STS.002 Toward the Scientific Revolution (MIT)
This subject traces the evolution of ideas about nature, and how best to study and explain natural phenomena, beginning in ancient times and continuing through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. A central theme of the subject is the intertwining of conceptual and institutional relations within diverse areas of inquiry: cosmology, natural history, physics, mathematics, and medicine.
Astronomy Gravity
This video covers the theory of gravitational forces between two objects. This is a good summation of the formulas that are used to determine this number.
8.224 Exploring Black Holes: General Relativity & Astrophysics (MIT)
Study of physical effects in the vicinity of a black hole as a basis for understanding general relativity, astrophysics, and elements of cosmology. Extension to current developments in theory and observation. Energy and momentum in flat spacetime; the metric; curvature of spacetime near rotating and nonrotating centers of attraction; trajectories and orbits of particles and light; elementary models of the Cosmos. Weekly meetings include an evening seminar and recitation. The last third of the se
21H.991J Theories and Methods in the Study of History (MIT)
The purpose of this course is to acquaint you with a variety of approaches to the past used by historians writing in the twentieth century. Most of the books on the list constitute, in my view (and others), modern classics, or potential classics, in social and economic history. We will examine how these historians conceive of their object of study, how they use primary sources as a basis for their accounts, how they structure the narrative and analytic discussion of their topic, and what are the
6.844 Computability Theory of and with Scheme (MIT)
6.844 is a graduate introduction to programming theory, logic of programming, and computability, with the programming language Scheme used to crystallize computability constructions and as an object of study itself. Topics covered include: programming and computability theory based on a term-rewriting, "substitution" model of computation by Scheme programs with side-effects; computation as algebraic manipulation: Scheme evaluation as algebraic manipulation and term rewriting theory; paradoxes fr
21L.488 Contemporary Literature (MIT)
This semester, Contemporary Literature (21L.488) deals with Irish literature, a subject broad and deep. To achieve a manageable volume of study, the course focuses primarily on poetry and prose, at drama's expense, and on living writers, at the expense of their predecessors. Each class session follows a discussion format, often with students assigned to lead-off or summarize the day's topic.
17.118J Feminist Political Thought (MIT)
This course focuses on a range of theories of gender in modern life. In recent years feminist scholars in a range of disciplines have challenged previously accepted notions of political theory such as the distinctions between public and private, the definitions of politics itself, the nature of citizenship, and the roles of women in civil society. In this course we will examine different aspects of women's lives through the life cycle as seen from the vantage point of political theory. In additi
24.262 Feeling and Imagination in Art, Science, and Technology (MIT)
This course is a seminar on creativity in art, science, and technology. We discuss how these pursuits are jointly dependent on affective as well as cognitive elements in human nature. We study feeling and imagination in relation to principles of idealization, consummation, and the aesthetic values that give meaning to science and technology as well as literature and the other arts. Readings in philosophy, psychology, and literature are part of the course.
21H.931 Seminar in Historical Methods (MIT)
This course is designed to acquaint students with a variety of approaches to the past used by historians writing in the twentieth century. The books we read have all made significant contributions to their respective sub-fields and have been selected to give as wide a coverage in both field and methodology as possible in one semester's worth of reading. We examine how historians conceive of their object of study, how they use primary sources as a basis for their accounts, how they structure the
7 Unofficial work cultures
In this unit, we are going to look at a number of situations which put a strain on the idea that caring is just 'being ordinary', including times when people are giving intimate care. In these special circumstances, since the normal rules do not apply, we have to develop a set of special rules to guide practice.
11.946J Beijing Urban Design Studio (MIT)
The Beijing Urban Design Studio is a joint program between the MIT and Tsinghua University Schools of Architecture and Planning. The goal of the studio is to foster international cooperation through the undertaking of a joint urban design and planning initiative in the city of Beijing involving important, often controversial, sites and projects. Since 1995, almost 250 MIT and Tsinghua University students and faculty have participated in this annual studio, making it one of the most suc
18.413 Error-Correcting Codes Laboratory (MIT)
This course introduces students to iterative decoding algorithms and the codes to which they are applied, including Turbo Codes, Low-Density Parity-Check Codes, and Serially-Concatenated Codes. The course will begin with an introduction to the fundamental problems of Coding Theory and their mathematical formulations. This will be followed by a study of Belief Propagation--the probabilistic heuristic which underlies iterative decoding algorithms. Belief Propagation will then be applied to the dec
4.241J Theory of City Form (MIT)
Theories about cities and the form that settlements should take will be discussed. Attempts will be made at a distinction between descriptive and normative theory, by examining examples of various theories of city form over time. The class will concentrate on the origins of the modern city and theories about its emerging form, including the transformation of the nineteenth-century city and its organization. It analyzes current issues of city form in relation to city making, social structure, and
18.409 Behavior of Algorithms (MIT)
This course is a study of Behavior of Algorithms and covers an area of current interest in theoretical computer science. The topics vary from term to term. During this term, we discuss rigorous approaches to explaining the typical performance of algorithms with a focus on the following approaches: smoothed analysis, condition numbers/parametric analysis, and subclassing inputs.
17.428 American Foreign Policy: Theory and Method (MIT)
This course examines the causes and consequences of American foreign policy since 1898. Course readings cover both substantive and methods topics. Four substantive topics are covered:
major theories of American foreign policy;
major episodes in the history of American foreign policy and historical/interpretive controversies about them;
the evaluation of major past American foreign policies--were their results good or bad? and
current policy controversies, including means of evaluating proposed
17.484 Comparative Grand Strategy and Military Doctrine (MIT)
This course will conduct a comparative study of the grand strategies of the great powers (Britain, France, Germany and Russia) competing for mastery of Europe from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Grand strategy is the collection of political and military means and ends with which a state attempts to achieve security. We will examine strategic developments in the years preceding World Wars I and II, and how those developments played themselves out in these wars. The following qu
17.960 Foundations of Political Science (MIT)
This subject, required of all first-year PhD students in political science, introduces fundamental ideas, theories, and methods in contemporary political science through the study of a small number of major books and articles that are intrinsically good and have been influential in the field. The first semester focuses principally on issues of political theory and international relations, while the second focuses principally on American and comparative politics. Readings in the fall semeste
21H.991J Theories and Methods in the Study of History (MIT)
The purpose of this course is to acquaint you with a variety of approaches to the past used by historians writing in the twentieth century. Most of the books on the list constitute, in my view (and others), modern classics, or potential classics, in social, economic and cultural history. We will examine how historians conceive of their object of study, how they use primary sources as a basis for their accounts, how they structure the narrative and analytic discussion of their topic, and what are
21W.735 Writing and Reading the Essay (MIT)
As the course title suggests, this class is meant to acquaint you with the literary and rhetorical tradition of the essay, a genre which has been described by one scholar as "the meeting ground between art and philosophy," and by another as "the place where the self finds a pattern in the world, and the world finds a pattern in the self". Though the essay is part of a tradition of prose which stretches back to antiquity, it is also a thoroughly modern and popular form of writing, found in print
CMS.801 Media in Transition (MIT)
This course centers on historical eras in which the form and function of media technologies were radically transformed. It includes consideration of the "Gutenberg Revolution," the rise of modern mass media, and the "digital revolution," among other case studies of media transformation and cultural change. Readings cover cultural and social history and historiographic methods.
