COMPLEXITY AND THE UNIVERSE I
Complexity & the Universe-I Syllabus Home	General Information	Physics 366U and Science 318U Cosmological Complexity >> Finals (Exams 2 & 3) << 7:30 pm, Tuesday March 16 Exam 2 covers chapters 4-8. Exam 3 covers all chapters. Between 20-25 questons each. The best study guide is the lists of "Things to Know" for each chapter. Important message for students: No standard textbook You should be aware that this is a new and exploratory course with no standard textbook. Because this subject is exploratory, a textbook does not exist. We will use required lectures, notes, and many new ideas. In taking this course, please consider whether you would be comfortable exploring new ideas and working without a textbook.  CU-1 Introductory Course Page - General Course Instructions - Course Math Level -
	Useful reference	Constants and conversions
	Chapters 1	Introduction - Cosmological Complexity
	2.	A Universe for free - Study the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) website.  For particles and forces:  The Particle Adventure The Known Universe (from the American Museum of Natural History) - News from the American Astronomical Society Meeting (1/2010): Hubble Reaches the "Undiscovered Country" of Primeval Galaxies There's a possible supernova explosion too close for comfort How many Solar System analogs are there in the Milky Way Galaxy? Maybe about 10%
	3	3. Between atoms and stars - Links: Kier Clarke's Star Viewer - Spanky Fractal Database - Gravity as an entropic force - New Scientist article - on Wikipedia -
	4 A	Life in the Universe - NASA Astrobiology - Life in extreme environments - Additional Links: Kepler planet finding missions - "A New Biology for a New Century," Carl Woese's summary of where we stand -
	4 B	Civilization For thos who want more, I suggest reading James Martin, "The meaning of the 21st century" Emerging Technology - Without taking sides, pro and con, here are some basic links: Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies - The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence - Rules for soldier bots - Future of Humanity Institute (Nick Bostrom) - Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) - Singularity Summit at Stanford - "Tomorrow's People": Susan Greenfield, May 6 ISEPP Lecture -
	5	Classes of Behavior - CA: Read the following Mathworld 1D CA page - Game of Life - Play with Alan Hensel's Game of Life Applet - Links: Spanky Fractal Database - Playing with Fractals - Logistic Equation bifurcation diagram -
	6	From identity to differences: building blocks - Links:  Optional Links: Here's something for the poets among us (others can skip this):  Drew Dellinger is a poet of the Universe.  He is founder of Poets for Social Justice and works with cosmology, ecology, and justice..  Here's Drew's poem "Hymn to the Sacred Body of the Milky Way."  (When I spoke with him, I asked his permission to read his poem in class.  But he does it better.) His other poems about cosmology, ecology, and justice can be found on YouTube. For those who might appreciate the traveling cosmological wandering story tellers of Turtle Island (North America), here's Michael and Connie's The Great Story web page.
	7	A Universe Partly Beyond Reason? -
	8	Cognition and agency in the Universe- Links: Number of neurons in for different species - Self-Organizing Map (SOM) used to classify papers in astronomy - Optional:  For those who think about meaning in our world: Brian Swimme on the New Story -
		Copyright 2010 by Jack Semura. All rights reserved.