Astronomy 141 - an entire introductory university course available online and free

The internet has entered an amazing phase. All manner of materials that once cost extraordinary amounts of your hard-earned are now being posted for free.

Having finally caught up with all episodes on my list of 34 (!) regular podcast subscriptions, I'm now listening my way through this little brainfood goldmine: Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe is an entire course from Ohio State University. The lecturer's description sums it up:

...an introduction to Astrobiology. The topics covered in this course lie at the interfaces between astronomy, chemistry, biology, geology, and the earth and planetary sciences. We will learn about scientists' ongoing quest for answers to some of the most fundamental human questions: How did life originate on Earth? Is there life on other worlds? Are we alone in the universe? What is the long-term future of life in the universe?

But it isn't just about the potential for life in space.


The author Richard Pogge covers all the basics first - the Copernican revolution, the internal make-up of the Earth, the genesis of life on Earth, and this very useful backgrounder on how climate change and global climate regulation works. If you look into nothing else, this episode alone is 45 minutes well spent in this era of global warming debate.

I studied a lot of these early topics in my science degree, but these podcasts are proving a great refresher of half-forgotten learnings.

You can listen to the audio from the website, or download them as podcasts via iTunes and/or an iThing. And when you are done with 141, there are Astronomy 161 - Inside the Solar System and Astronomy 162 - Stars, Galaxies and the Universe from the same lecturer. The website also has all the lecture notes, but you can do fine just listening in without props.

As someone who usually listens to podcasts at double speed. I did find that single speed was essential for properly absorbing the rapid-fire information from these lectures.

The best thing about learning this way? No exams. No assignments. Learning purely for pleasure. And 100% free. You've gotta love that!