{"id":541,"date":"2019-10-20T21:45:58","date_gmt":"2019-10-20T20:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/?page_id=541"},"modified":"2019-12-20T12:24:52","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T12:24:52","slug":"teaching-students","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/teaching-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching \/ Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Teaching<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Philosophy of Science (4th year students)<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In this study unit we shall principally be looking at:<\/p>

  • Key figures in and examples from the history of science:
    <\/span>Antiquity<\/b> (e.g. Aristotle and natural vs. violent motion, Epicurus, and others); <\/span>the clash between rationalism and empiricism<\/b> (Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, Hume, Kant); <\/span>examples drawn from the history of astronomy<\/b> (e.g. Galileo’s observations, Kepler’s geometric description of planetary motion, Newton’s formulation of gravity)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
  • Logical Positivism<\/b>\u00a0(e.g. the analytic-synthetic distinction and verifiability of meaning);\u00a0Logical Empircism<\/b>; discuss the work of Quine, Carnap, and others<\/span><\/li>
  • The problem of Induction <\/b>(e.g. Hempel’s paradox, logical equivalence)<\/span><\/li>
  • Conjectures & Refutations<\/b> and\u00a0Falsification <\/span>(Karl Popper)<\/span>; The Hypothetico-Deductive Method<\/span><\/span><\/li>
  • The Demarcation Problem<\/span><\/span><\/li>
  • Thomas Kuhn: Scientific Paradigms & Revolutions<\/b>, Incommensurability<\/b><\/span><\/li>
  • Research Programmes<\/strong> and Research Traditions; Auxiliary Hypotheses<\/b><\/span><\/strong> (Imre Lakatos, Larry Laudan)<\/li>
  • Naturalism <\/strong>(foundationalism, normative naturalism)<\/li>
  • Scientific Realism <\/strong>(e.g. direct realism)<\/li>
  • Underdetermination<\/b> in Science and Empirically Equivalent Theories<\/b><\/span><\/li><\/ul>

    The following list includes the main reading material we shall be making use of for this course:<\/p>

    – Popper, K., Conjectures and Refutations<\/i>, Routledge, 1963.
    – Kuhn, T., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions<\/i>, University of Chicago Press, 1970.
    – Popper, K., The Logic of Scientific Discovery<\/i>, Routledge, 2004.
    – Godfrey-Smith, P., Theory and Reality<\/i>, University of Chicago Press, 2003.
    – Curd M., Cover, J.A., Pincock, C., Philosophy of Science – The Central Issues (2nd edition)<\/i>, W. W. Norton & Company, 2013.<\/p>

    The main text used for topics pertaining to the philosophy of physics<\/b>, specifically spatiotemporal locality<\/b> and fields <\/b>is <\/b>The Philosophy of Physics <\/i>by Marc Lange (Blackwell Publishing).<\/span><\/p>

    For further reading on more specialised topics, I recommend:<\/span><\/p>

    – Batterman, R. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Physics<\/i>, Oxford University Press, 2013.
    <\/span>– Chamcham, K., Silk, J., Barrow, J.D., Saunders, S. (eds.),\u00a0<\/span>The Philosophy of Cosmology<\/span>, Cambridge University Press, 2017.<\/span>
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    Advanced Astrophysics and Cosmology (4th year students)<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Key components of this study unit include:<\/p>

    • History of the universe<\/b> from the Big Bang to the present<\/li>
    • Components of the energy density<\/b> of the universe<\/li>
    • Perturbations<\/b> and structure formation<\/b>; the Cosmic Microwave Background<\/b><\/span><\/li>
    • The Dark Ages<\/b> and Reionisation<\/b><\/li>
    • Galaxy formation<\/b><\/li>
    • Basic principles of galaxy evolution<\/b> and stellar formation & evolution<\/b><\/li>
    • Concepts in galactic dynamics<\/b><\/li>
    • Cosmological probes<\/b><\/li>
    • Principles of astronomical data reduction<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Physical Optics (2nd year students)<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Some of the topics we shall be covering in this study unit include:<\/div>
      \u00a0<\/div>
      • Further Geometric Optics<\/b> (Ray Transfer Matrix Analysis with examples)<\/span><\/li>
      • The particle interpretation<\/b> of light<\/li>
      • Summary of Fourier Analysis<\/b> and Fourier Transforms<\/b><\/span><\/li>
      • Aberration theory<\/b><\/span><\/li>
      • Interference<\/b>: Spatial and Temporal Coherence; Interferometers; Single and double slit diffraction<\/span><\/li>
      • Near and far field diffraction theory<\/b>; Gaussian beam examples; Grating examples<\/span><\/li>
      • Babinet\u2019s principle<\/b> and applications<\/span><\/li>
      • Polarization<\/b> (linear, circular and elliptical)<\/span><\/li>
      • Laser physics<\/b> (holography, quantum optics, metrology, medical applications, environmental sensing, etc. depending on available time)<\/span><\/li>
      • Point Spread Functions<\/b> and response<\/b> of imaging systems;\u00a0Adaptive optics<\/span><\/li>
      • Telescopes<\/b> (refractors, reflectors, catadioptric)<\/span><\/li>
      • Gravitational lensing<\/b>: strong, weak and micro, cosmic telescopes, etc.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>
        The main text is Optics<\/i> by E. Hecht (Addison Wesley).<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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        Projects<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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        For information on currently available undergraduate, masters and PhD projects, please get in touch with me directly.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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        This page is still under construction. Further information will be added in due course. \u00a0Important notifications and updates are communicated via VLE.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Teaching Philosophy of Science (4th year students) In this study unit we shall principally be looking at: Key figures in and examples from the history of science: Antiquity (e.g. Aristotle and natural vs. violent motion, Epicurus, and others); the clash between rationalism and empiricism (Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, Hume, Kant); examples drawn from the history of astronomy (e.g. Galileo’s observations, Kepler’s geometric description of planetary motion, Newton’s formulation of gravity)  Logical…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-541","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nTeaching \/ Students - Joseph's Science Page<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Teaching page: On this page you may find information about the courses I currently teach, recommended texts, and other related content.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/teaching-students\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teaching \/ Students - Joseph's Science Page\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Teaching page: On this page you may find information about the courses I currently teach, recommended texts, and other related content.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/teaching-students\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Joseph's Science Page\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-20T12:24:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/teaching-students\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/teaching-students\/\",\"name\":\"Teaching \/ Students - Joseph's Science Page\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-20T20:45:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-20T12:24:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Teaching page: On this page you may find information about the courses I currently teach, recommended texts, and other related content.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/teaching-students\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/teaching-students\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/teaching-students\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Teaching \/ Students\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/\",\"name\":\"Joseph's Science Page\",\"description\":\"Research, Teaching & Outreach\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d63d36ffa78fd5cb296ca068aa8cfc\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d63d36ffa78fd5cb296ca068aa8cfc\",\"name\":\"josephcaruana\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0e353b6c24b81683f6ce13da81fd0bac85d8c6dff6e135e1fba6325fdd7abec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0e353b6c24b81683f6ce13da81fd0bac85d8c6dff6e135e1fba6325fdd7abec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"josephcaruana\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Teaching \/ Students - 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