PHYS-2028
Great Ideas in Science II
Course Web Page

This web page has been set up for the honor students at ETSU taking PHYS-2028 Spring 2008 semester with Dr. Luttermoser. Many of the lectures that will be presented to the class in this course sequence will also be available on this web site (see below). These lectures may be presented in a variety of different formats, including PowerPoint, PDF, and Postscript. Note that in order to view PDF (Portable Document Format) files, one needs Acrobat Reader in order to view the document. If your computer does not have this software already installed, you can install it from the link in the last sentence. If the document is Postscript (PS) format you will need Ghostscript to view it on your computer moniter.

Course Overview

Great Ideas in Science is a two-semester sequence that provides an honor student a front row seat on how the various disciplines in science interact with one another. PHYS-2018-001 is the Fall semester course in this sequence and PHYS-2028-001 is the Spring semester course. Through the years, different themes will be covered in Great Ideas in Science. Though Dr. L. will be coordinating the course and providing many of the lectures, we will have other faculty from different departments also providing lectures on different topics.

Academic Year Course Theme
2007/2008 Origins

See Dr. L.s answer to USA Todays' Ask an Expert question posted in the February 14, 2008 edition by clicking here .

Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus for PHYS-2028-001, Great Ideas in Science II. You can also download a PDF version or a Postscript version of this syllabus by clicking on the appropriate link.

Course Lectures:

Note that as lectures are written and the lecturer wishes to place these lectures online, they will be made available to you below as links to the topics. Note that in order to show PowerPoint presentations in your WWW viewer, clicking the left mouse button will advance the frames.

Lecturer Topic
Dr. Don Luttermoser
Dr. Jeff Wardeska		 The History of Chemistry
Prebiotic Chemistry (PowerPoint Presentation)
Dr. Rebecca Pyles Natural Selection, Evolution & Major Transitions
Phylogenetics
Origin of Life
Origins of Structure & Adaptation
Origins of Species
Dr. Fosty Levy
Dr. David Harker		 Evolution of New Functions and Genes
Speciation from an Experimental Viewpoint
Material vs. Functional Definitions of Gene
Dr. Ivars Peterson
Dr. Don Luttermoser		 History of Counting and Record Keeping
History of Celestial Mechanics
The Demise of Civilizations
Are We Alone? -- The Drake Equation

Student Projects

Project 1: Topics from Chemistry.
Click this link to view the write-up of this Student Project. Here the students will break into groups to give oral presentations on January 29 and January 31, 2008.

Project 2: Phylogeny Problem Paper.
An 8 to 10 page paper will be assigned by Dr. Pyles on an approved topic relating to her lectures. Each student must write their own paper! This paper will be due on March 11, 2008. Details will be discussed in class.

Project 3: Topics from Dr. Levy and Harker's section.
Click this link to view the write-up of this Student Project. Here the students will break into groups to give oral presentations on March 25 and March 27, 2008 and submit a 6 page (minimum) written report (one report per group) on April 1, 2008 covering their presentation topic.

Project 4: Topics in "Are We Alone?"
Click this link to view the write-up of this Student Project. Here the students will break into groups to give oral presentations on April 22 and April 24, 2008 and submit a 6 page (minimum) written report (one report per group) on April 22, 2008 covering their presentation topic.

Extracurricular Activities

I would like the students in PHYS-2028 to attend the Basler Chair of Excellence lectures this semester if at all possible. The Basler Chair this semester is the award winning mathematics writer Dr. Ivars Peterson. His four talks this semester will be at 7:00 p.m. on the dates of January 24, 2008, February 20, 2008, March 17, 2008, and April 14, 2008. A list of his talks can be found at this link.

Student Readings

Chemistry Module: Chapter 15 of Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith.

Dr. Rebecca Pyles's Module: On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (link to be supplied shortly).

Dr. Frosty Levy & David Harker's Module: Web article on the life of Joshua Lederberg, a pioneer of modern microbiology and immunology who helped to lay the foundations for genetic engineering.

"Are We Alone?" Module: Chapters 14, 16, and 17 of Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith.

Last modified: April 17, 2008 by D.G. Luttermoser