History of Science, Fall 2005

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Abstract:: Intensive reading and analysis of key works in the history and historiography of science. Introduces students to basic interpretive issues, bibliographic sources, and professional standards. Topics change from year to year. This seminar explores recent historiographical approaches within the history of science. Students will read a wide variety of studies covering topics from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries, from the physical sciences to natural history and medicine. Emphasis will be placed on: deciphering different theoretical approaches; the pros and cons of different research questions, subjects, and sources of evidence; and what makes for good and interesting history of science.

Subject:: Humanities, Science and Technology
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: MIT OpenCourseWare

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In the Mountains of New Mexico

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Abstract:: At age twenty-seven, physicist Philip Morrison joined the Manhattan Project, the code name given to the U.S. government's covert effort at Los Alamos to develop the first nuclear weapon. The Manhattan Project was also the most expensive single program ever financed by public funds. In this video segment, Morrison describes the charismatic leadership of his mentor, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the urgency of their mission to manufacture a weapon 'which if we didn't make first would lead to the loss of the war." In the interview Morrison conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: 'Dawn,' he describes the remote, inaccessible setting of the laboratory that operated in extreme secrecy. It was this physical isolation, he maintains, that allowed scientists extraordinary freedom to exchange ideas with fellow physicists. Morrison also reflects on his wartime fears. Germany had many of the greatest minds in physics and engineering, which created tremendous anxiety among Allied scientists that it would win the atomic race and the war, and Morrison recalls the elaborate schemes he devised to determine that country's atomic progress. At the time that he was helping assemble the world's first atomic bomb, Morrison believed that nuclear weapons 'could be made part of the construction of the peace.' A month after the war, he toured Hiroshima, and for several years thereafter he testified, became a public spokesman, and lobbied for international nuclear cooperation. After leaving Los Alamos, Morrison returned to academia. For the rest of his life he was a forceful voice against nuclear weapons.

Subject:: Arts, Business, Humanities, Science and Technology, Social Sciences
Grade Level:: Secondary, Post-secondary
Collection:: WGBH Open Vault

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Radioactive Decay Distribution Model

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Abstract:: The EJS Radioactive Decay Distribution Model simulates the decay of a radioactive sample using discrete random events. It displays the distribution of the number of events (radioactive decays) in a fixed time interval. If each event is assumed to occur independently and spontaneously with a constant probability, the resulting distribution if the Poisson distribution. You can change the initial number of nuclei, the decay constant and the time interval for the event distribution.

Subject:: Science and Technology
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: Open Source Physics

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Radioactive Decay Events Model

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Abstract:: The EJS Radioactive Decay Events Model simulates the decay of a radioactive sample using discrete random events. It displays the number of events (radioactive decays) as a function of time in a given time interval. You can change the initial number of nuclei, the decay constant and the time interval for the event distribution.

Subject:: Science and Technology
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: Open Source Physics

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Radioactive Decay Model

(Complete Item Description)

Abstract:: The EJS Radioactive Decay Model simulates the decay of a radioactive sample using discrete random events. It displays the number of radioactive nuclei as a function of time. You can change the initial number of nuclei and the decay constant as well as changing the plot to a semi-log plot.

Subject:: Science and Technology
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: Open Source Physics

"Recreate Experiments from History: Inform the Future from the Past: Galileo, January IAP 2010"

(Complete Item Description)

Abstract:: "2010 marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo's astonishing sightings of features on the moon, stars, and moons around Jupiter that no one had seen before. Recreate these new ways of seeing and exploring from the materials and techniques Galileo had on hand, while you reflect on the times and works of Galileo. What was it like to improvise new ways of seeing and exploring from the materials and techniques on hand? What do we notice? What surprises us? How can we relate to past experience and ideas? What are we curious to research? How does our experimenting grow into our learning? Let your own curiosity drive your explorations."

Subject:: Humanities
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: MIT OpenCourseWare

Understanding Half Life: Simulating the Process of a Radioactive Material Decaying According to the Concept of a Half-Life

(Complete Item Description)

Abstract:: In this activity, students will learn the concept of half-life of a radioactive material. Students will create and be able to recognize a graph representing the half-life of an imaginary radioactive element.

Subject:: Science and Technology
Grade Level:: Secondary
Collection:: Pedagogy in Action (SERC)

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History of Science, Fall 2005

In the Mountains of New Mexico

Radioactive Decay Distribution Model

Radioactive Decay Events Model

Radioactive Decay Model

"Recreate Experiments from History: Inform the Future from the Past: Galileo, January IAP 2010"

Understanding Half Life: Simulating the Process of a Radioactive Material Decaying According to the Concept of a Half-Life

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Browse: Keyword: Modern Physics

You searched for:

Refine Your Search

History of Science, Fall 2005

In the Mountains of New Mexico

Radioactive Decay Distribution Model

Radioactive Decay Events Model

Radioactive Decay Model

"Recreate Experiments from History: Inform the Future from the Past: Galileo, January IAP 2010"

Understanding Half Life: Simulating the Process of a Radioactive Material Decaying According to the Concept of a Half-Life

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