An in-depth look at the 1854 London cholera epidemic in Soho and its importance for the field of epidemiology.

In 1854, a cholera epidemic swept through the London neighborhood of Soho. In the course of about three weeks, over 600 people died. This incident was, tragically, not unusual in London or the rest of the 19th century world as a whole. The scourge of cholera seemed unstoppable and, even worse, unpredictable. But one doctor -- ignored by the scientific community at large -- set out to prove that he knew how cholera was spread.

Join us for this one-...

We will discuss the variety of approaches humans have taken to predicting their own future. Early weeks will focus on Omens, Oracles, Religion and Prophecy. Next, we will move on to the so-called Scientific Revolution, exemplified by the work of Galileo, and the Age of Exploration, enabled by John Harrison's solution to finding longitude at sea. The last several weeks of the seminar will focus on predictive work in epidemiology, finance, and climate, and ultimately on work about the Universe's future. Students will conclude with a discussion of how computer models of health/wealth/...

Part of what makes us human is our desire to learn our own future.  Throughout recorded history, people have sought ever-more-powerful methods of Prediction.  In ancient times, sheep were sacrificed and priests read signs from the gods in their entrails; revered oracles were consulted; and astrologers read the future in the heavens.   Great scholars began to debate determinism vs. free will–is there a pre-ordained future, or do our own actions affect the future?–and that debate has never really ended.   Today’s arguments over whether...

Topics in Contemporary Astrophysics, 

This full year half course will cover a broad range of contemporary topics in observational and theoretical astrophysics through a set of 10-12 two-week modules taught by members of the Astronomy Department faculty. The course will meet twice per week, and each module will be comprised of a stand-alone topic with a single homework assignment. Enrolled students will be required to sign up for the full year and attend half of the offered modules.

This course focuses on the insight into quantitative information offered by graphs, tables, charts, maps, and other illustrations. We analyze which of these tools are best for communicating what kinds of data, and why. Ideas about causality, approximation, statistical significance, credibility, and dimensionality will be addressed by analyzing real data and their display. The data will be drawn from medical, astronomical, social-science, aerospace, financial, and geographic examples. Approximately one-third of the course will focus on web, interactive, and live presentations of data. Much...