SYLLABUS
SYLLABUS
Class: Tues., Thurs. 2:00 — 3:15 pm
Click Here
for Fall 2000 Calendar
Instructor Prof.Martin Goldman Physics Dept.
TA: Prem Anand Telecommunications Dept
CONTENT OF COURSE
SCIENCE
(NO MATHEMATICS — Emphasis on concepts and visualization)
- Space science and Geophysics
- Satellite "imaging" of the solar system, Earth and oceans (using visible light, microwaves, ultraviolet and infrared)
- Using earthquakes to visualize the interior of the earth (seismic tomography)
- Ozone depletion, computer climate models and global warming
- Medicine, Molecular Biology and Perception
- X-rays and CAT scans
- Visualization of DNA and genetic engineering
- How our eyes and brains enable us to see light, color and motion
- The physics of light and electromagnetic radiation
- The Scanning Tunneling Microscope and X-ray Crystallography
- Fractals and chaos
COMPUTER IMAGES
(what they are and how to work with them)
- Computer science of images
- Digital color, color mixing, and how color monitors work
- Compression of images — JPGS, TIFFS, GIFS and MPGS
- Image processing — sharpening and changing images by changing numbers
- Data visualization (use of color, animation and 3-D to "see" numbers)
- How to use images effectively in presentations
- Powerpoint as a presentation tool
- Adobe Photoshop as an image-processing tool (some digital photography)
THE INTERNET
The Web
What it is and how it works
Searching for information about science
Plucking images off the Web to process and use in presentations
Learning how to make a presentation on the Web (HTML)
RESOURCES FOR THE CLASS:
Mapping the Next Millenium
by Hall (out of print; buy or borrow)
Recommended books on Photoshop:
Real World Photoshop (4 or 5),
D. Blatner & B. Fraser, Peachpit Press ISBN: 0-201-68888-3; Another book about 5.5 will be posted soon.
Recommended (beginner) html book:Create your First Mac (PC) Web Page In a Weekend,Steve Callihan, Prima Tech 1999 (includes CD-Rom) ISBN0-7615-2135-6
CLASS PROJECTS
Two presentations
A Microsoft Powerpoint presentation of one of the science topics covered
A Web (html) presentation of a science topic
Creation of a data visualization animation
For example: A 3-D colored weather map movie using gathered data
Image processing
For example: Improving images from the Scanning Tunneling Microscope
HOW THE GRADE IS DETERMINED
Projects (60%)
Two quizzes (20%)
Two papers (20%)
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PREM ANANTHAKRISHNAN