Understanding the Periodic Table couples a comprehensive overview of the periodic table with in-depth lessons on each of its 118 elements. With Ron Davis Jr. of Georgetown University as your expert guide, you will be able to refine your portrait of one of science2s most iconic images and crucial organizational tools in 24 lessons that combine instructions with experiments and animated lab demonstrations. Spend the first half of the course exploring...

Nuclear radiation is everywhere raining down on you from space, penetrating your body from the Sun, bombarding you from the food you eat and air you breathe, zapping you in medical tests, and pelting you from consumer products. How worried should you be? Nuclear Physics Explained teaches you the basics of nuclear physics and puts your mind at ease about most sources of radiation, while alerting you to what is truly risky. In 24 fast-paced, half-hour...

Meet the men who shaped the dramatic story of the U.S. Constitution.

Uncover the story behind the famous terra-cotta warriors, one of China's most celebrated archaeological treasures. Travel into daily life in the Qin Dynasty, China's first empire; encounter the emperor Qinshi Huangdi, builder of the warriors, and observe his highly bureaucratic and technocratic regime. Explore the site of the terra-cotta army, and how the extraordinary clay figures were made.

'To know the history of the American South, within its own context, is to come to terms with one of modern history's most astonishing, polarizing, and illuminating stories. In these 24 lectures, you'll relive the unforgettable drama of the South, from the rise and fall of the slave South to the making of the New South, examining the full scope of a historical epoch that still affects life in the United States today, through essential topics such as:...

Whether science fiction is exploring current realities, extrapolating from the present to create imaginary futures, or just creating interesting settings for character-driven stories, it often relies on real science to both entertain and build stories that can transport people into astonishing new worlds. In the 24 lectures, Professor Charles L. Adler of St. Mary?s College of Maryland looks at dozens of books, movies, and television shows to unearth...

Physicists and philosophers have relied on thought experiments for thousands of years. But how can we know that the conclusions of thought experiments are correct? Learn what Leibniz' "giant head" and Searle's "Chinese room" can tell us about materialism - and about the potential limits of our own imaginations.

Two types of carcinogens mutate DNA: chemicals and radiation. Build on what you've learned about DNA by looking specifically at how these carcinogens produce cancer at the cellular level. Then, examine carcinogens that don't damage DNA and how epigenetic changes in DNA can result in cancer.

Again and again, we see how history turns on a dime. Your journey ends in Avignon in 1095, when Pope Urban II gives a speech that shapes the next thousand years of European history. After calling the people to action, thousands take up arms and begin the long trek to fight the Muslims and retake Jerusalem.

Christianity started as an apocalyptic religion, and prophecies of "end times" have endured. Take a look at different strands of apocalyptic thinking and their relationship to the Bible and to society. Then unpack how apocalyptic preaching became so popular and examine how several churches and evangelists preached about the last days.