Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE MIND OF MAN

Department: School of Continuing Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This course will explore the beauty of the solar system, both as majestic work of nature and from the standpoint of a challenge to the observational and analytical capabilities of human beings. We will review our knowledge of the solar system from Ptolemy to the present day using contributions of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and finally, robotic spacecraft. We will examine each planet and its satellite(s) using data and photographs from space probes and the Apollo missions. We will study the earth's atmosphere including present-day changes such as global warming. Finally, we will review briefly how the solar system came into being, the contemporary search for planets around other stars and the probability of extraterrestrial life and intelligence. The course will be non-mathematical.