Instructor:
Prof. Frederick
M. Walter (ESS 459; 632-8232;
fwalter at astro.sunysb.edu)
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 2:00-3:30, Monday 9-10, 2-3, or by appointment
TA: Dharmesh Jain
(PHYSICS B-130;
Dharmesh.Jain at stonybrook.edu)
Office Hours: Mondays and Fridays 12:00 - 1:30 PM
Note: all this information is subject to change up until the first day of the semester.
Course Structure :
Astronomy 248 is a free-ranging examination of our universe as a habitat for
life. As such, we cover aspects of astronomy (the physical conditions in the
universe; extrasolar planets), information theory (how do we recognize signals
from alien intelligences?), biology (how does intelligent life evolve?), and
chemistry (where does life come from in the first place?). Among the goals of
this course are to train the student in estimation and critical thinking.
This course consists of two weekly lectures.
Attendance at lectures is strongly encouraged.
Part of each lecture will be set aside for discussions of current topics of
interest in the news.
We will have occasional optional observing sessions using the 14" telescope
on the roof of the ESS building. Observing sessions will be announced in
class and are listed here.
Students are encouraged to use the world-wide-web to explore topics
covered in this course.
I've compiled a list of some
good astronomical web sites here. Lecture notes will not be available
on the web, although a summary of the material covered and links to other
sources will be made available.
Prerequisites: One DEC category E course. You are expected to
understand the concepts behind scientific reasoning. Your exact background
(e.g., biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy) may help you in certain areas
of the course.
We will use some mathematical reasoning, using
algebra, and will introduce physical principles as they are needed.
Required Books:
The books are available in the campus bookstore, and at Stony Books. They
can also be ordered on-line from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
In addition, Rare Earth, by Ward and Brownlee, is a popular
level science book that is appropirate for this class.
Grading : Lectures : Students are encouraged to ask questions at any time during the lectures.
Lecture notes will not be available. You are responsible for taking notes.
Attendance Policy : Students who know in advance that they will miss a class or a test because
of university-related activities (including athletics) or civic obligations
(e.g., jury duty) should contact the
instructor as soon as possible in advance of the date of absence.
Students so-engaged, who inform the
instructor in a timely manner, will not be penalized, and will be allowed
to make up any work missed.
Students who wish to particiapte in Stony Brook Day in Albany on March 4
may do so, but are responsible for the material missed on that day.
Attendance policy for midterms and final: Students will not be
permitted to leave for the first 30 minutes (midterms) or the first hour
(final). No students will be admitted after anyone leaves. Testing Policy : During an examination:
No electronic devices of any kind are allowed during examinations. Cell
phones and pagers must be turned off. Students who
who disrupt the examination because of an audible phone or pager,
or by answering a call,
will be asked to leave and will have their exam confiscated.
Students who may have a legitimate need to be on-call during an examination
should discuss this with the instructor in advance.
Students
who leave the exam for whatever reason will not be allowed to return.
Students are responsible for coming to the tests prepared. The instructor
does not supply pens, pencils or answers.
Tests should be completed in pen (any color except red).
Makeup policy :
Midterm and final examinations may be made up only with a valid medical excuse
and a
doctor's note attesting that the student could not take the exam. Students
seeking a makeup must contact the instructor as soon as possible.
There will be no makeups on quizzes.
Requests for extra credit assignments will not be entertained.
Academic Dishonesty:
Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Faculty are required to report and suspected instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic Judiciary. For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty, please refer to the academic judiciary website at http://www.stonybrook.edu/uaa/academicjudiciary/
Students suspected of cheating in exams, of plagiarizing their writing
assignments, or of any other form of academic dishonesty,
will be assigned an F grade for the course and will be reported
to the academic judiciary.
Students who suspect others of cheating are encouraged to report them.
Dishonest students make things that much harder for the majority of
students, who are honest.
Americans with Disability Act:
If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact your course work, please contact Disability Support Services, ECC (Educational Communications Center) Building, room128, (631) 632-6748. They will determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is confidential.
Critical Incident Management:
Stony Brook University expects students to respect the rights, privileges, and property of other people. Faculty are required to report to the Office of Judicial Affairs any disruptive behavior that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the safety of the learning environment, or inhibits students' ability to learn.
Grades will be based on:
This tests will be graded on a curve.
All students who do A work (90% or better) will receive A grades. However,
from past experience typical grades will be lower. If the median grade is
less than 80%, grades will be curved such that the median test grade is C+, and
the top 10% of the students will get A grades.
The raw and curved grades will be available on the web (details later).
The ESS 001 lecture hall will be nearly full.
Students attending lectures are asked to exhibit common courtesy.
Students should have a picture ID to present upon handing in their exams.
Testing is an important way of assessing whether or not you are learning
anything from this class. There will be two mid-term examinations
and a final examination. The final examination will be designed to take
about 1.5 hours to complete, and will be cumulative.
All exams are closed-book.
However,
each student is allowed to bring one sheet of paper, no larger than 8 1/2 x 11
inches in size, containing whatever information the student deems useful.