PHYS 127 - Science In Art Lab

1 Credit Hours
This course, intended to serve the Rome program, explores both the science of art and architecture and the science depicted in art and architecture. The first part of the course will focus on engineering. Specifically, engineering principles will be explored through a study of structures such as the Pantheon, aqueducts, the Colosseum, and Brunelleschi’s dome, as well as through a study of several of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions. The second part of the course will focus on astronomy. In particular, the astronomical observations that drove the Copernican revolution will be explored though the use of the meridian line in the Church or Santa Maria degli Angeli (in Rome), and enriched through a visit to Giordano Bruno’s statue in the Campo de’ Fiori and Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel. The last part of the course will focus on physics. Basic physics principles will be used to understand the structural issues that put Michelangelo’s David in peril and why the acoustics in Roman amphitheaters are so good (with the one in Ostia Antica serving as our laboratory). Finally, modern physics principles will be explored to understand how “hidden text” in ancient writings and early paintings by great masters can be uncovered using particle accelerations.

Co-requisites: PHYS126

Course Attributes: Nat Science Elect Lab Core, Quantitative Reason Flag Pt. 2, Scientific Perspectives Lab

Levels: Undergraduate

College of Arts & Sciences Physics & Engineering