HSCI-217: Light & Color

Why is the sky blue? Why is blood red? Why is the sun yellow? Why does a blood-red sun, setting in a deep blue sky, occasionally turn green? This course begins with a history of light, from mystical representations of light and vision in ancient Greece to the strange quantum duality of particles and waves. From there we will shift to a more classical approach: to scattering, and why sunsets are red and the sky is blue. From the properties of light waves, we will move on to refraction and lenses. There will be one major class project: designing and using an advanced pinhole camera, which utilize many optics concepts and offer unparalleled opportunities for experimentation and artistic exploration.