In 2014 the Boulder Cosmology Group met at 7PM for DVD lectures on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month and reading discussions on third Mondays at the Meadows Branch of the Boulder Public Library.
See http://www.sackett.net/cosmologyAll.htm for a list of all materials covered in the Cosmology Group since it began meeting in 2003.
01/22/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor David M. Meyer, Experiencing Hubble: Understanding the Greatest Images of the Universe.
01/27/2014 Book Discussion: Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe, by Christopher Hill and Leon Lederman. Second third of the book (Chapters 6 - 9). Book notes from Jeff.
02/12/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor David M. Meyer, Experiencing Hubble: Understanding the Greatest Images of the Universe.
02/24/2014 Book Discussion: Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe, by Leon Lederman. Rest of the book. Book notes from Jeff.
02/26/2014 and second and fourth Wednesdays throughout the year: Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 43, Determining the Distance to and Surface Temperature of Distant Stars and Lecture 44, The Intrinsic Brightnesses of Stars.
03/12/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 45, The Diverse Sizes of Stars and Lecture 46, Binary Stars and Stellar Masses.
03/17/2014 Book Discussion: The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter, by Helen R. Quinn and Yossi Nir. Chapters 1 - 8.
03/26/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 47, Star Clusters, Ages, and Remote Distances. Rather than watch a second lecture at this meeting, we discussed the recent
BICEP2 announcement
of the detection of gravity wave patterns in the Cosmic Microwave Background.
04/09/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 48, How Stars Shine–Nature's Nuclear Reactors and Lecture 49, Solar Neutrinos–Probes of the Sun's Core.
04/21/2014 Book Discussion: The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter, by Helen R. Quinn and Yossi Nir. Chapters 9 - 16.
04/23/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 54, White Dwarf Supernovae and Lecture 55, Core-Collapse Supernovae.
05/14/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 58, Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and Lecture 59, Warping of Space and Time.
05/19/2014 Book Discussion: The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter, by Helen R. Quinn and Yossi Nir. The rest of the book (Chapters 17 - 21). A note from Jeff about Mass States, Flavor States, Mixing, and Neutrino Oscillation.
05/28/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 60, Black Holes–Introduction and Lecture 61, The Quest for Black Holes.
06/11/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 62, Imagining the Journey to a Black Hole and Lecture 63, Wormholes–Gateways to Other Universes?
06/16/2014 Book Discussion: The New Quantum Universe, by Tony Hey and Patrick Walters. Through Chapter 7.
For commentary with a little more math about QM and other topics we've discussed in the group, see Dave's A Stroll Through Physics.
06/25/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 64, Quantum Physics and Black-Hole Evaporation and Lecture 65, Enigmatic Gamma-Ray Bursts.
07/09/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 66, Birth Cries of Black Holes and Lecture 67, Our Home–The Milky Way Galaxy.
07/21/2014 Book Discussion: The New Quantum Universe, by Tony Hey and Patrick Walters. Chapter 8 to the end of the book.
For more on the EPR Paradox (discussed on pages 166-172 in the book), see Mermin's 1985 Physics Today article
and Pitowsky's 1994 article.
For commentary, with a little more math, about Quantum Mechanics and other topics we've discussed in the group, see Dave's A Stroll Through Physics.
07/23/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 70, The Dark Side of Matter and Lecture 71, Cosmology–The Really Big Picture.
08/13/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 73, Searching for Distant Galaxies and Lecture 74, The Evolution of Galaxies.
08/18/2014 Book Discussion: QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, by Richard P. Feynman. Through Chapter 2.
We will also discuss Feynman's 1965 Nobel Lecture (available online).
08/27/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 75, Active Galaxies and Quasars and Lecture 76, Cosmic Powerhouses of the Distant Past.
09/10/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 77, Supermassive Black Holes and Lecture 78, Feeding the Monster.
09/15/2014 Book Discussion: QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, by Richard P. Feynman. Chapters 3 and 4.
09/24/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 79, The Paradox of the Dark Night Sky and Lecture 80, The Age of the Universe.
10/08/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 81, When Geometry Is Destiny and Lecture 82, The Mass Density of the Universe.
10/20/2014 Book Discussion: Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn, by Amanda Gefter. Chapters 1 to 8.
10/22/2014 Lectures 24 and 28 from Satyan Devadoss's DVD lecture series “The Shape of Nature”. These lectures, titled “The Topology of the Universe” and “The Geometry of the Universe”, cover the qualitative and quantitative nature of the shape of the space that makes up our Universe.
11/12/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 83, Einstein's Biggest Blunder? and Lecture 84, The Afterglow of the Big Bang.
11/17/2014 Book Discussion: Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn, by Amanda Gefter. Chapters 9 to 15.
11/26/2014 No meeting (Thanksgiving).
12/10/2014 Selected DVD lectures from Professor Alex Filippenko, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy.
Lecture 85, Ripples in the Cosmic Background Radiation and Lecture 86, The Stuff of the Cosmos.
12/15/2014 Book Discussion: The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next, by Lee Smolin. Parts I and II.
For more information, e-mail group leader Jeff Grove: jeff1.grove@gmail.com.
This is http://www.sackett.net/cosmologySchedule2014.htm, last updated November 14, 2014.