuff. The amount of energy in matter. The workings of gravity. The wacky world of time travel. How relativity and quantum mechanics interact. (Handout)
- Very big stuff. Cosmology. The contents and shape of the universe. Gravitational waves. Modelling. (Handout)
- Star stuff. A brief history of the universe from The Big Bang onwards. The evolution of stars and formation of supernovae and black holes. The nature of proof. (Handout)
- Very unpredictable stuff. The Scientific Method. Chaos. Why we can’t tell far in advance if an asteroid is going to get us (or even if it’s going to be a nice summer). Sensitivity to initial conditions. The difference between a chaotic system, a predictable system and a random one. Pattern in the chaos. Recap. (Handout)
'Seven Brief Lessons on Physics' by Carlo Rovelli. Chapters 1-4 give a very succinct overview.
'A Short History of Nearly Everything' by Bill Bryson is a
good background for the whole course.
'Magic Universe' by Nigel Calder is a selection of interesting nuggets you can flick through.
'50 physics ideas you really need to know' by Joanne Baker.
'Magic Universe' by Nigel Calder is a selection of interesting nuggets you can flick through.
'50 physics ideas you really need to know' by Joanne Baker.
'Bad Science' by Ben Goldacre covers the perception of
science stuff from Week 1.
Any A-Level/Higher/SYS text book is liable to cover light
and waves (Week 2).
'Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You' by Marcus Chown goes over a lot of the stuff from Week 3 through to Week 8.
'Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You' by Marcus Chown goes over a lot of the stuff from Week 3 through to Week 8.
'Simply Einstein' by Richard Wolfson is great for relativity
(Week 6).
'Universe' by Heather Couper & Nigel Henbest is one of
many options for Week 9.
Week 10: 'Does God Play Dice?' by Ian Stewart or 'Chaos' by
James Gleick.
Web Resources:
Horizon on BBC iPlayer (when available). http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
The website of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) features hundreds of videos on particle physics. http://public.web.cern.ch/public/
Einstein Light hosted by the University of New South Wales is great for learning about Relativity. http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/einsteinlight/
Contact: Edmund.Farrow[@]ed.ac.uk
http://quarkstoquasars.blogspot.co.uk/
