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Physics 199M

The Syllabus: Basic course information, grading policies, course outline etc

EXAMS:

Midterm: October 10

Midterm: November 19

Final : Wednesday, December 19 1:30-3:30

Papers:

Paper 1: Due November 9.

Assignment: The play “Copenhagen” deals with many important scientific, historical and ethical issues that are raised in the course. Focus, on one such issue—or a couple of related issues—that are raised in the play and write a paper that discusses the issue(s) in the context of the play. This paper is intended as a thought piece and does not require any outside research. The paper should be 3-4 pages in length (using 11 point font, space and a half and standard margins).

Paper 2: Due December 10.

Assignment: The people involved in the development of the atomic bomb were a varied and very interesting group. This paper will focus on one of the central people involved should analyze his or her role in some key event or some particular aspect of the Manhattan project or how the person’s personality and past history affected events.. Alternatively, the paper may focus on the relationship of 2 or 3 of the central people involved and how this relationship affected events. Example topics: Oppenheimer’s Style of Scientific Leadership; Feynman and Scientific Computing at Los Alamos; Klaus Fuchs and Nuclear Espionage; Bohr as a Scientific Celebrity and His Access to People of Political Influence; Fermi and the First Nuclear Reactor; Bethe versus Teller in the Theory Division; The Odd Couple: Leslie Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer. The paper will require research outside of the course materials. You are expected to use several external references and to cite these properly. The paper should be 5-8 pages in length (using 11 point font, space and a half and standard margins).