FALL 1999
This information effective for Fall 1999.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
FALL 1999
This information effective for Fall 1999.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Offered Fall Quarter 1999
MWF 11:00 - 12:10 PM Room B214 Earth and Marine Sciences Building
Requirements: High school algebra
Instructor: Bill Mathews
421 Kerr Hall
9-2074
mathews@ucolick.org
Text: Musical Acoustics, by D. Hall
The objectives of this course are to understand the basics of sound
perception by humans and sound creation by acoustic musical
instruments. Electronic music production will not be covered.
Throughout the course, the practical relevance of physical ideas will
be made clear.
There will be lecture demonstrations, homework problems, midterm(s)
and a final exam
The following topics will be covered:
Nature of sound and waves
frequency, wavelength, pressure
Understanding simple oscillating systems
Mass on a spring (boring, but this is very useful to know!)
simple harmonic motion
damping
sines and cosines
Fourier's Theorem
(this is the basic idea behind all musical sounds)
pure and complex tones
harmonics
power spectrum of complex tones
phases
attack and decay transients
Beats
Forced oscillations
resonance
Propagation of sound waves
refraction and reflection
interference
diffraction
Power and intensity of sound waves
decibels
The human ear
outer ear (works like a resonator!)
inner ear (greatly increases auditory sensitivity)
inner ear (an amazing microphone)
Psychophysics
(This part of the course connects the subjective qualities
of musical sounds -- pitch, loudness, timbre -- to their
physical properties -- frequency, intensity, power spectrum)
Perception of sequential pure tones
just noticeable difference (JND)
the smallest discernible pitch difference
and smallest discernible loudness difference
variation of pitch with loudness
variation of loudness with pitch
the Fletcher-Munson diagram
masking of one sound by another
auditory fatigue
Perception of two or more simultaneous pure tones
monaural beats
the critical band
(a frequency range that defines musical consonance)
combination tones
(hearing sounds that aren't there! spooky stuff)
auroral harmonics
beats of mistuned consonant intervals (5ths, octaves)
perception of the missing fundamental
(very important and very mysterious)
binaural beats
determination of directions of sound source
Musical Scales
Perfect Pythagorean Intervals
perfect fifths, fourths, octaves
creating the Pythagorean scale
circle of fifths
Pythagorean comma
Just intonation
Alternative tunings and scales
Equal temperament
how to tune a keyboard to equal temperament
Theory of consonance
why we prefer unisons, octaves and fifths
why we have a 12-note equal tempered scale
Properties of musical instruments
Damping of forced oscillations
Oscillations of weakly coupled oscillators
(how one guitar string excites another)
Vibration modes of bars
(marimbas, glockenspiels, xylophones, etc.)
Modes and tuning of drums, tympani
Vibrations of strings
natural mode frequencies
wave speed on string
reflection at ends
standing waves
various ways to excite strings:
pluck
strike
piano strings
stretched tuning of piano
effect of multiple strings for same note
decay
scaling string parameters across the keyboard
propagation of string vibrations into the air
via the top plate (guitar, violin, etc.)
or sound board (piano, harpsichord, etc.)
proper instrumental design to maximize musical effect
the bowed string and violin family
how kinks move around the string!
location of wood and air resonances
wolf tones
f-hole is a Helmholtz resonator
Vibrations of air columns
natural mode frequencies
reflection at ends, both open and closed!
standing waves
sound radiation at open end of air column
appropriate scaling of organ pipes
excitation of air columns
flow-controlled valves
edge tones (as in a flute, recorder, etc.)
pressure-controlled valves
reeds (oboe, saxophone, bassoon, etc.)
lip vibration (trumpet, trombone, etc.)
modes of oscillation -- resonances
only two bores work for music:
cylinders (flute, clarinet, crumhorn, etc.)
cones (oboe, sax, alphorn, etc.)
input impedance
inharmonic mode frequencies
effect of finger holes, their size and location
effect of speaker keys
brass instruments
nature of the lip reed
influence of bell and mouthpiece
petal tones
valves
radiation efficiency of bell
hand in French horn
Room acoustics (Time permitting!)
