Instructor: Roland E. Allen

(409) 845-4341, Room 519 Engineering/Physics Building

allen@tamu.edu, http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/allen/astronomy.html

Office Hours -- 2:50-3:50 p.m. M Tu F, or by appointment

The textbook is Horizons, Exploring the Universe, Sixth Edition, by Michael Seeds (Brooks/Cole, 2000).

Evaluation:

3 one-hour exams (each counting 100), 300

final exam (about one-half on last part of course, one-half comprehensive), 150

All exams will be fill-in-the-blank, multiple-choice, and relatively short problems and questions. The quantitative problems will be very similar to those at the end of the chapters.

All one-hour exams will be on Wednesdays: February 9, March 8, and April 12.

If you have an excused absence for any hour exam, the grade for that exam will be dropped in compiling the final average.

You are allowed and encouraged to bring one 8.5" x 11" page with formulas (on one side) for every one-hour exam. You can bring four such pages for the final if you wish (three previous sheets and a new one).

Level of math used:

You will need to know simple algebra, and how to use a calculator to perform simple arithmetic operations, calculate logarithms, and raise "y'' to the power "x''. There will be no trigonometry (and certainly no calculus), but powers of 10 will often occur, so an ability to work with scientific notation is important.

Homework assignments:

Read the chapters assigned for each week and make sure you can work the even-numbered problems at the end of each chapter. Answers are given (preceding the index) at the back of the book.

It is expected that you will attend all classes (except for possible excused absences). The chapters will be covered approximately as follows, with the date indicating the first day of the week.

Jan. 17 1, 2

Jan. 24 3, 4

Jan. 31 5, 6

Feb. 7 7

Feb. 14 8, 9

Feb. 21 10, 11

Feb. 28 12

Mar. 6 13, 14

Mar. 13 Spring Break

Mar. 20 15

Mar. 27 16

Apr. 3 17

Apr. 10 18

Apr. 17 19

Apr. 24 20

May 1 overview

Final Exam 3:30-5:30, Tuesday, May 9