Winter 2004

This information effective for Winter 2004. Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.

Physics

[PHYS-080C] [PHYS-088A]

80C. Cosmology and Culture

Lecture course, TTh 2:00–3:45 p.m., E&MS B210

Instructors:

Nancy Ellen Abrams, Lecturer, nancy@physics.ucsc.edu
Joel R. Primack, Professor of Physics, joel@physics.ucsc.edu

Guest lecturer:

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 Western cosmologies. Possible cultural and religious repercussions of Big Bang and other modern origin stories.

Requirements satisfied: Topical in Natural Sciences or Social Sciences (T7).

Format: Lecture course, Tuesday-Thursday, 2-3:45 PM, Earth and Marine Sciences Building, rm. B210. Required readings are all in Reader, Vol. 1, the Cosmic Questions CD- ROM, the book by Thuan, and classroom handouts. Optional readings are in Reader, Vol. 2, Cosmic Questions CD-ROM, and the book by Hogan. In-class midterm examination. Several writing assignments. Take-home final examination.

Enrollment: requires permission of instructors based on 200-300 word essay on why you want to take this course, which should be submitted by e-mail to nancy@physics.ucsc.edu

Required Books (at Bay Tree Bookstore, UCSC):

• Cosmology and Culture Reader, Vol. 1.
  
• James Miller, ed., Cosmic Questions CD-ROM (AAAS Publication PD-03-1A, 2003) $29.95. Based on Cosmic Questions conference, sponsored by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., April 14-16, 1999. (The CD-ROM contains the full text of the printed version [Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 950, December 2001, also available at http://www.annalsnyas.org/content/vol950/issue1/] plus multimedia material including videos of parts of the conference and video interviews with all the speakers (demo version: http://www.counterbalance.net/cqdemo.html).
  
• Trinh Xuan Thuan, The Birth of the Universe: the Big Bang and Beyond, translated from the French by I. Mark Paris (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1993) $12.95.
  

Optional (at Bay Tree Bookstore, UCSC):

• Cosmology and Culture Reader, Vol. 2.
  
• Nancy Ellen Abrams, Alien Wisdom music CD (Expanding Universe Productions, 2001) $15.95.
  
• Craig Hogan, The Little Book of the Big Bang: a Cosmic Primer (Copernicus Books, Springer-Verlag, 1998) $20.
  

Tentative Syllabus (weekly topics)

Note: the readings in the following were those used when this course was last taught, in spring 2002. The instructors are writing a book based on this course, and part of the readings will be replaced by draft chapters (some of which are in Cosmology and Culture Reader, Vol. 1, and some of which will be handed out in class).

I. Introduction to Cosmology and Culture. Overview of Biblical, Medieval, Newtonian, and contemporary scientific cosmologies. Some ways to picture the universe. Contemplation as a way of absorbing counterintuitive concepts. Anthropological approaches to cosmology.

Readings for this week's classes:

• Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel R. Primack, "Cosmology and 21st Century Culture," Science, Vol. 293, pp. 1769-1770 (7 September 2001)
  
• Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams, "Cosmic Questions: An Introduction," including "The Hubble Deep Field Animation," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM
  
• Evan Hadingham, Early Man and the Cosmos (Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1985), Chronological Table, p. xi; "Ancient Astronomy and the Roots of Science," pp. 10-29
  
• Joseph Campbell, Inner Reaches of Outer Space, pp. 11-35; 55-62
  
• 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: Jaroslav Pelikan, "Athens and/or Jerusalem: Cosmology and/or Creation," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM*]
  

II. The Big Bang and expansion of the universe. Mythic dimensions of these ideas.

Readings:

• Joel R. Primack, "Cosmological Certainty: Astrophysics in the New Millennium," California Wild (magazine of the California Academy of Sciences), Winter 2000, pp. 34-39
  
• Sandra M. Faber, "The Big Bang as Scientific Fact," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM*
  
• Edward (Rocky) Kolb, "A Recipe for Primordial Soup," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM*
  
• [Optional: Hogan, Chs. 1 "The Big Picture" and 2 "A Survey of Space and Time"]
  
• [Optional: Cosmology: A Research Briefing, National Research Council Board on Physics and Astronomy (National Academy Press, 1995), p. 1-11]
  
• [Optional: Virginia Trimble, "Cosmology: Where in the $?**% Universe Are You?" Beam Line, Fall 1997, pp. 52-60]
  

III. The concept of "truth" in science and religion. Ancient cosmologies and cultures of the Middle East. Old and new elements in the Hebrew creation myths.

