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Spring 2008

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Last update 7/22/2008

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INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES CS 120, Section 1 EC # 59816
SYMMETRY AND AESTHETIC IN CLASSICAL PHYSICS

Symmetry is the underlying principle behind all of the Laws of Physics, from Newton's classical laws of dynamics, to Einstein's General Relativity, to modern Cosmology, and beyond. Symmetry is also at the heart of our aesthetic experiences in music, dance, and art.

Building on the concepts of Aesthetics and Beauty in Physical Theories that we developed in the first quarter, we will explore Newton's Laws, and conservation of mass, energy, momentum, and charge from the contemporary viewpoint of Symmetry. At the same time we will explore some of the ways in which the concepts of symmetry, asymmetry, gravity, and classical physics are expressed in the arts, in particular in music and dance.

It is preferable to have taken the first portion, Symmetry and Aesthetics in Contemporary Physics, in either winter '07 or winter '08, unless one is a physics major or has had some exposure to relativity

A reader will be prepared by the instructor for purchase.




Required Texts:
Zee, Anthony Fearful Symmetry - The Search for Beauty in Modern Physics

Instructor(s): Jatila van der Veen
Time(s): Friday, 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Place(s): Old Little Theatre, Rm. 164B


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