NATURAL SCIENCES

NATURAL SCIENCES

CRN	92173	Distribution
Course No.	NSCI 121
Title	The Environment and Disease
Professor	Michael Tibbetts, Craig Anderson, Sven Anderson, Mathew Deady, John Ferguson, Mark Halsey, Felicia Keesing, Frank Scalzo
Schedule	Tu Th 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm HEG 106 Lab: Wed 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm ROSE 306

This course is intended for students who are interested in science but undecided about majoring in the sciences. It will cover four major topics - global warming and malaria, persistent organic pollutants, ozone depletion and skin cancer, and biodiversity loss and Lyme disease - from multiple perspectives. Faculty from each program within the division - Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science - will participate in the course providing for an integrated scientific understanding of the topics. In addition, the laboratories will provide students with hands-on experiences in manipulating living organisms, computer modeling and statistical analysis. It is expected that students enrolled in this course will have had high school level biology, chemistry, physics and pre-calculus or their equivalent.

CRN	92170	Distribution	E/G
Course No.	NSCI 130 Q course
Title	Environmental Chemistry
Professor	Craig Anderson
Schedule	Mon Wed 10:30 am - 12:30 pm HEG 201

A study of environmental problems and their relation to chemistry. The first part of the course concerns the atmosphere: its constituents, the greenhouse effect, ozone, and photochemical fog. The second part of the course concerns water: natural waters, acid rain, and drinking water. Laboratory experiments throughout the semester illustrate topics discussed in class. Chemical principles are introduced and developed during the course as needed, but facility with algebra is required.

CRN	92348	Distribution	E/G
Course No.	NSCI 135 Q course
Title	Curious Cooks
Professor	Simeen Sattar
Schedule	Tu Th 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm HEG 201

Why does broccoli turn bright green when it is dropped into boiling water? Does the order of mixing flour, water and butter when making pie crust matter? When is it necessary to preheat an oven? Why does bloom form on chocolate? Why are the color and texture of fish and beef so different? Answers to these questions derive from an understanding of the chemical and physical properties of the molecules that constitute food, the biology of the plants and animals, and effects of processes such as kneading, beating, and heating. This course begins with a science primer and proceeds to an examination of different foods and their preparation. Experiments are integrated throughout the class. It is hoped that students completing this course will view cookery from a scientific perspective.

(Note: Registration for this class was taken in May.)

CRN	92453	Distribution	E/G
Course No.	NSCI 152 Q course
Title	Chaos: Finding Hidden Order
Professor	Robert Cutler
Schedule	Tu Th 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm TBA Lab: Mon 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm HDRANX 106

Some real world problems are too difficult to be described by the methods of classical science. For example, weather patterns, the stock market, heartbeat instabilities, and even the motion of planets are systems that are too complex to be solved exactly. These systems and others form the basis of a field of science called chaos theory. Although the exact behavior of these

problems cannot in general be determined, patterns that describe some of the behaviors are known. This lab class will explore the field of chaos theory through weekly lectures, labs, and computer work. Students will be expected to follow mathematical derivations.

Prerequisite: Eligibility for Q Course

CRN	92171	Distribution	E/G
Course No.	NSCI 181 A Q course
Title	Light and Color
Professor	Burton Brody
Schedule	Tu Th 10:30 am - 12:30 pm ROSE 108

An introduction to light, optical phenomena, and related devices, including some historical perspective; classical and modern models of light; light and color in nature, and vision; the geometrical optics of lenses, mirrors, and related devices; the physical optics of interference and diffraction; spectroscopy and polarization; color science, lasers, and holography. Without assuming either prior knowledge of physics or heavier mathematics, we will develop models and explore them in intermixed lecture/discussion and experiment/demonstration modes.

Prerequisites: high school algebra and trigonometry.

CRN	92172	Distribution	E/G
Course No.	NSCI 181 B Q course
Title	Light and Color
Professor	Burton Brody
Schedule	Tu Th 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm ROSE 108

See description above.

CRN	92174	Distribution	E/G
Course No.	NSCI 183 Q course
Title	Sex and Gender
Professor	Felicia Keesing
Schedule	Tu Th 10:00 am - 11:20 am HEG 201 Fr 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm HEG 308

Why are there so many differences in the social behavior of men and women? Why are there two sexes? Why do women get depressed more often than men but commit suicide less often? Why are women, on average, shorter than men? Why do they live longer? Students in this course, intended for non-scientists, will examine the biological basis of sex and gender. We will consider the evidence for hypotheses that attempt to explain differences in behavior between males and females, including data from behavioral studies on both humans and other animals. We will investigate the genetic and hormonal determinants of sex and gender, and we will consider the arguments for how and why sex evolved in the first place, and why we engage in sex when self-cloning has strong evolutionary advantages.

No specific science or mathematics background beyond algebra is required.

CRN	92175	Distribution	A/E
Course No.	NSCI 223
Title	The History of Science after Newton
Professor	Peter Skiff
Schedule	Tu Th 1:20 pm - 2:50 pm HEG 102

Cross-listed: History & Philosophy of Science, Victorian Studies

A survey of major agendas of physical science since 1750. Characteristic episodes include Lavoisier and the theory of elements; Maxwell and the mathematization of physics; arguments about light from Newton, Young, Michelson, and Einstein; twentieth-century atomic theory; and the emergence of "big science."

CRN	92752	Distribution	E
Course No.	NSCI 231
Title	Biological Perspectives on Human Disease
Professor	See Mark Halsey
Schedule	Mon 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm at Rockefeller University, Room: Caspary 1A - 1B

With the goal of understanding recent research advances in diseases such as HIV/AIDS, West Nile virus, hepatitis C, tuberculosis, cancer, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and other diseases, this course offers an introduction to cell biology, immunology, and neuroscience. Both the basic biological mechanisms underlying such diseases and approaches to developing therapies and vaccines will be discussed. Class time will include visits to Rockefeller laboratories to observe new techniques and technologies. Mid-term and final exams required. No prerequisites.

CRN	92176	Distribution	A/E
Course No.	NSCI 304
Title	Philosophy of Science
Professor	Peter Skiff
Schedule	Tu Th 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm HEG 102

An historical reconstruction of recent developments in epistemology, focusing on the emergence of realism and anti-positivism in the 1980s. Readings include Ayer, Hempel, Popper, Lakatos, Feyerabend, Laudan, MacIntyre, Stegmuller, and Foucault. A seminar of twelve selected participants; seminar presentation required.

Prerequisites: Natural Science 222, 223, and at least one course each in Kant and modern philosophy.

CRN	92177	Distribution	E
Course No.	NSCI 332
Title	Ecology of African Savannas I
Professor	Felicia Keesing
Schedule	Tu Th 11:30 am - 12:50 pm HEG 300

Cross-listed: AADS

2 credits Students will complete a scientific investigation on the ecology of African savannas. Data collected during an intersession trip to Kenya will be analyzed graphically and statistically, and students will prepare and deliver oral and written presentations of the results of their research projects. Classes during the semester will include coverage of basic statistics for data analysis, the evaluation and interpretation of scientific data, and the preparation of both written and oral scientific presentations. Students will be selected for this course through an application process at the start of each academic year. Any first-year students, sophomores, and juniors with some science background will be considered. NSCI 332 and NSCI 333 are non-divisible.

Prerequisite: NSCI T200, Ecology of African Savannas I