Honors 228K - Great Ideas in Physics and Their Implications in Other Disciplines - Fall 2009

Prof. Ted Einstein (Homepage)

Physics Building, Room 2310 (Mailbox in 2323); x56147

Further comments on course paper and final submission:

The course paper should be 10 (or slightly more) pages long, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-pt type. At least 9 pages should be text and references (rather than figures). The paper should involve both your own thinking (as in Reaction Papers) and research into printed and/or online literature, with appropriate references and citations. (There should be a bibliography of at least 3 sources, at least 2 of which are not from wikipedia.)

The due date is our last class session on Wednesday, Dec. 9. The paper should be submitted both as a hard-copy and electronically as an emailed attachment. Ideally the attachment should be in Word (doc or docx) format, or rtf. Alternatively rtf is fine, and wps or WordPerfect is acceptable. A Mac-exclusive extension/format, notably pages, is not acceptable.

The "final essay question," in lieu of a final exam, will be an expanded reaction paper in which you react to the "long presentation" of another student, making use of ideas discussed in the seminar (to give you a chance to revisit what has been covered this semester and show that it has become part of your consciousness!). This paper should be no longer than 2 pages. It can be submitted (hard copy or electronically) any time after the discussed presentation and no later than Friday, Dec. 11, 4pm. In determining the class grade, it will count about twice as much as a reaction paper.

List of possible scientists for short presentation before Thanksgiving:

Enrico Fermi

Max Planck

Marie Curie

Lise Meitner

Emmy Noether

Paul Ehrenfest

Lev Landau

Richard Feynman

Murray Gell-Mann

Julian Schwinger

Steven Hawking

Wolfgang Pauli

Peter Debye

H.A. Kramers

Paul Langevin

Other suggestions welcomed!

List of email addresses of students: is now posted on the password-protected page.

Office hours: are now posted as Mondays 11-12, Wednesdays 3:30-4:30 which worked well last year. I will look at the Questionnaires and adjust as needed.

Last updated Nov. 9, 2009