COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
Physics 298-001
Physics in Film
Fall 2008
Tuesday & Thursday 9:25 – 10:40, Rm 126 SCIC
Course Description:
A three credit course which uses popular media, particularly movies, as a basis for teaching fundamental principles of physics such as force, momentum, energy, power, electricity, magnetism, and relativity. Movies are a great tool for this purpose, because while some filmmakers do a good job of sticking to the laws of physics, many blatantly ignore them. By the end of the course, students should be able to distinguish good movie physics from bad and recognize physics principles in the world around them.
Prerequisites/Co-requisites: None. A working knowledge of mathematics, including algebra, is assumed.
Course materials:
Required:
- Don’t Try This At Home: The Physics of Hollywood Movies, Weiner, A., Kaplan Publishing (New York) 2007.
- Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics, Rogers, T., Sourcebooks Hysteria (Naperville, IL) 2007.
- Scientific Calculator
Materials on reserve in library:
- Hollywood Science: Movies, Science, & the End of the World, Perkowitz, S., Columbia University Press (New York) 2007.
- The Physics of Superheroes, Kakalios, J., Gotham Books (New York) 2005.
- The Physics of Star Trek, Krauss, L. M., Basic Books (New York) 1995.
- Beyond Star Trek: Physics from Alien Invasions to the End of Time, Krauss, L. M., Basic Books (New York) 1997.
- The Sum of All Fears, Clancy, T., G. P. Putnam’s Sons (New York) 1991.
Web-accessible resources:
- The Science of Superheroes, Gresh, L. & Weinberg, R., J. Wiley (Hoboken, N.J.) 2002.
- Bad Astronomy, Plait, P. C., John Wiley & Sons (New York) 2002.
