The Floating University

Review Questions

  1. (1.) How did Halley's Comet play a role in shaping the history of western civilization and the development of science?
  2. (2.) Although the apple played a role, what actually stoked Isaac Newton's interest and led him to develop calculus?
  3. (3.) How did Newton's Principia alter the course of human society in the centuries that followed its publication?
  4. (4.) What are Newton's Laws of Motions?
  5. (5.) Why was Michael Faraday important (the British scientist, not the character from Lost)? 
  6. (6.) What breakthrough did James Clerk Maxwell make?
  7. (7.) What are the weak and strong nuclear forces and how were they discovered?
  8. (8.) What is the Standard Model, and what is it missing?
  9. (9.) How does the Large Hadron Collider work, and why was it constructed?
  10. (10.) Why is String Theory necessary? or Why is Einstein's mathematics incomplete?
  11. (11.) What are the higher-dimensional possibilities offered by a practically applied String Theory?
  12. (12.) Why would we want to leave our universe and how might we accomplish this feat? 
  13. (13.) What's the difference between dark energy and dark matter? How much of our universe does each constitute, and how do we know they exist?

Lecture 1

Malthus Miffed: Are People the Problem, the Solution, or Both? An Introduction to Demography and Populations Study Through an Examination of the World's Population.

JOEL COHEN, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of Populations, Rockefeller University, Mathematical Biologist, Columbia University

Lecture 2

The Universe in a Nutshell: The Physics of Everything.

MICHIO KAKU, Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at CUNY

Lecture 3

Of the People, by the People, for the People? The Rawls-Nozick Debates as an Introduction to the Philosophy of Politics and Economics.

TAMAR GENDLER, Department of Philosophy Chair at Yale University, Cognitive Scientist

Lecture 4

Say What? Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain.

STEVEN PINKER, Psychologist, Cognitive Scientist, Linguist, Johnstone Family and HC Professor at Harvard University 

Lecture 5

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200: Monopolies as an Introduction to Economics

SAUL LEVMORE, William B. Graham Distinguished Professor of Law at The University of Chicago

Lecture 6

The Psychology of Everything: What Compassion, Racism, and Sex tell us about Human Nature.

PAUL BLOOM, Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University

Lecture 7

If You're So Free, Why Do You Follow Others? The Sociological Science Behind Social Networks and Social Influence.

NICHOLAS CHRISTAKIS, Professor of Medical Sociology, Medicine, and Sociology at Harvard University

Lecture 8

If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?

WILLIAM ACKMAN, Activist Investor and Hedge-Fund Manager

Lecture 9

What's Up, Doc? Is Biomedical Research Really Close to Curing Anything?

DOUGLAS MELTON, Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences at Harvard University

Lecture 10

Art Now: Aesthetics Across Music, Painting, Architecture, Movies, and More.

LEON BOTSTEIN, Conductor, President and Leon Levy Professor of Bard College

Lecture 11

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: The Essential Value of a Classic Education

JEFFREY BRENZEL, Philosopher, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale University

Lecture 12

The Authority of Ideas: Decoding the DNA of Education in Search of Actual Knowledge.

LAWRENCE SUMMERS, Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University, Economist, Former President of Harvard