What is entropy? Is it disorder? Information? Randomness? Heat? The answer depends on who you ask. But it also depends on what you're asking about! If you’ve ever wondered why your eggs never unscramble, or why you’ve never found yourself breathless as all the air never spontaneously moves to one side of the room, this is a great class for you! The laws of physics can run backwards and forwards, but time only marches one way. In this class, we will gain insight into “irreversibility” by understanding how time disfavors the improbable! Through discussion and demonstrations, we will gain insight into the many applications of the concept of entropy, and clarify the different notions of this idea which arise in different areas of physics and chemistry. The class will work to introduce concepts. Comfort with mathematical ideas (logarithms, summation, and factorials, for example) is useful for deeper understanding, though not necessary.

Do you ever wonder how life formed on the cosmic scale? How systems of planets like ours form and evolve? We've discovered thousands of other worlds in the pasts two decades, but what do we really know about them - and how? Is there already a course where someone answers and elaborates on these questions? No? Then I guess I'll planet!

Come learn how to explore the universe, from the comfort and safety of your own home! A short, hands-on introduction to methods of exploring the universe (with occasional brief commentary on its contents). In this class, you'll learn something about astronomical observing across wavelengths, stare at the sun, and then use a telescope!

Ever wonder why airplanes fly? How vortices work? How to simulate galactic dynamics? We're going to explore fluid mechanics, the simple physics that explains everything from the behavior of stars to oceans, plate tectonics to blood flow.

What better place to start than the beginning? Of time, that is. This course will piece together the eras of cosmic history, taking special note of the advances in astronomy, elementary particle physics, and nuclear physics that built our current knowledge of the exciting first billion years of cosmic existence.

What better place to start than the beginning? Of time, that is. This course will piece together the eras of cosmic history, taking special note of the advances in astronomy, elementary particle physics, and nuclear physics that built our current knowledge of the exciting first billion years of cosmic existence.

Got Curiosity? Then you already have a lot in common with the Red Planet! 50 years in, investigate and extrapolate the first century of our interaction with Mars. From Mariner to the Martian, we'll explore the legacy of robotic pioneers and examine NASA proposals for eventual human missions to Mars.