Contact details:

• Instructor: Stephen Kane
• Office: 312 Bryant Space Science Center
• Office hours: Mondays, 3:00pm-5:00pm
• Phone: 392-2052 x250
• Email: skane@astro.ufl.edu (write AST2037 in subject)

Download the class syllabus here.

Class times:

• Tuesday, 9:35am-10:25am CSE E119
• Thursday, 9:35am-10:25am CSE E119
• Thursday, 10:40am-11:30am CSE E119

Text:

• The Search for Life in the Universe, Donald Goldsmith & Tobias Owen, 3rd edition

Lecture slides: (numbers in parentheses are relevant chapters from the textbook)

• Lecture 1 - Introduction (13)
• Lecture 2 - Martians? Life on Mars? (13)
• Lecture 3 - Martians? Life on Mars? (13)
• Lecture 4 - What is life? (7)
• Lecture 5 - What is life? (7)
• Lecture 6 - Introduction, Birth of Stars (3)
• Lecture 7 - Birth of Stars (3)
• Lecture 8 - Birth of Planets (3)
• Lecture 9 - Birth of Planets, Stellar Evolution (3)
• Lecture 10 - Stellar Evolution (4-5)
• Lecture 11 - Stellar Evolution (4-5)
• Lecture 12 - Stellar Evolution (4-5)
• Lecture 13 - Life in the Solar System (11)
• Lecture 14 - Life in the Solar System (11)
• Lecture 15 - Life in the Solar System (11-12)
• Lecture 16 - Life in the Solar System (12)
• Lecture 17 - Life on Mars (13-14)
• Lecture 18 - Life on Mars (13-14)
• Lecture 19 - Life on Mars (13-14)
• Lecture 20 - Life on Mars (13-14)
• Lecture 21 - Life on Europa (15)
• Lecture 22 - Life on Europa (15)
• Lecture 23 - Life on other planets and moons (15)
• Lecture 24 - Life on Earth: Biochemistry of living organisms (7-8)
• Lecture 25 - Cells: the basic life units (7-8)
• Lecture 26 - Chemistry of life (7-8)
• Lecture 27 - The geological history of the Earth (7-8)
• Lecture 28 - The geological history of the Earth (7-8)
• Lecture 29 - Early life formation on Earth (9)
• Lecture 30 - Early life formation and evolution on Earth (9-10,16)
• Lecture 31 - Search for extrasolar planets (17)
• Lecture 32 - Search for extrasolar planets (17)
• Lecture 33 - Search for extrasolar planets (17)
• Lecture 34 - Search for extrasolar planets (17-18)
• Lecture 35 - Future detection of extrasolar planets (19)
• Lecture 36 - Future detection of extrasolar planets (20)
• Lecture 37 - Future detection of extrasolar planets (21)
• Lecture 38 - Biosignatures and the search for life (21)
• Lecture 39 - Detection of Intelligent Life in the Universe (21)
• Lecture 40 - Detection of Intelligent Life in the Universe (22)

Grades:

You can check your grades by clicking here.

Homework:

• Homework #1 - Due 2/8/07
• Homework #2 - Due 3/1/07
• Homework #3 - Due 3/22/07
• Homework #4 - Due 4/5/07
• Homework #5 - Due 4/19/07

Quizzes:

There will be 7 quizzes (each lasting around 20 minutes) but only the top 5 grades will be used for assessment.

• Quiz #1 - 1/23/07
• Quiz #2 - 2/6/07
• Quiz #3 - 2/20/07
• Quiz #4 - 3/6/07
• Quiz #5 - 3/27/07
• Quiz #6 - 4/10/07
• Quiz #7 - 4/24/07

Term paper:

Individual effort or groups of 2-4 students each. Topic title/abstract with names of team members is due February 22nd, 2007. The term paper is to be 5-10 pages if individual effort and 15-20 pages if group effort. The paper is due April 24th, 2007.

Here are some sample topics based on previous years:

• Terraforming: environment emulation and engineering
• Enceladus, a Saturn moon
• Evidence for Life on Mars
• Aurora Borealis
• Life on Jupiter and its moons
• Earth's Evolution and the Implications of Life
• Exotic Forms of Non-terrestrial Life
• Interstellar Space Travel

Assessment:

• Homework - 40%
• Quizzes - 30%
• Term paper - 30%

You can now check your grades here using your "secret number".

Library books:

The following recommended books are available in the Science Library.

1	QB54. J23, 1989	Francis Jackson	Life in the universe
2	QH325.L53, 2003		Life in the universe
3	QB54.L483, 1981	J. Billingham (ed)	Life in the Universe
4	QH341.S339, 2004		Life in the universe: expectations and constraints
5	QB981.H32, 2000	Dirk Schulze-Makuch	Cosmology: the science of the universe
6	QB45.P287, 1998	Jay Pasachoff	Astronomy from the earth to the universe
7	QH325.U46, 2003	P. Ulmschneider	Intelligent life in the universe: from common origins to the future of humanity
8	QH325.L87, 2003	Paul Lurquin	The origins of life and the universe
9	Q325.W34,2002	Mark Ward	Beyond Chaos: the Underlying theory behind life, the universe and everything
10	QH325.A278, 2002	Fred Adams	Origins of existence: how life emerged in the universe
11	QB54.G58,2001	Donald Goldsmith	The Search for Life in the Universe, 3hr ed.
12	QH327.C54,2001	Julian Chela Flores	The new science of astrobiology: from genesis of the living cell to evolution of intelligent behavior in the universe