Fwd: Biophysics Interim

[Joel Adams]

Students,

FYI...

-Joel.

Begin forwarded message:
From: Paul Harper <pharper at calvin.edu<mailto:pharper at calvin.edu>>
Date: October 15, 2013 9:01:16 PM EDT
To: Joel Adams <adams at calvin.edu<mailto:adams at calvin.edu>>
Subject: Biophysics Interim

Dear Joel,

As I’ve done in the past, I'm offering a course in Biophysics this interim and was hoping you could let the students in your department  know about it.
I've attached a brief description/advertisement, along with a more detailed description.
Please let me know if you need more information or have any questions,
Thanks,

Paul Harper
Biophysics course information follows:
Ever wonder....
Why ants can lift 10 times their own weight while humans can’t… Why horses live longer than dogs who in turn live longer than mice… Why elephants and gerbils both have cells of the same size… Why the survival rate for cats goes up when they fall from a higher height…
If this sparks your interest,
you should consider Biophysics – IDIS W83 (cross listed as PHYS W80) a course offered this interim by Prof. Paul Harper.
Note that this course fulfills the interdisciplinary science cognate requirement for a B.S. in Biology.
Prerequisite: A semester of college level physics or a year of high school physics
Questions?   E-mail Prof. Harper at pharper at calvin.edu<mailto:pharper at calvin.edu>

Here's the catalog course description:

Biophysics is a growing discipline in which the tools of physics are used to elucidate biological systems and develop advanced medical technology.   The course covers a broad spectrum of topics, including why ants can easily lift many times their own weight, how CAT and PET scans work, how bees fly, and why our lungs must be coated with surfactant (biological soap). Medical biophysics is emphasized, both in using physics to understand the human body and in explaining how medical devices work.  An additional feature of the course is that no calculators are used.  All results are achieved by estimation, with a focus on learning the art of approximation.
The class is highly participatory and the hope is that students will make the application of physical reasoning to biophysical systems their own, so that they can draw on this skill in the future.   In addition to the above items, there is also a section devoted to the construction of simple biophysical simulations using the open source software package Sage.  Note that no previous experience with simulations or Sage is needed.
 Prerequisites: The course is designed to be accessible to any student with at least a semester of algebra based college physics or a year of algebra based high school physics.
Objectives: Be able to apply the laws of physics and physical reasoning to biological systems and medical technology.


Paul Harper, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Calvin College
1734 Knollcrest Circle SE
Grand Rapids, MI  49546-4403  USA

E-mail: pharper at calvin.edu<mailto:pharper at calvin.edu>
Phone: (616) 526-6408
Fax:      (616) 526-6501


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joel C. Adams, Ph.D.
Chair, Dept of Computer Science
Calvin College
http://www.calvin.edu/~adams

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