| INSTRUCTOR: | Dr. Paul Harvey |
| Office: | RLM 16.230 |
| Phone: | 471-3452 |
| E-mail: | pmh@astro.as.utexas.edu |
| Office Hours: | TTH 9:00 - 10:00 a.m., or anytime by appointment |
| CLASS ASSISTANT: | Michael Yuan |
| Office: | RLM 16.220 |
| Phone: | 471-3447 |
| E-mail: | juntao@astro.as.utexas.edu |
| Office Hours: | MW 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. |
| REQUIRED TEXT: | Extraterrestrial Life, 4th Ed, by Evans |
| OTHER REFERENCES: | The Universe and Life, by Kutter; The Search for Life in the Universe, by Goldsmith and Owen |
| GRADES: | There will be 5 tests. The lowest of the test scores will be dropped. There will be absolutely no make-up tests, no matter how good your reason is for missing the test. (If you have an excused absence, talk to me BEFORE the test about taking it early.) If you contact me about your problem after the test has taken place or have simply not had time to study because your best friend just broke up with his girlfriend and you had to spend all night drinking with him, you clearly have to plan on dropping that test! Dropping the lowest test score will cover the situation where a test is missed due to illness. Tests will be a combination of multiple choice, true-false, and essay questions. Cheating will be dealt with very harshly; don't do it! |
| WEBSITES: |
http://lucky.as.utexas.edu/ast309
http://www.as.utexas.edu/astronomy/education/courses.html |
| TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: | Readings in Evans' Text (subject to small changes) |
| Date | Chapter | Viewgraphs | Date | Chapter | Viewgraphs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27 | 1 | 1a; 1b | Oct 15 | 6 a | ||
| Sep 1 | 2 | 2a; 2b; 2c | Oct 20 | Spare | ||
| Sep 3 | 3 a-b | 3a; 3b; 3c; 3d | Oct 22 | Test 3 | ||
| Sep 8 | Video | Oct 27 | 6 b | |||
| Sep 10 | 3 c-d | 3e; 3f; 3g; 3h; 3i | Oct 29 | 7 a-b | ||
| Sep 15 | Test 1 | Nov 3 | 7 c-d | |||
| Sep 17 | 3 e-f | 3j; 3k; 3l; 3m; 3n; 3o | Nov 5 | 8 | ||
| Sep 22 | 5 a | Nov 10 | Test 4 | |||
| Sep 24 | 5 b | Nov 12 | 9 a-d | |||
| Sep 29 | 5 c | Nov 17 | 9 e, 10 a | |||
| Oct 1 | Test 2 | Nov 19 | 10 a | |||
| Oct 6 | 4 a-b | 4a; 4b | Nov 24 | 10 b,c | ||
| Oct 8 | 4 c-d | 4c | Dec 3 | Film, CI Survey | ||
| Oct 13 | 4 e-g | Dec 5 | Test 5 | |||
| **NO FINAL EXAM** | ||||||
My tests typically consist of 25 - 30 multiple choice questions and a few essay questions of which you can usually skip one. The paper, due later in the semester, will be roughly two pages and require that you read and summarize an article from "Scientific American" magazine. Your final grades will be curved based on the raw average of your best 4 grades. (out of the 4 tests plus paper). After each test, I will tell you what the curve would be if I were forced to give you a letter grade based on that one test. This should help you have a feeling for how you are doing. In general, I find that the final curve at the end of the course is a few points more forgiving than the raw scores, but not more than that.
I am quite open to questions and suggestions for topics to cover if there is time. I will have a small box available each class for you to drop questions or comments into after each class (anonymously if you prefer). Although I have listed some official office hours on the syllabus, in general I am happy to see you in my office any time you can catch me. Typically I am in my office or lab between 9:00 a.m. and late afternoon with the exception of my exercise times (lunch time MWF, and late afternoon TTh) and times of meetings and seminars in the Astronomy Department. By far the best thing to do if you want to see me is to arrange a meeting time by phone or just ask me at the end of some class what a good time would be to meet.
Every few times that I teach this class I receive a question about reconciling the material in this class with someone's religious beliefs. This class takes a scientific look at the issues related to the possible existence of life elsewhere in the universe than just Earth. I will assume that if you are taking this class, you will consider the possibility that life does, indeed, exist in other places, possibly even life as intelligent as we are. (In fact, the material presented, will make it very hard to believe that we are alone in the universe). In the course of our discussions, we will also be reviewing how intelligent life came to be on the Earth, based on geological, pale ontological, and archeological evidence. If you feel that this will be difficult to deal with for personal reasons, feel free to talk to me to see if you want to remain in this course.