Instructors: Joel R. Primack, Professor of Physics, UCSC
Nancy Ellen Abrams, Lecturer
Scheduled: Monday nights 7-10:30 pm (with half hour break) Stevenson 175
Cosmology and Culture is both an introduction to modern scientific
cosmology and an examination, through the study of earlier
cosmologies, of the connection between how people view the universe
and how their surrounding culture reflects and interprets it.
Scientific cosmology is today developing a new picture of the
expanding universe that will possibly have a major impact over the
coming decades as it is absorbed into our culture. Many students who
have taken this course in prior years have had difficulty with the
counter-intuitive concepts upon which the new cosmology is based, and
so in Fall 1999 we plan an experiment aimed at helping students not
just learn about but also mentally move into the new universe. In
addition to substantial reading and discussion, the class will involve
some contemplative practice, and we are seeking students willing to
participate in this new approach. Since the class meets only one
evening a week (Mondays 7-10:30 pm with one half-hour break) in a
seminar format, regular attendance will be essential -- a class may be
missed only with advance permission of the instructors.
To apply to join this limited-enrollment class, please write a short
essay (maximum 300 words) explaining why you want to take this course.
Please type this essay, and list at the top your name, year, major,
and college. Submit it to Prof. Joel Primack at the Physics
Department Office, 297 Kerr Hall, or (preferably) by email to
joel@physics.ucsc.edu. There is no deadline; we will respond as soon
as we can (usually within a few days -- if you don't hear quickly,
please contact the Physics Office 9-2329).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Physics 80C, COSMOLOGY AND CULTURE, Fall Quarter 1999
Instructors:
Joel R. Primack, Professor of Physics,UCSC joel@physics.ucsc.edu
Nancy Ellen Abrams, Lecturer nancy@physics.ucsc.edu
Guest lecturers:
Etiel Herring, meditation instructor, UCSC Hillel
Brant Secunda, Huichol shaman, Dance of the Deer Foundation, Soquel
Course description: Introduction to scientific cosmology. Examination of
cultural roles of creation myths and cosmologies; examples include Huichol and
ancient, medieval, and modern Judeo-Christian cosmologies. Possible cultural
and religious repercussions of Big Bang, Gaia, and other modern origin
stories.
Requirements satisfied: Topical in Natural Science or Social Science (T7).
Format: Seminar course, Monday nights, 7:00-10:30 PM, including a half hour
break. Stevenson 175. Required readings in UCSC Copy Center Reader Vol. 1
and two books. Optional readings in Copy Center Reader Vol. 2. Factual
midterm examination. Take-home final examination, or (with approval of the
instructors, following written student proposals) term projects based on
additional readings and individual creativity.
REQUIRED BOOKS:
Timothy Ferris, The Whole Shebang: A State-of-the-Universe(s) Report (Simon &
Schuster, 1997) $14
Joseph Campbell, The Inner Reaches of Outer Space (Harper and Row, 1995) new
$15, used $11.25
Cosmology and Culture Reader, Vol. 1 (includes all required readings not in
Ferris or Campbell). At the Copy Center, Communications Building, UCSC
OPTIONAL BOOK:
Cosmology and Culture Reader, Vol. 2 (includes all optional readings except
those in Ferris, Campbell, or handouts). At the Copy Center.
The books by Ferris and Campbell are available at Bay Tree Bookstore, on the
UCSC campus.
SYLLABUS (weekly topics)
I September 27: Introduction to Cosmology and Culture. Overview of
Biblical, Medieval, Newtonian, and contemporary scientific cosmologies. How
to picture the universe. Contemplation - two traditions: one monotheistic,
one earth-centered.
II October 4: The Big Bang, expansion of the universe, and the mythic
dimensions of these ideas. Anthropological approaches to cosmology.
Contemplation. Guest lecture by Etiel Herring.
READINGS FOR THIS WEEK (to be completed BEFORE Oct. 4):
Timothy Ferris, The Whole Shebang, preface, Ch.1, and Ch.7, pp. 11-39,
170-203
Joseph Campbell, Inner Reaches of Outer Space, pp. 11-35
Edward R. Harrison, Ch.1-2, Masks of the Universe ( Macmillan, 1985), pp.
