ESP Biography
JOEL MEYERS, Columbia Senior studying Astrophysics & Theatre
Major: Astrophysics College/Employer: Columbia University Year of Graduation: 2021 |
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Brief Biographical Sketch:
Not Available. Past Classes(Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)S902: Rethinking Space and Time: A Brief Look Into Special Relativity in Tides Fall 2020 (Oct. 04, 2020)
Until 1905, physicists' conception of Space was that of a static backdrop against which the drama of the Universe played out to the steady tick of Time as its metronome; a meter was a meter and a second was a second. When a certain German patent-clerk showed up on the scene with a wild haircut and crazy idea, however, that all changed. In this course, we will explore Albert Einstein's 1905 Theory of Special Relativity that changed our outlook on Spacetime -- the very fabric of the Universe -- forever. Though most people are familiar with its founder, few are actually aware of the mind-bending consequences that Special Relativity implies for us as inhabitants of the cosmos. Over the next five weeks, we will endeavor to explore the subject at an introductory level accessible to anyone with a little algebra and geometry in their back pocket. We will derive firsthand how Space and Time are not the fixed stage which we imagine them to be, but rather dynamic and shifting dimensions that compose a very different underlying reality than the one we are used to in our everyday lives.
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