Syllabus
Info
| Title | Astrobiology Seminar |
| Term | Fall 2014 |
| Credits | 2 |
| Time | Friday 1:30-2:50 pm |
| Place | Brown Science/Sci 117A |
| Level | Introductory |
| Faculty | Salimbeni |
Is there life in the universe beyond earth? How can we find it? How life begun, evolved and distribute within the universe? How the existence of life beyond earth would affect us? Astrobiology is multidisciplinary field that aims to answer some of these questions. The first exobiology NASA project was in 1959, since then the interest of scientist in astrobiology has been always rising. This seminar has the goal to create a space for a multidisciplinary discussion about introductory topics related with this subject. Guest faculty will be invited to assure a multidisciplinary view of this subject.
Prerequisite: none
Textbook
No textbook is required.
Course Policies & Grading
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory and is part of your grade (20% of your final grade). Please, let me know ahead of time if, and why, you will miss a class.
Readings
You are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the material and ask questions. Reading the material is critical for having a productive class time, failing to prepare will affect the learning of you and your classmates.
Homework
Homework will be assigned during the semester (80% of your final grade). Students are encouraged to work together on the homework assignments. However, your final write-up of the assigment must represent your own understanding; copying another person's work is plagiarism and will result in no credit for that assignment.
Late Police for assignments and Mid-term
This is how late work will affect your grades:
days of delay percentage of the actual grade
--------------- -----------------------------------------
1 to 3 90%
3 to 7 80%
8 to 15 60%
15 to 30 40%
over 30 it will not be accepted
No late work will be accepted for assignments that are needed to prepare you for class discussion.
Special arrangements for late work can be obtained under very special circumstances. Late work will not be accepted without prior discussion with me.
Plagiarism
Academic Honesty is expected of all scientists, and also of all students. Cheating on homework or the final exam will result in no credit.
If you are not sure on how to use a source, please check this
link on the library webpage.
Grading
|
|
| 20% | Class attendance & participation |
| 80% | Assignments |
Grade Letters
| Highest | Lowest | Letter |
| 100.00 | 93.00 | A |
| 92.99 | 90.00 | A- |
| 89.99 | 87.00 | B+ |
| 86.99 | 83.00 | B |
| 82.99 | 80.00 | B- |
| 79.99 | 77.00 | C+ |
| 76.99 | 73.00 | C |
| 72.99 | 70.00 | C- |
| 69.99 | 67.00 | D+ |
| 66.99 | 60.00 | D |
| 59.99 | 0.00 | F |
Useful Reading
Suggested Reading:
- Astronomy Today Vol 1 by McMilillan; Introductory (on the reserve shelf)
- The Essential Cosmic Prespective by Donahue, Schneider & Voit; Introductory
- Pathways to Astronomy by Schneider; Introductory (on the reserve shelf)
- Frontiers of Astrobiology edited by Impey, Lumine, Funes; Articles produced as results of a "Study Week" in astrobiology. Various authors of different disciplines have been paired to write each one of the chapters of the book. It is supposed to be for a broader audience, but it is sometimes quite technical. (on the reserve shelf)
- Life in the Universe by Bennet & Shostak (on the reserve shelf)
- Understanding Physics by Karen Cummings, Priscilla W. Laws, Edward F. Redish, Patrick J. Cooney (on the reserve shelf in the General Physics I section)
- Physics for Scientists and Engineers a Strategic Approach, vol I by Randall D. Knight
(on the reserve shelf in the General Physics I section)
- The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 369, 1936 (Feb 2011)
To go deeper:
- Astrobiology a Multidisciplinary approach by Lunine (Pearon-Addison Wesley ) - Level Upper level courses in Astrobiology
- Fundamental Planetary Science - Lissauer & de Pater - Graduate level - It is a compressive planetary science book.
On The web:
Tentative schedule
month topic
----- -----
Sep 5 Solar System overview and formation
12 What is life? (guests Williams-Jenny-Todd)
19 Geological features that make Earth habitable
26 Introduction to some basic concepts (guest TOdd)
Oct 3 Life's origins (Guest Todd)
10 A brief history of the evolution of life (Guest Jaime)
17 Tour of the solar system: life on Mars
24 Tour of the solar system: life on Jovian Moons
31 Evolution of Habitability
Nov 7 Habitability outside the Solar System
14 The search for extraterrestrial intelligence and SETI
21 What if there is life out there? (Guest Amer)
Dec 5 Review day
