Carlos Eire, Yale University: "A Brusque History of Eternity - Lecture 1: The Birth of Eternity" –
Until fairly recently eternity was no mere abstraction or metaphor in the Christian tradition, but rather the ultimate destination for humankind, a metaphysical conceit with practical implications as inescapable as legal obligations, or taxes, or death. Eternity was an ineffable mystery, to be sure, but of no less value in human interaction than money itself, or crowns and thrones. In our own day, however, eternity seems a purely abstract concept best left in the hands of astrophysicists, a frig
Curt Hillegas, Frans Pretorius, Dan Marlow, Roberto Car - Princeton University: "Research Computing
As the power of computational resources continues to grow, researchers at Princeton University rely more heavily on research computing. The TIGRESS High Performance Computing Center is a collaborative collection of four major HPC resources, storage, and programmers designed to facilitate computational science and engineering on campus. Following a brief overview of the TIGRESS systems, their capabilities, and the application process for using them, several faculty will discuss their research u
Frans Pretorius, Princeton University: "Research Computing - Princeton Perspectives" PDF
As the power of computational resources continues to grow, researchers at Princeton University rely more heavily on research computing. The TIGRESS High Performance Computing Center is a collaborative collection of four major HPC resources, storage, and programmers designed to facilitate computational science and engineering on campus. Following a brief overview of the TIGRESS systems, their capabilities, and the application process for using them, several faculty will discuss their research u
Dan Marlow, Princeton University: "Research Computing - Princeton Perspectives" PDF
As the power of computational resources continues to grow, researchers at Princeton University rely more heavily on research computing. The TIGRESS High Performance Computing Center is a collaborative collection of four major HPC resources, storage, and programmers designed to facilitate computational science and engineering on campus. Following a brief overview of the TIGRESS systems, their capabilities, and the application process for using them, several faculty will discuss their research u
Roberto Car, Princeton University: "Research Computing - Princeton Perspectives" PDF
As the power of computational resources continues to grow, researchers at Princeton University rely more heavily on research computing. The TIGRESS High Performance Computing Center is a collaborative collection of four major HPC resources, storage, and programmers designed to facilitate computational science and engineering on campus. Following a brief overview of the TIGRESS systems, their capabilities, and the application process for using them, several faculty will discuss their research u
Carlos Eire, Yale University: "A Brusque History of Eternity - Lecture 2: Protestantism and the Refo
Until fairly recently eternity was no mere abstraction or metaphor in the Christian tradition, but rather the ultimate destination for humankind, a metaphysical conceit with practical implications as inescapable as legal obligations, or taxes, or death. Eternity was an ineffable mystery, to be sure, but of no less value in human interaction than money itself, or crowns and thrones. In our own day, however, eternity seems a purely abstract concept best left in the hands of astrophysicists, a frig
Carlos Eire, Yale University: "A Brusque History of Eternity - Lecture 3: From Eternity to Five-Year
Until fairly recently eternity was no mere abstraction or metaphor in the Christian tradition, but rather the ultimate destination for humankind, a metaphysical conceit with practical implications as inescapable as legal obligations, or taxes, or death. Eternity was an ineffable mystery, to be sure, but of no less value in human interaction than money itself, or crowns and thrones. In our own day, however, eternity seems a purely abstract concept best left in the hands of astrophysicists, a frig
Bernard Chazelle: Why Your Humble iPod Might Be Holding the Biggest Mystery in All of Science
Moore's Law holds that, every 18 months, computing power doubles. Most of the wonders of the computer age can be directly attributed to Moore's Law. Alas, its days are numbered. What then? In this talk Dr. Chazelle argues that the years ahead will usher in the era of the "Algorithm," a notion that will prove even more disruptive and revolutionary than quantum mechanics was in the 20th century.
More info: http://blogs.princeton.edu/itsacademic/2007/12/why_your_humble_ipod_may_be_holding_the_bigg
Bernard Chazelle: Why Your Humble iPod Might Be Holding the Biggest Mystery in All of Science PDF
Moore's Law holds that, every 18 months, computing power doubles. Most of the wonders of the computer age can be directly attributed to Moore's Law. Alas, its days are numbered. What then? In this talk Dr. Chazelle argues that the years ahead will usher in the era of the "Algorithm," a notion that will prove even more disruptive and revolutionary than quantum mechanics was in the 20th century.