1-32
Bronislaw Malinowski, "The Role of Myth in Life," "Myths of Origin,"
Magic, Science and Religion, and Other Essays (Doubleday Anchor, 1954), pp.
96-117
[Optional: Mircea Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries (Harper, 1960),
pp. 155-189]
[Optional: Cosmology: A Research Briefing, National Research Council
Board on Physics and Astronomy (National Academy Press, 1995), p. 1-11]
[Optional: Michael Turner, "Inner Space & Outer Space," and Virginia
Trimble, "Cosmology: Where in the $&#**% Universe Are You?" Beam Line, Fall
1997, pp. 2-13, 52-60]
III October 11: The concept of "truth" in science and religion. Ancient
cosmologies and cultures of the Near East. Old and new elements in the Hebrew
creation myths.
READINGS:
Campbell, The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, pp. 55-62
Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science," "Science and Religion," Ideas and
Opinions (Crown, 1982), pp. 36-49
Evan Hadingham, "Ancient Astronomy and the Roots of Science," Early Man
and the Cosmos (Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1985), pp. 10-29 - but first look at
the Chronological Table from p. xi and the Glossary from pp. 251-255
Edward Harrison, Ch. 3-4, Masks of the Universe, pp. 33-66
Steven Weinberg, "The Giant and the Cow," and "Epilogue: The Prospect
Ahead," The First Three Minutes (Basic Books, 1977), pp. 3-10, 150-155
Richard Elliott Friedman, "Big Bang and Kabbalah," The Disappearance of
God (Little, Brown, 1995), pp. 219-237
Genesis 1:1-3:24, 6:1-9:19, The Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha,
ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger (Oxford Univ. Press, 1965), pp.
xxi-xxiv, 1-11
Thorkild Jacobsen, "Enuma Elish-The Babylonian Genesis," Milton Munitz,
ed., Theories of the Universe (Free Press, 1957), pp. 8-20
Richard Elliot Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible? (Harper & Row, 1987), pp.
50-61, 236-8
"The Story of the Flood," The Epic of Gilgamesh, translation by N.K.
Sandars, (Penguin Classics, 1960), pp. 105-110
[Optional: Michael Coogan, Stories from Ancient Canaan (Westminster,
1978), pp. 9-25, 75-85]
[Optional: E.M. Wilmot-Buxton, "How All Things Began," The New Junior
Classics, Vol. III (P.F. Collier & Son, 1952), pp. 253-260 (Icelandic
creation saga)]
[Optional: W.M.L. Hutchinson, "Prometheus the Firebringer," The New Junior
Classics, Vol.III (P.F. Collier & Son, 1952), pp. 13-25]
IV October 18: A living, earth-centered cosmology and shamanistic culture.
Guest lecture by Brant Secunda. Possible relationship of such a cosmology to
scientific cosmology.
