| September 25: Class logistics and scope of astrobiology |
| |
Are we alone? Is life common or rare in the universe? Is the Earth really special? Sampling and survivor biases in science. Illusions of Providence, Good Fortune, and Miracles. Limitations from the weak anthropic principle. What limits the progress of science? Imagination versus technology. What do will know well and poorly? |
Reading:
WB (Web Book): Prologue
RE (Rare Earth): Preface
|
| |
|
|
| September 27: Measuring the distance to the stars |
| |
We will do the day part of a laboratory exercise to measure the distance to the nearby stars without a telescope. We will assume (correctly) that the Sun is a star. Our equipment would have been available in ancient Athens. Candles, pinhole cameras, and measuring sticks. You will do night part on your own. We will meet in the clasroom and go outside. We will see how bright sunlight is on the other planets. We will do this next time if it is too cloudy. |
Reading:
WB: Read Chapter 1 to get at basic issues
RE: Read Introduction, Dead Zones and Rare Earth factors
|
| |
|
|
| October 2: Insignificant of the Earth in the universe |
| |
Overview of human history. Personal and impersonal views of nature. Need to generalize from observations. Giordano Burno, Life and death. The Sun as a star and the Earth as a planet. Many habitable worlds. Astrobiological issues raised by Bruno that are valid today. Overview of class. |
Reading:
RE: Chapter 1
|
| |
|
|
| October 4: Lots of space in the Solar System |
| |
Need to find size of planets and distance of planets from stars. Size of the Earth and Moon,and distance to nearby stars. Using eclipses. A little geometry and parallax. Retrograde motion. Galileo and the demise of geocentric astronomy. |
Reading:
WB: Begin Chapter 2
|
| |
|
|
| October 9: Vastness of space |
| |
Disk angles of planets and stars. Measuring distance of nearby stars without a telescope. Results of our observations. Lunar occultations. Transits and the size of the solar system. Working outward with standard candles. |
Reading:
WB: Finish chapter 2
|
| |
|
|
| October 11: The new physics and the new math |
| |
Limitations of Greek mathematics. Kepler's laws. Calculus for the nonmathematical. Predictive theories from Kepler to general relativity. Good hypotheses explain unexpected date. Halley's comet. Simplicity in science. |
Reading:
WB: Chapter 3
|
| |
|
|
| October 16: Science and imagination and Life |
| |
Magical thinking suppresses imagination. Science and pseudoscience. Structural problems with classical science. Modern penchant for measuring. Science, mysticism, scholasticism, and blind empiricism. Small effect of secrecy on progress in astrobiology science 1600. Defining life and chemistry. DNA. |
Reading:
WB: Chapter 4
|
| |
|
|
| October 18: Lots of time |
| |
Relative time from geological relationships. Fossil time scale and geological maps. Practical implications to finding coal. Accumulation rates and absolute time. |
Reading:
WB: Begin chapter 5
|
| |
|
|
| October 23: Enough time for life? |
| |
Time needed for evolution and natural selection. Cooling time of Earth. Radioactivity: time scale and heat source. Expanding universe and cosmic time. |
Reading:
WB: Finish chapter 5
|
| |
|
|
| October 25: Life history of stars |
| |
Proper motion. Main sequence star. Fate of massive stars. History and fate of our sun. Making planets. Finding extrasolar planets. |
Reading:
WB: Chapter 6
RE: Chapters 2 and 3
|
| |
|
|
| October 30: Air, Earth, Fire, and water |
| |
Finding air. Chemistry as a new science. Atoms and the retention of planetary atmospheres. Temperature within the Earth's atmosphere. Greenhouise effect. Moon. Mars, and Venus. Fate of the Earth. Marginally habitable regions on Mars. Dune? |
Reading:
WB: Chapter 7
|
| |
|
|
| November 1: Life on an active planet |
| |
Accumulation of sediments. The fluid interior of the Earth. Continental drift and plate tectonics. Rock cycle and the recycling and sequestration of volitiles. Life time of planetary activity. Mars, Venus, and the fate of the Earth. |
Reading:
WB: Chapter 8
RE: Chapter 9:
|
| |
|
|
| November 6: Evolution of large organisms |
| |
Fit organisms and the illusion of design. Evolution by natural selection. Will cover readings and lectures to November 2. I will give takehome essay for midterm at about this time. We will look at acorns if weather and trees are good. |
Reading: |
| |
|
|
| November 8: Evolution and microbes |
| |
Genes and DNA. Tree of life. Problem with origin. Evolution makes it hard to export details of terrestrial life to other planets. If it is not raining, we will go outside to see for ourselves. |
Reading:
WB: Chapter 9
RE: Chapters 4
|
| |
|
|
| November 14: Ground zero! |
| |
Asteroid impacts and life. Extinction of dinosaurs. Sterilization of planets by huge impacts. Exchange of life between planets. Where to hide? Hints of impacts in genome of modern life. Mars versus Earth. |
Reading:
WB: Chapter 10
RE: Chapter 8
Section 3 |
| |
|
|
| November 16: Life in weird places |
| |
Life in the dark on Europa and Mars. Ceres as a starting point for life. Life on Venus. Life around red dwarf and red giant stars |
Reading:
WB: Chapters 11 and 12
RE: Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 10
|
| |
|
|
| November 20: |
| |
No class. |
Reading:
Finish Web Book and Rare Earth
|
| |
|
|
| November 22: Thanksgiving |
| |
No class. Check cooking time table for your turkey if you are curious about the cooling of planetary interiors. |
Reading:
|
| |
|
|
| November 27: Mother Earth and Intelligent life in the Universe |
| |
The gaia hypothesis of the Earth as an organism. Weak form is just weak anthropic principle. Biological consortia and evolution. A real example with a methane greenhouse. How we evolved. Control genes are the difficult step that occurred only once. Giant one-celled organisms. How do we stay here? Asteroid impacts. The runaway greenhouse. Finding ET. |
Reading:
|
| |
|
|
| November 29: Last class: How did science function in practice? |
| |
Technology versus imagination, a review of the term. When was high tech really needed? Scientific progress and astrobiology on a planet with deep-sea octopi. |
Reading:
|
| |
|
|
| December 3-64: Final exam |
| |
Students will present. I may organize debate on topic. Written version due December 14. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
