This site is an archive. See the current website at www.extension.harvard.edu.

Skip to content

Courses

This page contains content from the 2007–08 academic year. For current information, visit the Harvard Extension School website at www.extension.harvard.edu.

Physics

PHYS E-1a Principles of Physics I: Mechanics (11897)
(Website) (Printable version)
Wolfgang Rueckner, PhD, Manager of Lecture Demonstration Services and Instructional Laboratories in Physical Sciences, Harvard University.
Course tuition: undergraduate credit $900.
Fall term: Tuesdays, 6-9 pm, Science Center, Hall C. Required weekly laboratories and discussion sections to be arranged.

This course is an introduction to classical mechanics: kinematics, Newton's laws of motion, conservation laws, elasticity, oscillations, wave mechanics, and sound phenomena. Applications to the life sciences are emphasized. This is a noncalculus introductory course. Prerequisites: good working knowledge of algebra, trigonometry, and geometry. (4 credits)

PHYS E-1b Principles of Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism, Light, and Atomic Structure (20199)
(Website) (Printable version)
Wolfgang Rueckner, PhD, Manager of Lecture Demonstration Services and Instructional Laboratories in Physical Sciences, Harvard University.
Course tuition: undergraduate credit $900.
Spring term: Tuesdays, 6-9 pm, Science Center, Hall B. Required weekly laboratories and discussion sections to be arranged.

This course is a continuation of PHYS E-1a and covers topics in electricity, magnetism, electric circuits, electricity and magnetism wave phenomena, geometrical and physical optics, the interaction of light with matter, and the structure of matter. Applications to the life sciences are emphasized. This is a non-calculus course. Prerequisites: PHYS E-1a or the equivalent, and good working knowledge of algebra, trigonometry, and geometry. (4 credits)

PHYS E-6/W Physics Made Simple: From Concepts to Practice (22604)
(Website) (Printable version)
Jeffrey Borenstein, PhD, President, Power Industries, Inc.
Writing-intensive course. Course tuition: noncredit $400, undergraduate credit $700.
Spring term: Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30 pm, Science Center, Hall E. Required writing workshops to be arranged.

What are the revolutionary ideas of physics? Einstein gave us a new understanding of time (even time travel). Quantum mechanics explains lasers, atoms, teleportation, and mysterious connections in the universe. In addition, we discuss global climate change, public policy, and recent discoveries in cosmology and string theory. (4 credits)

PHYS E-123a Laboratory Electronics: Analog Circuit Design (10228)
(Website) (Printable version)
Thomas C. Hayes, JD, Lecturer on Physics, Harvard University.
Course tuition: noncredit, undergraduate, and graduate credit $1,700. Limited enrollment.
Fall term: Thursdays, 6-9:30 pm, Science Center, Room 206.

This course forms the analog half of a two-semester sequence that provides a lab-intensive survey of electronics (the digital half of this sequence is ENSC E-123). The course introduces analog electronics, with little mathematical or physical analysis and much opportunity to design and build circuits. The treatment moves quickly from fundamentals (for example, passive circuits made with resistors, capacitors) to designs with transistors and then gives most of its attention to the design of circuits using operational amplifiers: circuits such as integrators, amplifiers, oscillators, filters, and a servo loop. Students apply amplitude and frequency modulation in both transmission and reception. Each meeting includes a lab session. Prerequisites: high school algebra; some knowledge of elementary electrical concepts is helpful but not essential. (4 credits)