Your various memory systems, provide the continuity of consciousness that allows the concept of "you" to make sense, creating the ongoing narrative that makes your life truly yours. Without those systems and the overall experience of memory they make possible, you would have no context for the most crucial decisions of your life. You would have to make, without the benefit of experience and knowledge, the decisions that determine not only your quality...

This course begins with the challenge of defining intelligence for scientific study. Savants show one aspect of specific mental abilities, but there is also strong evidence that all mental abilities have a common general factor of intelligence-- called "g". Measuring "g" and other factors of intellegence depends mostly on IQ-type tests, which the course will explain, including what these tests do and do not measure.

Calculus is the greatest mathematical breakthrough since the pioneering discoveries of the ancient Greeks. Without it, there would be no spaceflight, skyscrapers, jet planes, economic modeling, or accurate weather forecasting. One of the most powerful problem solving tools ever invented, calculus is a skill that can be learned. Its techniques are used to analyze situations involving change, to calculate optimum values, and to measure complex shapes....

"Calculus II is the payoff for mastering Calculus I. This second course in the calculus sequence introduces you to exciting new techniques and applications of one of the most powerful mathematical tools ever invented. Equipped with the skills of Calculus II, you can solve a wide array of problems in the physical, biological, and social sciences, engineering, economics, and other areas. Success at Calculus II also gives you a solid foundation for the...

These 36 half-hour lectures are your initiation into the geological world that lies just outside your door. "The Nature of Earth: An Introduction to Geology" introduces you to physical geology, the study of Earth's minerals, rocks, soils, and the processes that operate on them through time.

Chronicles the history of the United States from colonial origins to the beginning of the 21st century.

A series of biographic portraits of Roman emperors, from Augustus Caesar to Constantine. Fagan discusses the emperors' characters, the reliability of historical sources, the role of women in the imperial court, the relationship of the emperor to different groups in Roman society, the Roman political and social systems, and an overview of the main scholarly debates.

A lecture series on the French Revolution. The 25 years between the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 and the Bourbon Restoration after Napoleon in 1814 is an astonishing period in world history. This era shook the foundations of the old world and marked a permanent shift for politics, religion, and society ; not just for France, but for all of Europe.