Instructor

Dr. Ana M. Larson, Senior Lecturer
larson -at- astro.washington.edu

Office Hours: M 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Room C335, PAB

Class Times : M W 1:30 - 2:50 pm, F 1:30 - 3:20 pm, PAA A216

Required Text and Reading:

• Einstein's Universe: Gravity at Work and Play, A. Zee (Oxford University Press, 1989, 2001)
• Cosmology: A Cosmic Perspective Chapters 1 - 7, 15; Prof. Paul Boynton
• Cosmology 101 from NASA (additional background)
• Class Lecture Notes

Boynton: Chapter 1

Motion in a circle concentric with the Earth does not allow the Moon to change sizes. The fact that it DOES change sizes was problematic for Aristotle, Aristarchus, and others. See for yourself! Read about the phases of the Moon and watch the Lunation Movie linked at the bottom of that page.

Boynton: Chapter 2

Pythagoras and Music of the Spheres

Heliocentric model Java demonstration showing retrograde motion of Mars

McGraw Hill index of Quick-Time animations

Boynton: Chapter 3

Ancient Planetary Model Animations [Displaying seems to be quite browser dependent.]

Models of Planetary Motion from Antiquity to the Renaissance

Aughra's model of the universe from Dark Crystal

Statue Hid Hipparchus Star Catalog Physics Today

Boynton: Chapter 4

de Revolutionibus scanned in its entirety and on-line

Copernican Model, A Sun-Centered Solar System

Nicholas Copernicus

Copernican Myths Physics Today

Comprehensive Course from Thales to Einstein

Boynton: Chapter 5

The Galileo Project

Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer

Links to all things Kepler (Wikipedia)

YouTube selection from Sagan's Cosmos Brahe, Kepler, and Kepler's Laws

Boynton: Chapter 6

Isaac Newton Resources

Newton's Mountain-top Cannon

The Apollo 15 Feather-Hammer Drop "Galileo was correct!"