HON 164: Course Syllabus
(Scientists' Frame of Reference)

Contact Info:   

Thomas E. Blum
Office: O-333
Office Hours: Mon 2-3 (Olney 200), Tues 2-3 (Olney 200), Wed 10-11 (Olney 333), Fri 10-11 (Olney 333) or by appointment
Phone: 215-951-1139
e-mail: blum@lasalle.edu
Web: http://www.lasalle.edu/~blum

Description:

The course will cover some of the most noteworthy ideas and outcomes from the history of physics, including the work of Archimedes, Galileo, Newton, Boltzmann, Maxwell, Bohr and Einstein, among others. The focus will be on understanding the theories and the thought processes behind them. Students will perform various laboratory exercises to see the connection between the experimental data and the appropriate principle(s). (Mathematics will be kept to a level of basic algebra and geometry and will be covered as it arises in context.)

Meetings:

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 12:00 - 12:50

Location:

Olney 324 and Holroyd 127 (physics lab)

Texts:

 The Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein, George Gamow
The Character of Physical Law, Richard Feynman
Voodoo Science, Robert Park

Assessment:      

 The components of the course will be weighted as follows
    Midterm: 25%
    Final: 25%
    Paper: 15%
    Homework: 15%
    Labs: 15%
    Class: 5%
  • Paper: Each student will write a 7-8 page paper on a science topic not treated in class. Possible topics might include the work of a Nobel Prize winner in physics or chemistry with the focus on conveying some understanding of the work and its implications.
  • Homework: These assignments will consist primarily of summaries of or reactions to short reading assignments, which may be individual readings or chapters from a supplementary book.
  • Lab Reports: These assignments will involve a short write-up of an experiment comparing the data taken in the laboratory to the appropriate theoretical principle.
  • Class Format: Approximately 20%-30% of the class meetings will be in the laboratory conducting simple experiments, analyzing the data, and comparing it to theory. The rest of the meeting will be spent discussing the context of, the reasoning behind, and the implications of various key results from the history of physics.
  • Homeworks and lab reports are to be done individually unless explicitly stated otherwise.
  • If at any time you take information from any source (book, website, etc.), that source should be cited. Failing to do so may be considered plagiarism and thus cheating. Any time you are requested to summarize an article, it is expected that the summary will be in your own words.
  • A late penalty of 10 pts (out of 100) will be deducted from your score for each week an assignment is late.
  • The plus/minus grading system will be used.
  • Attendance will be taken.
  • Absences, lateness, etc. will be reflected in the class portion of the grade. More than three unexcused absences may result in the lowering of a grade.
  • It is the responsibility of the students to keep copies of all submitted materials (tests, homeworks, labs, and so on) until a final grade is received for the course.

Classroom Behavior:

While in the classroom, students should behave in a manner that is neither distracting to nor disrespectful to the professor or other students. Cell phones should be turned off.

Cheating:

 When using materials from a book, website, etc., the source must be cited; otherwise it is considered plagiarism. Claiming another's work as your own is cheating. A student caught cheating will receive a score of zero. Cheating may result in a reduction of the final grade. Repeated cheating can result in a failing grade for the course. Asking another for help on part of a homework is acceptable; handing in duplicate or nearly duplicate work is not. If you require a significant amount of assitance, you should seek my help. Finally, openly allowing your work to be copied is also cheating.