SYLLABUS
Professor W.T. (Woody) Sullivan, PAB C318 (543-7773 woody@astro.washington.edu)
Teaching Assistants Ty “Jefe” Robinson, PAB B333 (543-6276, tdrobin@u.washington.edu)
Andrew Opatkiewicz MSB 366 (616-9041, opatka@u.washington.edu)
Astronomy Office (for messages, section changes, etc.): PAB C319 (543-2888)
Lectures MWF 2:30-3:20 in Bagley 154
Sections TuTh, all in PAB A212
AA+AB (10:30+11:30) = T. R. ; AC+AD (12:30+1:30) = A.O.
Office Hours Tue 12:30; or take a chance and drop in; you also are encouraged to use E-mail
Required Texts Life in the Universe (2nd Ed., 2007) by J. Bennett & S. Shostak
“ “ : Activities Manual (2nd Ed., 2007) by E. Prather et al. ($138 for both)
Website www.astro.washington.edu/astro115
Prerequisites None. This course, however, is not intended for upper division majors in science, engineering, or other technical fields.
Course Theme. Astrobiology is an exciting new scientific field that examines the nature of life as we know it on planet Earth, and then considers where and how to search for life elsewhere. It asks some of the most basic questions: What is the nature of life? How did life begin on Earth? How has it changed over billions of years? Where can life survive on Earth? Is there life on other planets? What conditions should those planets have? How can we search for extraterrestrial life? Is there intelligent extraterrestrial life?
Astrobiology is highly multidisciplinary, with contributions from astronomy, biology, geology, biochemistry, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, and many other fields. In ten short weeks we can only introduce you to some of the basics of astrobiology, but we will do our best to help you learn what we know now, what we think might be possible, and where we hope to go in the near future.
Philosophy. We are not trying to provide a course to transform you into a scientist, although some of you may consider this option. Rather, we hope to infect you with some of our enthusiasm and excitement for a subject which has fascinated humans for a long time. We hope that by the end of the quarter you will have a better appreciation for our perception of our place in the Universe and how that in turn affects our view of ourselves. We will also use astrobiology as a vehicle by which to give you insight into the workings of science, an amazing method of knowing the world that has been extremely influential over the past four centuries.
All of our goals will come to nought, however, unless we hear from you about any and all aspects of the course. If we fail, then instructors and students fail alike; if we succeed, then we shall all profit.
Four Midterm quizzes @ 10% 40%
Final exam 20%
Section activities and homeworks 30%
T.A. evaluation 10%
- The four 30-minute midterm quizzes, given in sections on Thursdays 11 Oct., 25 Oct., 8 Nov., and 29 Nov., will generally cover all material through the previous lecture, and are designed to help you keep up with the material throughout the quarter. If you miss a quiz, there are no make-ups.
- The 60-minute final exam will cover the entire quarter and be held on Tue., 11 Dec. at 2:30 pm. If you must leave town before the scheduled final, then drop the course right now.
- Section activities and homeworks refers to homework plus exercises from the Activities text and elsewhere. Activity write-ups are due the next Section meeting after they are carried out. The 3 homeworks (questions similar to those at the ends of chapters) will be issued on a Thursday and due the following Tuesday. In general late assignments will receive no credit except under unusual circumstances.
- T.A. evaluation allows your T.A. to adjust slightly your "formula grade" based on criteria such as class participation, your background, or other factors. Our aim is to maximize the human element as much as is feasible and fair.