About this Course
This course explores the concept of reality and the physics of the sky. You will travel through the philosophies and worldviews of early civilizations to the time of early scientists such as Plato, Aristotle, and Copernicus. You will learn how Galileo's findings with the telescope challenged the Aristotelian interpretation of the cosmos, about Galileo’s revolutionary conclusions on gravity, and Newton's universal law of gravitation. This course will also introduce you to the scientific methods and their limitations. You will also explore the properties and behaviors of homemade pendulums. Next, you will explore modern ideas of cosmology, of the Big Bang, and even recent speculations that our universe is not all there is. Mysteries and properties of light and how they were discovered, questioned, and confirmed through experiments over the past few hundred years through the present will also be discussed
What You'll Learn
- Understand Galileo’s challenges to Aristotelian cosmology
- Learn Galileo and Newton’s conclusions on gravity
- Examine properties and behavior of homemade pendulums
- Explore modern cosmology and the Big Bang theory
- Review contemporary speculations about the universe
Prerequisites
- Basic computer and internet skills
- Ability to follow instructions and short practice activities in English
Instructors
Marcelo Gleiser
Professor of Physics and Astronomy