More info: http://blogs.princeton.edu/itsacademic/2007/12/why_your_humble_ipod_may_be_holding_the_bigg
17 - Backward induction: ultimatums and bargaining
We develop a simple model of bargaining, starting from an ultimatum game (one person makes the other a take it or leave it offer), and building up to alternating offer bargaining (where players can make counter-offers). On the way, we introduce discounting: a dollar tomorrow is worth less than a dollar today. We learn that, if players are equally patient, if offers can be in rapid succession, and if each side knows how much the game is worth to the other side, then the first offer is for an equa
07 - Nash equilibrium: shopping, standing and voting on a line
We first consider the alternative "Bertrand" model of imperfect competition between two firms in which the firms set prices rather than setting quantities. Then we consider a richer model in which firms still set prices but in which the goods they produce are not identical. We model the firms as stores that are on either end of a long road or line. Customers live along this line. Then we return to models of strategic politics in which it is voters that are spread along a line. This time, however
03 - Iterative deletion and the median-voter theorem
We apply the main idea from last time, iterative deletion of dominated strategies, to analyze an election where candidates can choose their policy positions. We then consider how good is this classic model as a description of the real political process, and how we might build on it to improve it. Toward the end of the class, we introduce a new idea to get us beyond iterative deletion. We think about our beliefs about what the other player is going to do, and then ask what is the best strategy fo
26 - Learning from and Responding to Financial Crisis, Part II (Guest Lecture by Lawrence Summers)
In the second of his two lectures in honor of Arthur Okun, Professor Summers points out that real interest rates have been very low in the current subprime crisis. This indicates that the shock to the economy was more a financial breakdown shock than a disinflation shock. But financial breakdown shocks are not necessarily very harmful to the economy, so long as financial intermediation capital is not destroyed. In a financial crisis like the present one, financial firms are likely to take the st
23 - Paradise XXX, XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII
Professor Mazzotta lectures on the final cantos of Paradiso (30-33). The pilgrim's journey through the physical world comes to an end with his ascent into the Empyrean, a heaven of pure light beyond time and space. Beatrice welcomes Dante into the Heavenly Jerusalem, where the elect are assembled in a celestial rose. By describing the Empyrean as both a garden and a city, Dante recalls the poles of his own pilgrimage while dissolving the classical divide between urbs and rus, between civic li
20 - Paradise XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXII
In this lecture, Professor Mazzotta examines Paradiso 18-19 and 21-22. In Paradiso 18, Dante enters the heaven of Jupiter, where the souls of righteous rulers assume the form of an eagle, the emblem of the Roman Empire. The Eagle's outcry against the wickedness of Christian kings leads Dante to probe the boundaries of divine justice by looking beyond the confines of Christian Europe. By contrasting the political with the moral boundaries that distinguish one culture from another, Dante opens
17 - Paradise IV, VI, X
This lecture deals with Paradiso 4, 6 and 10. At the beginning of Paradiso 4, the pilgrim raises two questions to which the remainder of the canto is devoted. The first concerns Piccarda (Paradiso 3) who was constrained to break her religious vows. The second concerns the arrangement of the souls within the stars. The common thread that emerges from Beatrice’s reply is the relationship between intellect and will. Just as Piccarda’s fate reveals the limitations of the will, the represent
13 - Purgatory XIX, XXI, XXII
This lecture deals primarily with Purgatorio 19, 21 and 22. The ambiguity of the imagination discussed in the preceding lecture as the selfsame path to intellectual discovery and disengagement is explored in expressly poetic terms. While the pilgrim’s dream of the siren in Purgatorio 19 warns of the death-dealing power of aesthetics, the encounter between Statius and Virgil in the cantos that follow points to its life-giving potential by casting poetry as a means of conversion.
08 - Inferno XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII
Professor Mazzotta begins this lecture by recapitulating the ambivalent nature of Ulysses’ sin and its relevance to Dante’s poetic project. Inferno 27 is then read in conjunction with the preceding canto. The antithetical relationship between Dante’s false counselors, Ulysses and Guido da Montefeltro, anchors an overarching discussion of the relationship between rhetoric and politics. The latter half of the lecture is devoted to Inferno 28, where Dante’s preeminent sower of discord, B
05 - Inferno IX, X, XI
In this lecture, Professor Mazzotta discusses Inferno 9-11. An impasse at the entrance to the City of Dis marks Virgil’s first failure in his role as guide (Inferno 9). The invocation of Medusa by the harpies that descend while they wait for divine aid elicits Dante’s first address to the reader. The question of literary mediation, posed in the previous lecture in the context of Inferno 5, is explored further, and the distinction Dante draws between the “allegory of poets” and the “
2.019 Design of Ocean Systems (MIT)
This course is the completion of the cycle of designing, implementing and testing an ocean system, including hardware and software implementation, that begins with 2.017J. Design lectures are given in hydrodynamics, power and thermal aspects of ocean vehicles, environment, materials and construction for ocean use, electronics, sensors, and actuators. Student teams work within schedule and budget, setting goals, reviewing progress, and making regular and final presentations. Instruction and pract