Readings:

• Robert J. Russell, "Did God Create Our Universe?" Cosmic Questions CD-ROM
  
• Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science," "Science and Religion," Ideas and Opinions (Crown, 1982), pp. 36-49
  
• Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel R. Primack, "Einstein's View of God," in Russell Stannard, ed., God for the 21st Century (Templeton Foundation Press, 2000), pp. 153-156
  
• Steven Weinberg, "The Giant and the Cow," and "Epilogue: The Prospect Ahead," The First Three Minutes (Basic Books, 1977), pp. 3-10, 150-155
  
• Genesis 1:1-3:24, 6:1-9:19, The Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, eds. (Oxford Univ. Press, 1965), pp. xxi-xxiv, 1-11
  
• 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
  
• Thorkild Jacobsen, "Enuma Elish—The Babylonian Genesis," Milton Munitz, ed., Theories of the Universe (Free Press, 1957), pp. 8-20
  
• [Optional: Richard Elliott Friedman, "Big Bang and Kabbalah," The Disappearance of God (Little, Brown, 1995), pp. 219-237]
  
• [Optional: Michael Coogan, Stories from Ancient Canaan (Westminster, 1978), pp. 9- 25, 75-115]
  
• [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. The modern creation story: cosmic evolution. Modern scientific view of stars and galaxies. Living, earth-centered cosmologies in traditional cultures. Guest lecture by Prof. Triloki Pandey.

Readings:

• Thuan, Ch. II "The Realm of the Galaxies," Ch. III "The Big Bang," and Ch. IV "The Life and Death of Stars"
  
• 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
  
• Triloki Pandey, "The Zuni View of Nature," in Prakrti: Integral Vision, Vol. 5, ed. Saraswati (Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, New Delhi, 1995), pp. 157-167
  
• "Hymn of Creation," in Vedic Reader, ed. Arthur MacDonell (Oxford UP, 1972), pp. 207-211
  
• [Optional: Cosmology: A Research Briefing, pp. 12 - 40]
  
• [Optional: Hogan, Chs. 3 "A Summary of Physics," 4 "The Cosmic Expansion," 5 "Cosmic Background Radiation," and 6 "Primordial Matter"]
  
• [Optional: Anindita N. Balslev, "The Idea of a Beginningless World-Process: Perspectives from the Hindu Tradition," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM]
  

V. Picturing the universe as a whole, from the edge of the universe to the smallest size possible according to relativity and quantum mechanics. Living, earth-centered cosmologies in traditional cultures. Possible relationship of such a cosmology to scientific cosmology. Guest lecture by Huichol shaman Brant Secunda. Contemplation.

Readings:

• Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel R. Primack, "The Wedge of Material Reality" and "The Cosmic Uroboros" (draft chapters from unpublished manuscript of a book in progress, The Universe, The Earth, and You)
  
• 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
  
• Nancy Ellen Abrams, "A Shamanic Doorway to the Expanding Universe?" (unpublished)
  
• 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
  
• 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
  
• Alan Watts, excerpt from In My Own Way (Pantheon, 1972), pp. 376-377
  

VI. Medieval Christian and Jewish cosmologies. Cultural impacts of the Copernican-Newtonian revolution.

Readings:

• C. S. Lewis, "The Heavens," The Discarded Image (Cambridge, 1967), pp. 92-121
  
• 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
  
• Owen Gingerich, "Scientific Cosmology Meets Western Theology: A Historical Perspective," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM
  
• Isaac Newton, "Letter to Richard Bentley," Milton Munitz, ed., Theories of the Universe (Free Press, 1957), pp. 211-214
  
• Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel R. Primack, "Scientific Revolutions in Cosmology: Overthrowing vs. Encompassing" in Willian Stoeger, ed., Philosophy in Science, Vol. 9, pp. 75-96 (Pachart Press, 2001)
  
• [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]
  
• [Optional: Lawrence Kushner, "What Did the Mystic Say to the Hot Dog Vendor? Six Neo-Kabbalistic Metaphors for Cosmic Design," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM]
  

VII. What happened before the Big Bang? Inflation and eternal inflation. Connections with medieval Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah). Midterm Exam (45 minutes, in class, notes and books allowed)

Readings:

• Alan H. Guth,* "Eternal Inflation," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM
  
• Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams, "In A Beginning ... Quantum Cosmology and Kabbalah," Tikkun, Vol. 10 (1), pp. 66-73 (Jan/Feb 1995)
  
• "The Handwriting of God," Newsweek, May 4, 1992, p. 76
  
• [Optional: Hogan, Chs. 7 "The Formation of Structure" and 8 "The Beginning"]
  
• [Optional: Neil Turok, "Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM]
  

VIII. Einstein's question about the creation of the universe: "Did God have a choice?" Anthropic cosmology. Dreams of a Final Theory.

