Not offered 2007-2008
ASTR 338 The Progress of Astronomy: Galileo through the Hubble Space Telescope (Same as History of Science 338 and Leadership Studies 338)(W)
Our capabilities of understanding the Universe have progressed over the 500 plus years since Copernicus moved the sun into the center. Galileo's breakthrough observations of the sky with the new-fangled telescope led to hundreds of years of improving observations. In a seminar format, week by week, we will discuss each of the following topics (and look at original first-editions in the Chapin Library): Copernicus and rare-book variations and annotations; Galileo and his discoveries; mapping the sky and constellations 1540 to the present through star atlases; William and Caroline Herschel and the discovery of a new planet; asteroids from 1 Ceres to 5100 Pasachoff and beyond, contemporary surveys, the extinction of the dinosaurs, and possible dangers to the Earth and its inhabitants; astronomy teaching from when Williams College students first built its Hopkins Observatory through the Committee of Ten to the Journal of Astronomy Education Research; planetariums from pasted stars to optomechnical and digital 21st-century projection; woman astronomers and astronauts and their reception and roles; transits of Venus: from Horrocks and Capt. Cook through the 2004/2012 pair; the launch of Sputnik and the race to the Moon; the formation of NASA and its transformation through space shuttles and the International Space Station; the past, present, and future of the Hubble Space Telescope; NASA's "Great Observatories," including not only Hubble but also the Chandra X- ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope; NASA's "Vision" of sending astronauts to the Moon and Mars; advances in ground-based observatories and telescopes; mapping the Universe through projects like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and 2dF; and the discovery that the Universe's expansion is accelerating and its ramifications. We consider the role of individual leadership in the various topics.
Format: seminar, one three-hour meeting a week. Planetarium demonstration, with individual planetarium work on request. Evaluation will be based on two 10-page papers and participation in discussions.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 10). Preference will be given to juniors and seniors and to those with backgrounds in science, history of science, or philosophy. Non-major course. Does not count toward the Astronomy, Astrophysics, or Physics major.
J. PASACHOFF