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Well, the goal is to introduce the students for the first time
to physics. That's to say calculus-based
physics. Many students have already had
some of that in high school, but many have not.
And 8.01, the first course of physics, covers Newtonian
Mechanics which is at the heart of the course.
Depending upon the lecturer, we also cover Fluid Mechanics a
little, and we cover a little of the Kinetic Gas Theory.
Well, this course is a general Institute requirement.
You either have to take this course or you have to take one
that is slightly higher level which we call 8.012.
We evaluate the students through traditional exams.
The lectures are given in the main lecture hall of MIT,
26-100. And then the students meet in
small groups with professors. We call those recitations,
which is largely problem solving.
I would like to think that every lecture is an event.
And, where possible, I go outside the standard
curriculum. I talk about neutron stars.
I talk about black holes. I talk about Big Bang
cosmology. In a very natural way do I
introduce musical instruments. I talk about supernova
explosions. And then, during my last
lecture, I introduce students to my
research, the research I did during my
early days at MIT when I made observations,
astronomical observations in x-rays from very high-flying
balloons. Those balloons are giant in
size, sort of the size of the Empire State Building,
and they went up to an altitude of about 145,000 feet.
And that is my last lecture. And all of these lectures are
really events. Well, the course material on
OCW are my lectures in addition to being the standard material
that you expect from Newtonian Mechanics,
from Fluid Mechanics and from Kinetic Gas Theory.
As I mentioned earlier, I try, where possible,
to go a little bit beyond that and to make them see through the
equations. And, by doing that,
I make them aware of the environment of neutron stars,
of black holes, of supernova explosions,
of musical instruments. I only do that where it comes
naturally, but there are many places where it comes naturally.
So my goal is not so much to cover a lot and to make them
chew on a lot of equations. But my goal is to uncover
several very basic things that they will remember for the rest
of their lives. Even if they never need physics
anymore, I want them to see the beauty of physics;
I want them to love physics.