Science   

The Science of Energy
SCI-01 (in-person)
Session I: Sept. 14, 21, 28, Oct. 5
Mondays 12:15 - 1:30 pm
This class is designed for anyone interested in the basic science of how solar cells work, how a heat pump works, how a nuclear reactor works, how the energy in coal is turned into electrical energy, how experts think about the efficiency of various ways of converting, storing, and transporting energy, where the energy of the future will come from, when it will run out, and what parts of all of this are relevant in Alaska. Examples of typical topics can be found in the Stanford University Understand Energy course at https://understand-energy.stanford.edu, the podcast series Closing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann, and numerous other free online resources.

Instructor David Withoff has a Ph.D. in Physics, has taught physics, mathematics, statistics, and computer programming at the college level, and recently retired from a career writing training materials for mathematical software. Dave enjoys learning about math and science topics that come up in everyday life.