Current research on the evolution and development of cognition and affect, including intuitive physics, biology, and psychology, language, emotions sexuality, social relations.
Evolution of Physical Oceanography was created to mark the career of Henry M. Stommel, the leading physical oceanographer of the 20th Century and a longtime MIT faculty member. The authors of the different chapters were asked to describe the evolution of their subject over the history of physical oceanography, and to provide a survey of the state-of-the-art of their subject as of 1980. Many of the chapters in this textbook are still up-to-date descriptions of active scientific fields, and all of them are important historical records. This textbook is made available courtesy of The MIT Press.
Seminar covering topics of current interest in biology. Includes reading and analysis of research papers and student presentations. Contact Biology Education Office for topics.
This course provides business students an alternative to the mechanistic view of strategy execution that reframes an organization as a complex network of teams continuously adjusting to market conditions and to other teams. The Flexible Execution Model is introduced consisting of seven elements that together shape how well an organization executes its strategy. Practical tools that help leaders achieve their organizations' strategic priorities are discussed. The course also explores novel ways to use data including surveys, Glassdoor reviews, and other sources to measure strategy execution and identify what is and is not working.
Uses scale models to design environments that orchestrate contrasting material properties and conventional constructional systems to create places that foster specific ways of inhabiting space. Demonstrates how architecture differs from other forms of design. Intended for students to test aptitude for architectural design and to experience an unfamiliar mode of thought. Conducted in a studio format, with lectures on architectural theory and history, and structured for students with no previous experience in design. Required of Course IV majors.
7.02 and 7.021 require simultaneous registration. Application of experimental techniques in biochemistry, microbiology, and cell biology. Emphasizes integrating factual knowledge with understanding the design of experiments and data analysis to prepare the students for research projects. Instruction and practice in written communication provided.
This course is the scientific communications portion of course 7.02, Experimental Biology and Communication. Students develop their skills as writers of scientific research, skills that also contribute to the learning of the 7.02 course materials. Through in class and out of class writing exercises, students explore the genre of the research article and its components while developing an understanding of the materials covered in the 7.02 laboratory.
Experimental Methods of Adjustable Tetrode Array Neurophysiology
In this class, students engage in independent research projects to probe various aspects of the physiology of the bacteriumĺĘPseudomonas aeruginosa PA14, an opportunistic pathogen isolated from the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. Students use molecular genetics to examine survival in stationary phase, antibiotic resistance, phase variation, toxin production, and secondary metabolite production. Projects aim to discover the molecular basis for these processes using both classical and cutting-edge techniques. These include plasmid manipulation, genetic complementation, mutagenesis, PCR, DNA sequencing, enzyme assays, and gene expression studies. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication are also emphasized. WARNING NOTICE The experiments described in these materials are potentially hazardous and require a high level of safety training, special facilities and equipment, and supervision by appropriate individuals. You bear the sole responsibility, liability, and risk for the implementation of such safety procedures and measures. MIT shall have no responsibility, liability, or risk for the content or implementation of any of the material presented. Legal Notice
Laboratory uses yeast as an experimental system to study fundamental problems in understanding cell cycle and chromosome segregation. Experimental work combines genetic approaches with the tools of molecular and cell biology to identify and characterize novel genes that act on these processes. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided.
Designed for students without previous experience in techniques of cellular and molecular biology, this class teaches basic experimental techniques in cellular and molecular neurobiology. Experimental approaches covered include tissue culture of neuronal cell lines, dissection and culture of brain cells, DNA manipulation, synaptic protein analysis, immunocytochemistry, and fluorescent microscopy.
Junior Lab consists of two undergraduate courses in experimental physics. The courses are offered by the MIT Physics Department, and are usually taken by Juniors (hence the name). Officially, the courses are called Experimental Physics I and II and are numbered 8.13 for the first half, given in the fall semester, and 8.14 for the second half, given in the spring.The purposes of Junior Lab are to give students hands-on experience with some of the experimental basis of modern physics and, in the process, to deepen their understanding of the relations between experiment and theory, mostly in atomic and nuclear physics. Each term, students choose 5 different experiments from a list of 21 total labs.
