"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."
William Blake, 1757-1827
English poet.
LIFE LONG LEARNING LECTURES
Please Answer the Following Six Science Questions
Dr. Robin Jordan
Department of Physics
Florida Atlantic University
Short bio
Welcome! In this series I aim to provide insightful answers to six questions
we all wonder about, but we have either little time to investigate them fully
or simply think they are too difficult for us to solve. Below, I have provided
copies of the slides I used in my presentations. Don't worry, there's very
little math! The slides are in pdf format.
- Lecture 1: How old is the Earth?
Early civilizations had their own answers to this question. But our story
really begins in the middle of the 17th century when the Creation was dated
to 4004 BCE, putting the Earth's current age as a little over 6,000 years.
Today's best estimate is about 4.6 billion years. What developments over the
past 360 years caused the age to be revised?
Slides from lecture 1.
- Lecture 2: How much does the Earth weigh?
Henry Cavendish is considered to be the first person to "weigh the Earth" in
1798. To be strictly pedantic he measured the density of the Earth from
which the mass can be determined. How did he find the density of the Earth
and what were the other scientific achievements of this relatively little
known man?
Slides from lecture 2.
- Lecture 3: Can a mother be younger than her daughter?
Albert Einstein's theory of relativity produces a number of curious paradoxes
and unusual conclusions. I will give an overview of some of the more bizarre
scenarios and, of course, provide the answer to the title of this lecture!
Slides from lecture 3.
- Lecture 4: Why do we need Quantum Mechanics?
A common misconception is that electrons orbit the nucleus of an atom rather
like the planets orbit the Sun. However, that is not the case; a completely
different approach, quantum mechanics, is required to provide a proper
picture of the atom. I will highlight some of the results of quantum
mechanics, many of which are totally counter-intuitive.
Slides from lecture 4.
- Lecture 5: How will the universe come to an end?
Basically, there are only two possible scenarios; either the universe will
continue its present expansion, or the current expansion will be reversed and
the universe will begin to contract. Both scenarios spell doom! I will
look at the different constituents of the universe that will have an
influence on the final outcome.
Slides from lecture 5.
- Lecture 6: Why do musical instruments sound different from each other?
Why is it that most people can tell the difference between musical
instruments even when they are playing the same note? I will explain the
scientific reasons why that is the case.
Slides from lecture 6.
