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SCIENCE
FOR THE
21st
CENTURY - PHY 105 UC
Microscopic motor driven by laser light,
abduction by aliens,
commercial satellite images (Space Imaging Inc.)
Nucleon, a model for a nuclear powered car (1958)
PHY105/106 is
a sequence for non-science majors that focuses on the nature of
scientific research and applies basic scientific principles to understand
modern technology
and to address questions about
artificial intelligence,
life in the universe,
and evolution.
The courses PHY105/106 (which may be taken in either order or either may be taken individually)
take an interdisciplinary approach and includes topics from
physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy,
and materials science.
The Fall semester course, PHY105, addresses our modern understanding of
light and matter that are the basis of current and future technology.
Principles covered include liquid crystals, electricity/electronics, semiconductors, and optics,
with applications to computers, visual displays, plastics, and nuclear weapons.
Also examined is the process of scientific investigation:
how does one judge whether a discovery or claim is science or whether it is something else?
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