Readings:

• Thuan, p.134-139 ("A Meaningless Universe," excerpts from pieces by Jacques Monod, Steven Weinberg, and Freeman Dyson)
  
• 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
  
• John D. Barrow, "Cosmology, Life, and the Anthropic Principle," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM
  
• Steven Weinberg, "Facing Finality," "What About God?" Dreams of a Final Theory (Pantheon, 1992), pp. 230-261
  
• [Optional: Steven Weinberg, "A Universe with No Designer"; John Polkinghorne, "Understanding the Universe"; "An Exchange Between Steven Weinberg and John Polkinghorne" (text and video both on CD-ROM) Cosmic Questions CD-ROM]
  
• [Optional: John Leslie, "The Meaning of Design," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM]
  
• [Optional: Daniel Matt, God and the Big Bang (Jewish Lights, 1996), pp. 79-90, notes pp. 184-6]
  
• [Optional: Carl Sagan, "The Great Demotions," Pale Blue Dot (Random House, 1994), pp. 23, 26-39]
  
• [Optional: Hogan, Ch. 9 "The Future"]
  
• [Optional: John Gribbin and Martin Rees, Cosmic Coincidences: Dark Matter, Mankind and Anthropic Cosmology (Bantam Books, 1989), pp. 241-254]
  

IX. Modern myths of the origin of life. The discovery of geologic time. The Origin of Species. Evolution as continuous creation. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The Gaia myth.

Readings:

• Thuan, Ch. V "A Planet is Born"
  
• 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
  
• John Maynard Smith, "Science and Myth," The Natural History Reader, ed. Niles Eldredge (Columbia University Press, 1987), pp. 222-229
  
• Sara Via, "Are We Alone? Lessons from the Evolution of Life on Earth," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM
  
• 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 arghese (Open Court, 1995), pp. 187-204
  
• [Optional: 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]
  
• [Optional: Seth Shostak, "The Outlook for Cosmic Company"; Irven DeVore, "Not Likely"; John F. Haught, "Theology After Contact," Cosmic Questions CD-ROM]
  

X. Intelligent life in the Universe? Understanding the modern world in light of cosmology. Implications for 21st century life and culture. Take-home Final Exam distributed.

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
  
• Ed Ayres, "Why Are We Not Astonished," World Watch, Vol. 12 (3), pp. 24-29 (May/June 1999)
  
• Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams, "Gravity, the Ultimate Capitalist Principle," Tikkun, Vol. 16 (5), pp. 59-61 (Sept/Oct 2001)
  

Recommended Books

David S. Ariel, The Mystic Quest: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism (Schocken, 1992) $14
Ian G. Barbour, When Science Meets Religion (Harper San Francisco, 2000) $16
Francis M. Cornford, From Religion to Philosophy (Princeton UP, 1991) $19.95
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 & 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 U Press, 1979) $11.95
James Lovelock, The Ages of Gaia (Norton, 1988) $13
Daniel Matt, The Essential Kabbalah (Harper San Francisco, 1995) $12
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
Kenneth R. Miller, Finding Darwin's God (Cliff Street Books, 2000) $14
Jeremy Naydler, Temple of the Cosmos: The Ancient Egyptian
Experience of the Sacred (Inner Traditions, 1996) $19.95
Martin Rees, Before the Beginning (Helix Books, 1997) $16
Martin Rees, Just Six Numbers (Basic Books, 2000) $14
Dorothy L. Sayers, The Mind of the Maker (Harper San Francisco, 1979) $13
Lewis Thomas, The Lives of a Cell (Bantam, 1974) $11.95
Stephen Toulmin & June Goodfield, The Discovery of Time (U Chicago Press, 1982) $15

*Note: The Cosmic Questions CD-ROM includes video interviews with each of the authors (we recommend that students view them as they read pieces by these authors).

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88A. Relativity and Cosmology

(2 credits, Freshman Discovery Seminar)

Mon 5:00-6:45, ISB 231, Call Number 38716
Instructor: Joel Primack
E-mail: joel@physics.ucsc.edu

Course Description:

Special and general relativity applied to black holes and to the universe as a whole, the big bang, dark matter, and the formation of galaxies and large scale structure in the universe. This course should be of special interest to students who are considering majoring or minoring in Astrophysics at UCSC.

Syllabus

1. Introduction to Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics
   
2. Special Relativity
   
3. Stars and Galaxies
   
4. General Relativity—our modern theory of gravity and spacetime
   
5. Black holes in the universe
   
6. Cosmology
   
7. Galaxy formation and evolution
   
8. High energy astrophysics
   
9. The standard model of cosmology and its possible problems

Textbook: 21st-Century Astronomy, by Jeff Hester et al. (Norton, 2002) [ordered at Bay Tree Bookstore].

There will be regular problem sets (which should be easy), an in-class midterm, and a take-home final.

Enrollment limited to 20. Enrollment restricted to first-year students, except by permission of the instructor.