PHYS 1201 - Why the Sky Is Blue: Aspects of the Physical World

(PBS-AS, PHS-AS)

Fall. 3 credits. Student option grading.

Students with credit for PHYS 1101, PHYS 1112, PHYS 1116, or PHYS 2207, or an advanced placement equivalent who wish to enroll in PHYS 1201 must obtain written permission from the instructor and the Physics director of undergraduate studies.

N. Taylor.

Aimed specifically at the nonscience student, this course will examine the principles of physics from a conceptual point of view, with emphasis on the methodology of science and the nature of evidence. The approach will be initially historical to appreciate how we arrived at our modern understanding of the world we live in and, at the same time, to see how these ideas lead to our more modern concepts of the laws of nature. While a few problems may be assigned, their purpose is to help students develop an intuition for scientific reasoning and to understand the concepts, rather than to master problem-solving techniques.