Tentative Calendar of Class Meetings, Assignments and Activities

Thursday, August 23rd

• Introduction to the course, MUSE, and SJSU (Download Slides)

Tuesday, August 28th

• What is the nexus of art & science? (Download slides)
• Special Guest: Prof. John Clapp, Illustration/Animation, SJSU
• Assignment due: Read “The Art and Science Dialogue”, Art and Science, E. Strosberg, Pages 11-23

Thursday, August 30th

• Physical Scale and Geometric Perspective (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Homework #1 (Download assignment)

Tuesday, September 4th

• Fractal worlds and Chaotic systems (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Topic of first oral presentation or written paper
• Assignment due: Read “Order in Pollock's Chaos”; Scientific American, December 2002

Thursday, September 6th

• Motion, in the real world and in animated worlds (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Read “It’s All in the Timing and the Spacing”, The Animator's Survival Kit, R. Williams, Pages 35-51
• Assignment due: Homework #2 (Download assignment)

Tuesday, September 11th

• Motion and Dance, Part 1 (Download Slides)
• NOTE: Reading assignment has been moved to Thursday; you will receive a copy of the reading in class on Tuesday.

Thursday, September 13th

• Motion and Dance, Part 2 (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Read “Motions without Turns”, Physics and the Art of Dance, K. Laws, Pages 36-51
• Assignment due: First draft of first oral presentation or written paper

Tuesday, September 18th

• Dance at the Nexus
• Assignment due: Read “The Mechanics of Movement”, The New Way Things Work, D. Macaulay, Pages 8-27

Thursday, September 20th

• Energy and the First Law (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Homework #3 (Download assignment)

Tuesday, September 25th

• Entropy and the Second Law (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Read “Exploiting Heat”, The New Way Things Work, D. Macaulay, Pages 142-157

Thursday, September 27th

• First Set of Oral Presentations
• Assignment due: Either oral presentation or written paper

Tuesday, October 2nd

• Midterm Exam
• Material from lectures up to and including "Energy and the First Law"
• Material from readings up to and including "The Mechanics of Movement"
• Allowed one page of notes (front & back)

Thursday, October 4th

• The Two Forces of the Universe (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Read “Electricity and Automation”, The New Way Things Work, D. Macaulay, Pages 256-269, 274-283

Tuesday, October 9th

• Dissecting the iPod (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Homework #4 (Download assignment)

Thursday, October 11th

• SPECIAL: Jeffrey Katzenberg interview, Morris Dailey Auditorium (in Tower Hall), 2:00pm-3:15pm
• Assignment due: None

Tuesday, October 16th

• Good Vibrations and Bad Oscillations (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Topic and outline of second oral presentation or written paper

Thursday, October 18th

• The Ear and the Brain (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Read “Brass Instruments”, Measured Tones: The Interplay of Physics and Music, I. Johnston, Pages 40-60

Tuesday, October 23rd

• Design at the Nexus (Download Slides)
• Special Guest: Corbett Griffith, Designer at Instict Engineering

Thursday, October 25th

• Instruments, Musical and Scientific (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Read “The Piano”, Measured Tones: The Interplay of Physics and Music, I. Johnston, Pages 81-92

Tuesday, October 30th

• Music at the Nexus
• Special Guest: Prof. Brian Holmes, Composer and French Horn player

Thursday, November 1st

• Radio and Television (and Microwaves and X-rays) (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Read “Electromagnetic Radiation”, Seeing the Light : Optics in Nature, Photography, Color, Vision, and Holography, D. Falk, D. Brill, & D. Stork, Pages 16-25

Tuesday, November 6th

• Second Set of Oral Presentations
• Assignment due: Either second oral presentation or written paper

Thursday, November 8th

• Shadows and Mirrors (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Read “Optics and Realism in Renaissance Art”, Scientific American, Dec. 2004

Tuesday, November 13th

• Lenses and the Eye (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Homework #6 (Download assignment)

Thursday, November 15th

• Optics and Photography
• Special Guest: Prof. Brian Taylor, Photography, SJSU
• Assignment due: Read “The Camera and Photograph, Seeing the Light : Optics in Nature, Photography, Color, Vision, and Holography, D. Falk, D. Brill, & D. Stork, Pages 107-117
• Assignment due: Topic of third oral presentation or written paper

Tuesday, November 20th

• TO BE ANNOUNCED (Download Slides)

Thursday, November 22nd

• THANKSGIVING (Campus closed)

Tuesday, November 27th

• Making Color (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Read “Detection of Fakes, Science of Paintings, W. S. Taft & J. W. Mayer, Pages 86-94

Thursday, November 29th

• Visual Arts at the Nexus (Download Slides)
• Assignment due: Homework #5 (Download assignment)

Tuesday, December 4th

• Third Set of Oral Presentations
• Assignment due: Either third oral presentation or written paper

Thursday, December 6th

• Review and Reflection
• Assignment due: Homework #7 (Download assignment)
• Assignment due: Written summary of your MUSE workshop activities

Final Exam

Tuesday, December 18th, 1215-1430