READINGS:
Ferris, Ch. 2, pp. 40-67 [Optional: Ch. 3-4, pp. 68-119]
Brant Secunda, "Dreamers of the Sun: Huichol Shamanism," Enlightenments,
Oct. 1993, pp.18-19
Brant Secunda, "Journey to the Heart" (2 pages)
Rochelle Gordon, "Places of Power: an interview with Huichol Shaman Brant
Secunda," Body Mind Spirit, July/Aug 1994, pp. 39-42
Maria von Bolschwing, "Dancing through the God's Eye: Huichol Art and
Culture," Whole Earth Review, summer 1992, pp. 48-51
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living (Dell, 1991), pp. 153-7
Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: the Contemplative Dimension of the
Gospel (Amity House, Inc., 1986), pp. 19-20, 33-37
Aryeh Kaplan, Jewish Meditation: a practical guide (Schocken Books,
1985), pp. 64-75
[Optional: Campbell, pp. 93-105]
[Optional: Peter Furst, "Huichol Cosmogony: How the World Was Destroyed
by a Flood and Dog-Woman Gave Birth to the Human Race," South and Meso-
American Native Spirituality (Crossroad 1993), pp. 303-323]
V October 25: The modern creation story: cosmic evolution. Picturing the
universe as a whole, from the edge of the universe to the smallest size
possible according to relativity and quantum mechanics. TERM PAPER PROPOSALS
DUE (optional)
READINGS:
Sheldon Glashow, "Life on Log Time," and excerpt from "What is an
Elementary Particle?" The Charm of Physics (American Institute of Physics),
pp. 42-54, 109-113
Ferris, Ch. 5-6, pp. 120-169
Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel R. Primack, "What is the Universe?" and "The
Cosmic Serpent Swallows its Tail" (draft chapters of unpublished manuscript of
a book in progress, Prayers for an Expanding Universe), 8+11 pages
J.B.S. Haldane, "On Being the Right Size," On Being the Right Size (Oxford
University Press, 1985), pp. 1-8
Michael LaBarbera, "The Strange Laboratory of Dr. LaBarbera," University
of Chicago Magazine, October 1996, pp. 18-24
Alan Watts, excerpt from In My Own Way (Pantheon, 1972), pp. 376-377
[Optional: Cosmology: A Research Briefing, pp. 12 - 40]
VI November 1: Medieval Christian and Jewish cosmologies. Cultural impacts
of the Copernican-Newtonian revolution. MIDTERM EXAM (45 minutes, in class,
notes and books allowed)
READINGS:
C. S. Lewis, "The Heavens," The Discarded Image (Cambridge, 1967), pp. 92-
121
Edward R. Harrison, Ch. 5-7, Masks of the Universe (Macmillan, 1985), pp.
67-117
Isaac Newton, "Letter to Richard Bentley," Milton Munitz, ed., Theories of
the Universe (Free Press, 1957), pp. 211-214
Daniel Matt, The Essential Kabbalah (Harper San Francisco, 1995), pp. 1-19
Daniel Matt, trans., Zohar: the Book of Enlightenment (Paulist Press,
1983), pp. 43-45, 49-53, notes pp. 204-214
[Optional: Richard S. Westfall, "Newton and the Scientific Revolution,"
Newton's Dream (McGill: Queen's Univ. Press, 1988), pp. 4-18]
[Optional: Thomas S. Kuhn, "The Ancient Two-Sphere Universe" (excerpt),
"The Assimilation of Copernican Astronomy," The Copernican Revolution
(Vintage, 1959), pp. 1-8, 185-228]
VII November 8: What happened before the Big Bang? Inflation and eternal
inflation. Connections with medieval Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah).
READINGS:
Ferris, pp. Ch. 9-10, pp. 229-264 [Optional: Ch. 8, pp. 204-228, Ch. 11-
12, pp. 265-303]
Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams, "In A Beginning...Cosmology and
Kabbalah," Tikkun, Jan/Feb 1995, pp. 66-73
"The Handwriting of God," Newsweek, May 4, 1992, p. 76
VIII November 15: Einstein's question about the creation of the universe:
"Did God have a choice?" Anthropic cosmology. Dreams of a Final Theory.
READINGS:
Ferris, "Contrarian Theological Afterword," pp. 303-312
Carl Sagan, "The Great Demotions," Pale Blue Dot (Random House, 1994), pp.
23, 26-39
Ian Barbour, "Religious Responses to the Big Bang," talk at American
Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting, Boston, Feb. 14,
1993, 15 pages
Daniel Matt, God and the Big Bang (Jewish Lights, 1996), pp. 79-90, notes
pp. 184-6
Steven Weinberg, "Facing Finality," "What About God?" Dreams of a Final
Theory (Pantheon, 1992), pp. 230-261
[Optional: John Gribbin and Martin Rees, Cosmic Coincidences: Dark Matter,
Mankind and Anthropic Cosmology (Bantam Books, 1989), pp. 241-255]
IX November 22: Modern myths of the origin of life. The discovery of
geologic time. The Origin of Species. Evolution as continuous creation. The
Gaia myth.
