HON 210 The Physics of Interstellar

Spring 2025

Instructor Information

Instructor

Email

Office Location & Hours

Dr. Russell Herman

hermanr@uncw.edu

ST 2007J M-F 9:30-10:30
or by appointment

General Information

Description

In this course we use Interstellar as a launching pad to explore the mysteries of the universe from its origins to the recent discoveries of gravitational waves spawned by colliding black holes, interstellar travel, and the portrayal of black holes and wormholes in film. We will read Kip Thorne's The Science of Interstellar as well as Interstellar: The Complete Screenplay, by J. Nolan and C. Nolan fill in the physics background from special and general relativity, quantum mechanics, and cosmology. How has our view of the universe changed over the last 100 years and what questions remain unanswered?

Required Text

The Science of Interstellar, Kip Thorne, 2014.

Interstellar: The Complete Screenplay, J. Nolan and C. Nolan, 2014.

Course Materials

Required Materials

Other readings and videos will be posted at the course website.

Optional Materials

More information will be posted on the web related to the topics we are studying. Links can be found with summaries to the material, homework assignments, additional audiovisual materials, etc. These will be accessible through the instructor's home page at people.uncw.edu/hermanr/interstellar.

 

 

Course Requirements

Participation/Attendance: You are expected to attend every class and to contribute to the class based upon your reading. After three excused absences, there will be a penalty of 2% for each absence from your total grade.

Papers: Throughout the semester you will be required to produce in-class and out of class written work. All class work will adhere to a set of guidelines that are specified at the website.

Presentation: You will prepare group presentations to be given to the class in November. Criteria for the presentations and progress reports will be posted at the course website.

Exams and Grades: There will be a one in-class exam and a final exam. The exams will cover the basic material up to the date of the exam. The tentative dates for the exams are below.

Exam Schedule

Date

Subject

Oct. 7

Exam 1

Dec 9, 11:30

Final Exam

Your final grade will be based on the following:

Item

Percentage

Assignments

35%

Presentation

15%

Exam

20%

Final Exam

30%

 

89.5-100

A

79.5-89.5

B

69.5-79.5

C

59.5-69.5

D

This syllabus is subject to change!

Tentative Course Schedule

Classes

Topic

Reading

Aug 21

Introduction

Start Screenplay

Aug 26-28

The Universe as We Know It

Ch 2-3

Sep 2-4

Relativity and Tides

Ch 4

Sep 1 1

Black Holes, Gargantua

Ch 5-6

Sep 16-18

Orbits and Gravitational Lensing

Ch 7-8

Sep 2 3

Quasars and Accretion Disks

Ch 9, Finish Screenplay

Sep 2 5

Blight, Oxygen, Dust Bowl

Ch 11-12, Story Boards

Sep 30

Interstellar Travel

Ch 13

Oct 2

Screenplay/Story Board - discussion

 

Oct 7

Exam

Ch 1-13

Oct 14

Wormhole Physics

Ch 14-15

Oct 16

Gravitational Waves

Ch 16

Oct 21

Miller’s Planet

Ch 17-18

Oct 23

Mann’s Planet

Ch 19

Oct 28

Rotating Space Stations/Endurance

Ch 20

Oct 30

4th and 5th Dimensions

Ch 21-22

Nov 4

More Gravity

Ch 23-24

Nov 6

Professor’s Equation

Ch 25

Nov 11

Singularities and Quantum Gravity

Ch 26

Nov 13

The Tesseract

Ch 29

Nov 18-25

Student Presentations

 

Dec 2

Epilogue

 

Dec 9, 11:30

Final Exam

Cumulative

Additional Information

Academic Honor Code

"The University of North Carolina at Wilmington is committed to the proposition that the pursuit of truth requires the presence of honesty among all involved. It is therefore the institution's stated policy that no form of dishonesty among its faculty or students will be tolerated. Although all members of the university community are encouraged to report occurrences of dishonesty, each individual is principally responsible for his or her own honesty." Student Handbook. (This includes plagiarism, bribery and cheating.)

Student Disabilities

UNCW Disability Services supplies information about disability law, documentation procedures and accommodations that can be found at http://www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/disablty. To obtain accommodations the student should first contact Disability Services and present their documentation to the coordinator for review and verification.  

Campus Respect Compact

UNCW has instituted a Respect Compact to affirm our commitment to a civil community, characterized by mutual respect. That Compact will soon be affixed to the wall of each classroom and can be accessed at: https://uncw.edu/diversity/src.html.