Gain practical insight and improved understanding of engineering experimentation through design and execution of "project" experiments. Building upon work in 16.621, students construct and test equipment, make systematic experimental measurements of phenomena, analyze data, and compare theoretical predictions with results. Written final report on entire project and formal oral presentation. Includes instructions on oral presentations. Provides valuable link between theory and practice.
Introduces laboratory experimental techniques. Principles of experimental design and reliable measurement. Laboratory safety. Instruction in effective report writing and oral presentation, including revision of written work. Selection and detailed planning of an individual research project, including design of components or equipment. Preparation of a detailed proposal for the selected project carried through to completion under 16.622.
Study of physical effects in the vicinity of a black hole as the basis for understanding general relativity, astrophysics, and elements of cosmology. Extension to current developments in theory and observation. Energy and momentum in flat spacetime; the metric; curvature or spacetime near rotating and nonrotating centers of attraction; the Global Positioning System and its dependence on general relativity; trajectories and orbits of particles. Subject has online component and classroom lectures are replaced with online interactions: manipulation of visualization software, access to websites describing current research, electronic submission of homework, and structured online discussions between undergraduates and alumni and with instructors and graduate specialists in the topics covered.
Student teams formulate and complete space/earth/ocean exploration-based design projects with weekly milestones. This course introduces core engineering themes, principles, and modes of thinking, and includes exercises in written and oral communication and team building. Specialized learning modules enable teams to focus on the knowledge required to complete their projects, such as machine elements, electronics, design process, visualization and communication. Examples of projects include surveying a lake for millfoil from a remote controlled aircraft, then sending out robotic harvesters to clear the invasive growth; and exploration to search for the evidence of life on a moon of Jupiter, with scientists participating through teleoperation and supervisory control of robots.
Subject focused on forms of exposition, including narration, critique, argument, and persuasion. Frequent writing assignments, regular revisions, and short oral presentations are required. Readings and specific writing assignments vary by section. See subject's URL for enhanced section descriptions. Emphasis is on developing students' ability to write clear and effective prose. Students can expect to write frequently, to give and receive response to work in progress, to improve their writing by revising, to read the work of accomplished writers, and to participate actively in class discussions and workshops. Focus: What can we believe when we read an autobiography? How do writers recall, select, shape, and present their lives to construct life stories? Readings that ground these questions include selections from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Linda Brent (pseudonym for Harriet Jacobs), "A Sketch of the Past" by Virginia Woolf, Notes of A Native Son by James Baldwin, "The Achievement of Desire" by Richard Rodriguez, The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, and "Our Secret" by Susan Griffin. Discussion, papers, and brief oral presentations will focus on the content of the life stories as well as the forms and techniques authors use to shape autobiography. We will identify masks and stances used to achieve various goals, sources and interrelationships of technical and thematic concerns, and "fictions" of autobiographical writing. Assignments will allow students to consider texts in terms of their implicit theories of autobiography, of theories we read, and of students' experiences; assignments also allow some autobiographical writing.
Formulating, organizing, and presenting ideas clearly in writing. Reviews basic principles of rhetoric. Focuses on development of a topic, thesis, choice of appropriate vocabulary, and sentence structure to achieve purpose. Develops idiomatic prose style. Gives attention to grammar and vocabulary usage. Special focus on strengthening skills of bilingual students. Successful completion satisfies Phase I of the Writing Requirement. The purpose of this course is to develop your writing skills so that you can feel confident writing the essays, term papers, reports, and exams you will have to produce during your career here at MIT. We will read and analyze samples of expository writing, do some work on vocabulary development, and concentrate on developing your ability to write clear, accurate, sophisticated prose. We will also deal with the grammar and mechanical problems you may have trouble with.
Basic principles of planet atmospheres and interiors applied to the study of extrasolar planets (exoplanets). Focus on fundamental physical processes related to observable exoplanet properties. Quantitative overview of detection techniques. Introduction to the feasibility of the search for Earth-like planets, biosignatures and habitable conditions on exoplanets.
This course will teach fundamentals of control design and analysis using state-space methods. This includes both the practical and theoretical aspects of the topic. By the end of the course, you should be able to design controllers using state-space methods and evaluate whether these controllers are robust to some types of modeling errors and nonlinearities. You will learn to: Design controllers using state-space methods and analyze using classical tools. Understand impact of implementation issues (nonlinearity, delay). Indicate the robustness of your control design. Linearize a nonlinear system, and analyze stability.