FRS 001N — Sec. 001 — (1 unit) — CRN 45485 — W 9:00-9:50am — 416 Physics/Geology
The Nobel Laureates: Intellectual Icons of Modern Society

Instructor: Rajiv Singh, Department of Physics, College of Letters and Science

Description: The Nobel Laureates form one of the most distinguished group of individuals in our present-day society. Their contributions have substantially shaped our lives and thoughts. Learning about the contributions of an individual Nobel laureate could well give one a deep appreciation for an entire sub-field of human knowledge. The goal of this course would be to read and learn about the lives and contributions of Nobel Laureates in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature or Economics. Each student would be expected to pick one Nobel Prize winner for his research and presentation. There is plenty of material on the web (including the Nobel Foundation web-site) to get started. There will be substantial flexibility in the course allowing the students to focus more on either the contributions or the lives of the individual Nobel Laureates. Having a mix of Nobel Prize winners from the sciences and the arts should provide for a diversity of subjects and interesting cross comparisons.

Format: The seminar will meet for an hour every week. In the first week there will be a presentation by the instructor. The other weeks will mostly consist of student presentations and discussions. Students will be encouraged to form teams of two, who will pick two Nobel laureates, one each from the arts and the sciences for their presentations. We could then cross compare to see in what ways the contributions of the Nobel laureates have enriched our lives. Each student would be required to make a half hour long oral presentation on a Nobel Laureate of his or her choice. They would also be expected to write short articles on one individual discussed by other students. Grading: Grading would be based on the oral presentation (50%) and the written articles (50%).

About the Instructor: Dr. Singh is a Professor in the Physics Department at UC Davis and a member of the Biophysics Graduate Group. His research and teaching interests are primarily related to the field of statistical mechanics and its applications to problems in Physics, Chemistry and Biology.