final journal

A couple of you have asked about the final journal. It should be a regular journal with the added "plus" of the conclusion. You can think of the conclusion as the reaction for this last issue.

slides are up

Last time.

another evaluation

I have evaluated myself separately in this course from the beginning. So, what I do is ask that each of you fill out this pdf form and bring it to the final exam. Sign the cover sheet and detach it (because you will have stapled it, right?)...and put it in one pile and the rest of the evaluation in another. That way I'll not know who wrote what, but I will know that you wrote something and I'll reward you with 5 points. Big deal....but helpful to me.

evaluation(s)

Please go to the university class evaluation page and complete that... https://rateyourclass.msu.edu/ .

FINAL EXAM Location

The Final Exam is next wednesday at 5:45pm in ROOM 1400 BPS. We can spread out there... I'll bring some relish and fruit trays as compensation for hearing me talk some more.

grades to this moment

Here is a pdf of the grades to this moment: all quizzes (without throwing out the lowest 2), journals through #13, midterm, and all changes/corrections/late submissions that I know of. The whole enchilada. This does not include the movie reviews yet. Please, please check it for mistakes and write me a "gripe" if you find anything. thanks.

journals

A couple of you have asked about the journal end-game. There are 15 journals, the last one of which is to include the conclusion which is supposed to react to your first journal's expectation for the course. That one is due at the final exam.

The journal due on monday (tomorrow) is #14, which is just a run-of-the-mill journal.

slides are up

The slides from Relativity and early quantum theory are up. No reactions.

the end game

So. We're within sight of the end of the semester and so I thought I would tidy up a bit:

1. We needed 12 quizzes, and we've had 12 quizzes. So, we're done taking quizzes.
2. Movie reviews were due day before yesterday.
3. Biographies are due on April 30 at the final exam.
4. Book reviews are due on April 21, which is next monday.

Here's how the final exam will work:

a. You come to the final session (5:45-7:45 pm on 4/30) and I will, for no extra charge, talk about some elementary particle physics issues that involve us here at MSU in our experiments at Fermilab and CERN.
b. You'll eat stuff that I'll provide.
c. You'll give back an anonymous survey which I'll provide next week for points.
d. You'll get the final exam worth 40 points and have 24 hours to do it and get it to me. That is, it's take-home. It will cover the material since the midterm.

experiment

I have never missed an ISP213H class. But, this year I had to be at an American Physical Society meeting in cold St Louis since last Friday, through tomorrow.

So, you ask, how do we have class today? Well. I've got a small army of people with whom I've been tuning a set of computers to allow me to continue to talk to you and manipulate my slides from here. I was going to do it in my jammies from my hotel room, but the internet bandwidth was so low, that I had to waterboard a hotel person to give me a meeting room with better connectivity.

So, ISP213H will be taught to day remotely from the beautiful Hyatt Regency St Louis Waterfront Hotel. It's an important lecture on Relativity, so while it may be not quite as comfortable as having me pace in front of you, I hope it will still be okay.

My biggest regret: I'm in St Louis and forgot to bring a Cubs hat.

slides are up

Check out the due-dates! They're coming...

Krauss lectures

As I mentioned in class, Lawrence Krauss is giving two lectures this Thursday, the 10th of April. The first one is a regular department colloquium and will have some physics in it. The title is "

Our Miserable Future

" which I suspect will follow the recent (cover story) Scientific American article that he wrote on the "end of cosmology". This is at 4;10pm in the middle lecture hall, 1415BPS. The evening lecture corresponds to the handout I gave you in class and is entitled,

Science, Non-science and Nonsense: From Aliens to Creationism

. It's at 8pm in Kellogg Center Centennial B & C.

Here is Krauss' website

. You're all invited to either or both lectures.

reaction for monday's journal

I've provided a simple "reaction" for monday's journal in the assignments section.

calendar was busted

I just realized that the calendar page was broken. I've restored it and will begin to put back the due dates for the projects. But, the final exam is there. You may have to refresh the page.

there will be a "reflection"

...as soon as I figure it out! Stay tuned.

Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing

This book by Margaret Livingstone is just beautiful...the science and the art. It has caused me to look at art appreciation with an entirely different perspective. Here's an Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Vision-Art-Margaret-S-Livingstone/dp/0810904063

new grade post

Here i

s a new accumulation of the grades to this moment. I think I have everything!

Gripes

If you have a question or complaint about a grading issue, I handle these with "Gripes." You send me a Gripe by writing out your concern, attaching it to the paper in question, and give it to me within a week of my handing it to you originally.