EES 90-10; CRN 4231
3 Credits
TR 13:10-14:25
Professor Gray Bebout
Science fiction is
obviously as much a human self-evaluation as a prediction of the nature (and
outcome) of future space explorationÑthere is no better example of this
self-evaluation than the popular Star Trek television series (and the related
full-length movies). In this seminar, we will weigh fictional accounts of
the impact on humans of discovering, observing, and interacting with
intelligent life on other planets, but also the reality of current and planned
efforts to determine whether such life exists. What are the prospects for
continued space exploration in our own solar system and beyond? What is
known about the origin and evolution of the universe, and how will we go about
determining answers to broad cosmological questions as we "boldly go where
no [human] has gone before...."
Course material
Krauss, Lawrence M., 1996, The Physics of Star Trek, Harper Perennial, 188 pp.
Shapiro, Robert, 1999, Planetary Dreams Ñ The Quest to Discover Life Beyond
Earth, John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., 306 pp.
and two other ÒtextbooksÓ yet to be announcedÉÉ
OPTIONAL (but cool): Vanin, Gabriele, 1999, A
Photographic Tour of the Universe
(revised edition), Firefly Books Ltd.
Other: Several Science Fiction movies, possibly a few select Star Trek TV
episodes.
NOTE: We will draw heavily from
the current literature (including press reports, journal articles, and
government publications). Xerox'ed copies will be given to you when
needed. Finally, weÕll be sure that everyone is fully up-to-speed in
employing the internet, as there are extraordinary, relevant resources
available to us on the world wide web (e.g., describing ongoing space
exploration missions).
Required assignments
As this is a seminar, active participation in discussions (and thus obviously,
attendance!) is extremely important and weighs heavily in your grades. In
addition, you will be asked to write essays on assigned topics and to prepare a
term project. Your grade will be given based on the following:
Attendance and Class Participation (discussions, etc.) 30%
(each unexcused absence will result in a 3% penalty to final grade)
Writing Assignments (four worth 10% each)
40%
Term Project will consist of paper (worth 20%) and oral presentation (worth
10%)
30%
Regarding the Term ProjectsÑToward
the beginning of the semester, each student will choose an issue of interest
related to space travel, philosophical aspects of the search for ET life, etc.,
etc., research it thorœoughly, and present the issue verbally in our seminar
toward the end of the semester (beginning in early November). In
addition, a report (text of approximately 10-page length, plus relevant figœures,
tables, and references) must be prepared which details the findings of this
research; that report will be due by the last day of classes. Early in
the semester, we may tour the libraries to better acquaint students with the
informaœtion reœsources available at Lehigh University [much can be done,
however, by Òpointing and clickingÓ on the www].
Bebout, a geochemist who arrived at Lehigh University in 1991 and lives in
Emmaus with his wife and two young children, investigates the cycling on Earth
of materials among deep rock reservoirs and the oceans and atmosphere, using
the stable isotopes of several elements (O, H, C, S, B, Li, and N) to trace
such cycling (and yes, with implications for considerations of these elements
on the moon and on other planets in our solar system). Field areas for
his research are in coastal and otherwise scenic or mountainous areas (e.g.,
California, French-Italian Alps, Japan, Vermont, Idaho-Montana, Belgium, the
English Lake District, and Sulawesi, Indonesia).