Essay Topics
As a guideline, essays should be typewritten, 6-8 pages double-spaced. In many cases your discussion will be helped by diagrams: these can be downloaded, hand-drawn or drawn on the computer. Include equations if you think it helps. Remember to give references for any external sources you use. You may use Wikipedia for ideas and access to primary sources but DO NOT use it as your primary source of information. Marks will be deducted for poor writing skills. Your attention is drawn to the The Academic Writing Centre and Writing Tutorial Service which provides support.
Marking Scheme (Guidelines) for essays
- 15% Basic writing
- 20% Summary of Source material
- 10% Structure of Essay
- 15% Outside materials/references
- 40% Discussion of Science content
You are not limited to the topics below: you can find your own but must clear it with me first. In most of the topics I have included a series of questions: this is just for guidance and you do not need to answer all of these. I expect you to find your own questions and try to answer them.
- Read one of the classic works on space travel and science fiction and relate it to the practical limitations as discussed in the lectures : e.g.
- The Brick Moon (Hale)
- From the Earth to the Moon (Verne)
- First Men in the Moon (Wells)
- Mission of Gravity (Clement)
- Neutron Star (Niven)
- 2001, A Space Odyssey (Clarke)
Do the authors get the physics right? For the older books, do you think the physics represented the state of knowledge of the time?
- Explore the issues of transport and energy more deeply: e.g.
- Are diesel vehicles better than hybrids?
- Is the so-called “hydrogen economy” practical?
- Can we have fly-wheel powered cars?
- Is Elon Musk’s idea of the Hyperloop practical?
- Expand on the physical limitations on space travel and discuss the various ideas that are being/might be applied to future missions: e.g.
- Space elevator
- Plasma/ion drives
- Solar sails
- We have discussed how rainbows form in a simple way. Expand this discussion, and consider the following questions:
- How does a second arc form?
- Why is the sky always brightest inside the primary bow?
- How does a halo round the sun (or moon) form?
- How does a sundog form?
- What other light related phenomena in the sky can you explain?
- The introduction to the course discussed cell-phones very briefly. Expand the discussion and try to answer some of the following questions at the physics level:
- How is the voice signal transmitted?
- How is it transformed into a audible signal?
- What parts of the EM spectrum are used and why?
- Why do cellphones not work everywhere?
- How does the lens on the camera work?
- How is the light detected?
- How is the information stored in the memory?
- I have claimed that weather forcasting is intrinsically unreliable more than a day nor so ahead. Take the 5-day weather forecast for Ottawa: did it work in practice?
- How are long term forecasts made (e.g. for the upcoming winter)?
- Are they likely to be reliable? How are hurricanes predicted?
- It is claimed that global warming would lead to an increase of severe (Category 3) hurricanes: is there any evidence?
- How do tornadoes arise and can we predict them, even over the short term?
- The discussion of the magnetic fields of the earth and sun was very simplistic.
- Where do they arise from?
- Why do we think the magnetic field of the earth has reversed over history?
- Why do the magnetic poles move?
- How are they related to the aurora?
- The Quebec black-out of 1982 was caused by a magnetic storm: what is meant by this?
- Is it likely to recur?
- What is the sunspot cycle?
- A few animals use electrical and magnetic phenomena.
- How do electric eels work?
- How do magnetotactic bacteria use the magnetic field of the earth?
- Do homing pigeons use the same methods?
- Can you find any other examples?
- We have discussed the eye briefly.
- How does the human eye focus?
- How do we respond to changing light levels?
- How do we detect the light at the molecular level?
- What are the limits on how well we can detect light?
- A common problem as we age is cataracts: what are they and how are they cured?
- How does the human eye differ from an insect eye?
- Can any other animals detect other parts of the EM spectrum?
- Write a book/play report on a quantum-mechanics related theme: e.g.
- Copenhagen (play by Michael Frayn)
- Hapgood (play by Tom Stoppard)
- Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist (McCormach)
- Garden of Forking Paths /Library of Babel (short stories Jorge Luis Borges). You need to think of these in the context of the Many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the discussion of entropy.
- Discuss some of the philosophical issues behind quantum mechanics, such as the issues of measurement and collapse of the wave function, or the nature of entangled states. Don’t be too ambitious: this is a difficult topic! Some books in the library
- Quantum philosophy : understanding and interpreting contemporary science (Roland Omnés, Princeton University Press, c1999)
- Speakable and unspeakable in quantum mechanics : collected papers on quantum philosophy (John Bell, Cambridge University Press, 1987. )
- Nature loves to hide : quantum physics and reality, a western perspective (Shimon Malin, Oxford University Press, 2001)
- Quantum reflections (John Ellis Cambridge University Press, 2000)
- We have discussed a few of the issues round nuclear power. Expand the discussion:
- how should we get rid of nuclear waste?
- Can we make reactors safe?
- Can we make reactors safer?
- What went wrong at Chernobyl and Fukushima?
- Is the area round Chernobyl a radioactive desert?
- Is fusion power likely to be an answer?
- Global Warming: in the opening to the course I talked a bit about global warming. Based on what we now know
- Is global warming man-made or just a natural phenomenon?
- Why is the uncertainty in the predictions?
- To what extent is it a political problem?
- Various “exotic” solutions have been proposed, such as putting reflecting satellites in orbit and burying carbon dioxide. Are they likely to solve the problem
- Do you have a solution?
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