Spring 2010

This is my final* semester!!

6.055J The Art of Approximation in Science and Engineering
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(Same subject as 2.038J...go go MecE)
aka. How to Guess Effectively.
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Simple reasoning techniques for complex phenomena: divide and conquer, dimensional analysis, extreme cases, continuity, scaling, successive approximation, balancing, cheap calculus, and symmetry. Applications from physical and biological sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Examples include bird and machine flight, neuron biophysics, weather, prime numbers, and animal locomotion. Emphasis on low-cost experiments to test ideas and on fostering curiosity about phenomena in the world.
S. Mahajan

6.102 Introductory RF Design Laboratory
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I Love Labs.
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Introductory experimental laboratory focuses on the fundamentals of radio frequency design through the study of radio receiver circuits from 1920 to 1960. Five labs using JFETs (arranged to behave like triodes and pentodes) investigate the behavior of series and parallel tuned circuits, bandwidth control, RF amplifiers, local oscillators, mixers, IF amplifiers, AM and FM detectors, audio stages, and RF measurements. Lecture topics include regenerative receivers and detectors; tuned RF, neutrodyne, superheterodyne and FM receivers; the "All-American 5" AC-DC AM receiver; and common vacuum tube triode and pentode topologies. Five weeks of the term are devoted to the restoration and circuit analysis of an antique radio supplied by the instructor. 12 Engineering Design Points.
B. M. Roscoe

CMS.400 Media Systems and Texts
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Frankenstein and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass...I may actually do my reading this term!
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Explores theoretical, historical and critical approaches to the comparative study of media. Examines media from three perspectives: the historical evolution of particular media forms (media in transition); the migration of particular narratives across different media forms (trans-media texts); and the ways in which media texts and systems cross cultural and national boundaries (global crossings).
J. Picker

* for real this time...