Friday, April 01, 2011

Learn the MIT physics curriculum in one hour

I am an unabashed MIT fan. Here's why. It is hard to imagine this happening elsewhere, and with such good humor.

From:
Date: Fri, Apr 1, 2011 at 8:04 AM
Subject: 5-Minute Physics Lectures, 8 pm tonight
To:

Want to learn 144 units of physics in 1 hour? Neither do we, but at least there'll be free cookies/cocoa/tea!

If you're curious to sample the entire Course 8 curriculum from 8.022 to Quantum Field Theory II at ultrarelativistic speeds, come to 8-329 tonight at 8 pm to experience each class losslessly compressed into 5 minutes or less by your friendly neighborhood Physics majors. To quote Chancellor Grimson's recent email, "This is not some dry 8.01 lecture."

Also featuring Prof. John Belcher TEACHING HIS OWN CLASS (8.07).

Part of Physics Exploration Week, hosted by Undergrad Women in Physics.


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Explanatory notes: A "unit" for an MIT class is equivalent to an hour per week of class time or expected homework. A 12-unit class at MIT is roughly equivalent to 4 credit-hours elsewhere. "Course 8" means the Department of Physics. At MIT, a course is a department. A class is a course. Classes are designated with the course number first, and then the class number after that. They roughly rise in degree of difficultly based on the digits. 8.01 is thus a lower level course than 8.07. Buildings and rooms at MIT are designated by numbers, too. Room 8-329 is on the third floor of building 8. The building numbers tell you where you need to go on campus. Building 8 would be between Vassar Street and the Charles River, relatively close to the river, to the right of the large dome in the middle of the MIT campus (as you face that dome from the river.) Clear?

3 comments:

  1. My daughter attends Georgia Tech, and they have a Facebook page called 'only at Tech' with nerdy vignettes.

    But only at MIT would they have this on a FRIDAY night......

    nonlocal

    ReplyDelete
  2. It does have a secular feel -- but isn't it April Fool's????

    ReplyDelete
  3. No way it's April Fool's - MIT folks would never joke about something quite so serious as physics!

    ReplyDelete