READINGS:
Loyal Rue, "The Epic of Evolution" (talk at Star Island conference, 1995),
17 pages
Lewis Thomas, The Lives of a Cell (Bantam, 1974), pp. 1-4, 170-174
Martin J. S. Rudwick, "The Shape and Meaning of Earth History," in David
C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers, God and Nature (University of California
Press, 1986), pp. 296-321
James Lovelock, The Ages of Gaia: a Biography of our Living Earth (W.W.
Norton, 1988), pp. 15-41
Lynn Margulis and Michael Dolan, "Gaia: Cosmic Beginnings and Nonhuman
Ends," Cosmic Beginnings and Human Ends, ed. Clifford N. Matthews and Roy
Abraham Varghese (Open Court, 1995), pp. 187-204
X November 29: Understanding the modern world in light of cosmology.
Implications for 21st century life and culture. Optional Term Paper DRAFTS
DUE. Take-home Final Exam distributed, due at time of scheduled Final Exam,
December 6, 7:30 pm.
READINGS:
Joel E. Cohen, "Ten Myths of Population," Discover, April 1996, pp. 42-47
Lynn White, jr., "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis," Science,
Vol. 155, pp. 1203-1207 (10 March 1967
Lewis Thomas, "The Iks," The Lives of a Cell (Bantam, 1974), pp. 126-129
[Optional: Campbell, pp. 119-148]
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
David S. Ariel, The Mystic Quest: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
(Schocken, 1992) $13.00
Ian G. Barbour, Religion & Science (Harper & Row, 1990) $18
Michael Coogan, Stories from Ancient Canaan (Westminster, 1978) $14
Mircea Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries (Harper, 1960)
Richard Elliott Friedman, The Disappearance of God (HarperCollins, 1996) $14
Richard Elliot Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible? (Harper & Row, 1987) $14
John Gribbin and Martin Rees, Cosmic Coincidences (Bantam Books, 1989)
Evan Hadingham, Early Man and the Cosmos (Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1985) $22
Edward R. Harrison, Masks of the Universe (Macmillan, 1985)
Thomas S. Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution (Harvard U. Press, 1957) $12.95
C.S. Lewis, The Discarded Image (Cambridge U. Press, 1994) $9.95
David C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers, God and Nature (UC Press, 1986) $24.95
James Lovelock, Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (Oxford UP, 1979) $11.95
James Lovelock, The Ages of Gaia (Norton, 1988) $13
Daniel Matt, The Essential Kabbalah (Harper San Francisco, 1995) $12.00 pap.
Daniel Matt, trans., Zohar: the Book of Enlightenment (Paulist Press, 1983)
$12.95
Daniel Matt, God and the Big Bang (Jewish Lights, 1996) $16.95
Jeremy Naydler, Temple of the Cosmos: The Ancient Egyptian Experience of the
Sacred (Inner Traditions, 1996) $19.95
Dorothy L. Sayers, The Mind of the Maker (Harper San Francisco 1979) $13
Lewis Thomas, The Lives of a Cell (Bantam, 1974) $11.95
(also listed as Astronomy 171)
Offered: Fall 1999 MWF 11-12:10 289 Kerr
Instructor: Joel R. Primack, Physics
Description: Review of special relativity. Curved space-time, including metric and geodesics, will be illustrated with simple examples. The Einstein equations will be solved for cases of high symmetry. Black holes and cosmology will be discussed, including recent developments.
T e n t a t i v e syllabus:
week
1 Introduction
2-3 Special relativity
4-5 Inertial observers in curved spacetime, e.g. Schwarschild
metric
6 Riemann tensor and Einstein field equations
7-8 Black holes and gravitational collapse
9-10 Cosmology
Principal Textbook: General Relativity, a First Course for Physicists, by J. L. Martin (Prentice Hall, 1996).
Supplementary readings from C. M. Will, Was Einstein Right (Basic Books, 1986), A. Pais, Subtle Is the Lord, the science and the life of Albert Einstein (Oxford, 1982), and articles.
(Alternative textbooks are still being considered.)
There will be regular problem sets, and an in-class midterm and final. Students will be expected to be familiar with special relativity and partial differential equations at the level of Physics 101A, 114B, and 110B. It is intended that this course will be at about the same level of difficulty as 110B.