Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe Richard Pogge

Welcome to the Astronomy 141 Lecture Podcasts. This is a brief message
from me explaining the podcasts, and welcoming new and old listeners.
University. Lectures will begin on Wednesday, 2009 Sept 23, and run
through Friday, 2009 Dec 4. New lectures will appear shortly before 6pm
US Eastern Time each day there is a regular class.
Recorded live on 2009 Sep 23 in Room 1005 Smith Laboratory on the
Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

A brief overview of the topics we will cover in
Astronomy 141, setting the stage for how we can make a serious
scientific inquiry out of the question of whether or not there is life
elsewhere in the Universe. It is a short lecture, the first half was an
overview of course mechanics (tests, homework, office hours, etc.) that
I did not record. Recorded live on 2009 Sep 23 in Room 1005 Smith
Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

An introduction and review of the basic notation and physical units we will be
using throughout this course. In particular, we will be using the
Metric (SI) system for lengths, masses, times, and temperatures, and
special astronomical units for distances (AU and Light Years) and masses
(Earth Masses and Solar Masses) appropriate when discussing
interplanetary and interstellar scales. Recorded live on 2009 Sep 24 in
Room 1005 Smith Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State
University.

What is the cultural history of our imaginings of other worlds and their
possible inhabitants? I will draw examples from history, philosophy,
literature, cinema, and popular culture. In the end,
our imaginings about other worlds inform us more about ourselves, our
hopes and our fears, than about extraterrestrial life. The scientific
inquiry we are undertaking must therefore approach the problem from a
different direction. Recorded live on 2009 Sep 25 in Room 1005 Smith
Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

Modern science was borne of an effort over many centuries to understand
the motions of celestial bodies. The Copernican Revolution of the 16th
and 17th centuries was the crucial moment in history when we finally
understood the nature of celestial motions, and opened the door to the
modern world. This lecture reviews the problem of celestial motions,
the two competing models for explaining them, and the final revolution
in thought starting with Copernicus and ending with Newton. Mid-lecture
my classroom AV system lost power, and the recovery slowed things down a
bit. These are recorded live, after all. This lecture was conducted on
2009 Sep 28 in Room 1005 Smith Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The
Ohio State University.

What is the nature of matter, and how did we come to understand the
chemical elements and atomic structure? This lecture is a brief and
selective overview of the history of our understanding of the nature of
matter and chemistry. We will also introduce spectroscopy and
radioactivity, two very powerful tools that came out of the chemical
revolution that are crucial for the inquiry in this class into the
question of life on other worlds. Recorded live on 2009 Sep 29 in Room
1005 Smith Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State
University.