One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was to share some amazing free online resources I have come across, and there are many to chose from. In the past year or so I’ve been really digging the whole Podcast scene. Also, Apple now has the iTunesU section in the iTunes store, specifically for educational resources. So here is the first installment of my favorite podcasts.
The Earth and Environmental System Science Podcast
By Dr. Christian Shorey at the Colorado School of Mines
By Dr. Christian Shorey at the Colorado School of Mines
I can’t say enough good things about this podcast series… I just can’t do it justice. In a word, it is incredible. It is a series of 66 1-hour lectures covering just about every scientific discipline you can imagine. The first 44 lectures work up from atoms and minerals, through geology, absolute dating, weather, climate (including paleoclimate and climate change), life, ecology, evolution and intelligent design (wherein he illustrates in no uncertain terms the ID can not be considered scientific), biodiversity, conservation, biomimicry, the evolution of consciousness, mass extinction, environmental economics… well, you get the picture.
And these lectures simply set the stage for the 2nd portion of the series where Dr. Shorey tells the greatest story ever told: The entire history of the Universe in chronological order using a ‘geo-year’ metaphore, where the age of the Universe (13.7 billion years) is equivalent to 3 geo-years, and the age of the Earth (4.56 billion years) is equal to 1 geo-year. Starting with a discussion of space-time, he moves through the cosmic evolution following the big bang, solar system formation, abiogenesis (the origin of life), biological evolution, and ends with social and technological evolution bringing us to present day Earth. When humanity hits the scene, Dr. Shorey brilliantly incorporates comparative mythology into his lectures, and provides a truly objective view of how we came to be where and what we currently are. He ends the lecture series with a discussion on science and religion, and how the two interact.
I’ll admit I haven’t managed to listen through the entire series yet… I end up listening to the same lectures over and over again. He just bombards you with information in his skillfully crafted lectures. I would have loved to have Christian Shorey as a professor for my undergrad, and I’m a little jealous of those fortunate students.
This podcast is available for free through the ‘Podcast’ and ‘iTunesU’ sections. I recommend avoiding the iTunesU section for the podcast lectures proper, because for some reason the lectures are scattered randomly in multiple folders, and his final lecture is missing. All of the lectures are available in an organized fashion from the ‘Podcast’ section.
BUT… some extra resources (videos and notes corresponding to certain lectures) are also available only through iTunesU.
Do yourself a favor and download it today.
Evolution, Ecology and Behavior Podcast
By Dr. Stephen C. Stearns at Yale University
And these lectures simply set the stage for the 2nd portion of the series where Dr. Shorey tells the greatest story ever told: The entire history of the Universe in chronological order using a ‘geo-year’ metaphore, where the age of the Universe (13.7 billion years) is equivalent to 3 geo-years, and the age of the Earth (4.56 billion years) is equal to 1 geo-year. Starting with a discussion of space-time, he moves through the cosmic evolution following the big bang, solar system formation, abiogenesis (the origin of life), biological evolution, and ends with social and technological evolution bringing us to present day Earth. When humanity hits the scene, Dr. Shorey brilliantly incorporates comparative mythology into his lectures, and provides a truly objective view of how we came to be where and what we currently are. He ends the lecture series with a discussion on science and religion, and how the two interact.
I’ll admit I haven’t managed to listen through the entire series yet… I end up listening to the same lectures over and over again. He just bombards you with information in his skillfully crafted lectures. I would have loved to have Christian Shorey as a professor for my undergrad, and I’m a little jealous of those fortunate students.
This podcast is available for free through the ‘Podcast’ and ‘iTunesU’ sections. I recommend avoiding the iTunesU section for the podcast lectures proper, because for some reason the lectures are scattered randomly in multiple folders, and his final lecture is missing. All of the lectures are available in an organized fashion from the ‘Podcast’ section.
BUT… some extra resources (videos and notes corresponding to certain lectures) are also available only through iTunesU.
Do yourself a favor and download it today.
Evolution, Ecology and Behavior Podcast
By Dr. Stephen C. Stearns at Yale University
This is an impressive series of 36 50-minute lectures on various aspects of (as the name might suggest) evolutionary theory, ecology, and animal behavior. These are considerably more detailed than the few lectures Dr. Shorey included in his incredible podcast series, which really reflects the relative range of topics more than anything. Among the more interesting lectures here are: the evolution of sex, the impact of evolutionary thought on the social sciences, key events in evolution, coevolution, evolutionary medicine, the distribution of life on Earth, island biogeography, game theory, mating systems, and altruism. Although I don’t necessarily find Dr. Stearns as engaging as Dr. Shorey, these lectures are well constructed and worthwhile. If you’re interested in boning up on your evolutionary theory, this is the podcast for you.
Available through iTunesU
Biodiversity and the Future
By Dr. E.O. Wilson speaking at the University of Alabama
Available through iTunesU
Biodiversity and the Future
By Dr. E.O. Wilson speaking at the University of Alabama
(sorry no web-link, but you should have no trouble searching for it in the iTunes Store)
A single 1-hour video lecture by the great E.O. Wilson. For those of you who may not know, Dr. Wilson was the creator of the biological discipline ‘sociobiology’ through his study of social insects. He has published countless books on the subjects of evolution, behavior, and philosophy. One of his later brilliant contributions is the book ‘Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge’ where he calls for a reintegration of all disciplines of knowledge: the sciences, the social sciences and the humanities alike. Download this lecture if for no other reason than to listen to one of the great minds of biology share his vision for the future.
Available through iTunesU
Available through iTunesU
Enjoy
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