“The Planets”
E&ES 151, ASTR 103
Professors Martha Gilmore and William Herbst
Professor Herbst:
“I love teaching ’The Planets’ with Marty. She is a world-class expert on Mars and Venus, two of the key planets in our solar system, and of course knows all about the Earth, Moon, Mercury and asteroids. This combines nicely with my knowledge of how planets form, and my knowledge of planets around other stars. Both of us believe that one of the outstanding questions of our time is whether life exists elsewhere in the Universe and, if so, how we can find evidence of that. From the robot probes on Mars to the ongoing searches for extraterrestrial intelligence, we are in a very exciting time of exploration. We both love what we do in our own research areas and we both love imparting that knowledge and that sense of our love of our subjects to students. I think that’s what keeps the course fresh and fun, as well as educational, for us and, hopefully, for the students.”
“Physics for Future Presidents”
PHYS 102
Professor Lynn Westling
“All topics that appear in the course, such as nuclear weaponry, energy, and global warming, are topics which every citizen needs to know, especially future presidents. I try to emphasize the application of physics in real life. I’m looking for things that will make physics less scary and more interesting. It is a new course that I am developing to address the physics that a president ought to know: that of terrorism; space travel (satellites, manned, inter-stellar, etc); nuclear questions, such as weaponry, energy, and their effects; and global warming.”
“Chemistry in a Modern Society”
CHEM 114
Professor Wallace Pringle
“This course concentrates on the positive contributions of many of the most important chemists of the past century. We start with several important Wesleyan chemists and then concentrate on Nobel Prize-winning contributions. We also look at Middletown air and water quality and the chemistry behind global warming and photochemical air pollution.”
“Science and Politics of Environmental Racism”
E&ES 170
Professor Suzanne O’Connell
“I think this will be interesting for non-science majors because students will learn about the impacts of different pollutants on humans, which people are more likely to be inhabiting polluted areas, and how pollutants and their impacts are likely to change in a warmer world.”
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