Earth & Planetary Sciences 326 - Data analysis for the earth & planetary sciences
http://www.earth.northwestern.edu/individ/seth/326
| Instructor: |
Seth Stein 311 Locy Hall, (847) 491-5265
seth AT earth.northwestern.edu
|
Class Lectures: T, Th 2:00-3:30 PM, Locy 301
Class grade:
30%: Homework problems
30%: 2-page writeups of three department seminars.
discussing the accuracy, precision,
consistancy, and adequacy of the data used
30%: Term project
10%: In-class estimation problems
Portable electronic devices may not be used in class.
Students may discuss homework and reports with each other, but are expected
to work and do their writeups independently. Problem sets are due one week
after being assigned. Make-ups are ONLY allowed by making advance arrangements through the Office of Studies. Late work will be penalized no less than 50%.
As per university policy, class attendance is expected and required.
Text: An Introduction to Error Analysis:
The Study of Uncertainties in Physical Measurements (Paperback)
by John R. Taylor, University Science Books, 1997
Class handouts (downloadable pdf)
Excel file of data for sloss room table
Fortran function for Gaussian
Fortran subroutine for linear least squares
Discussion questions set 1 (pdf)
Problem set 1 (pdf)
Problem set 2 (pdf)
Problem set 3 (pdf)
Problem set 4 (pdf)
Problem set 5 (pdf)
Problem set 6 (pdf)
Forsyth & Uyeda table for problem set 6 (pdf)
Handout on using GPS data in teaching data analysis (pdf)
Optional supplementary reading:
Statistical Treatment of Experimental Data: An
Introduction to Statistical Methods
by Hugh D. Young
Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical
Sciences (Paperback)
by Philip R. Bevington and D.Keith Robinson
Lady Luck: The Theory of Probability by Warren Weaver, Dover,
1963
Understanding Probability: Chance Rules in Everyday Life by Henk
Tijms, Cambridge, 2007
Chance: A Guide to Gambling, Love, the Stock Market
and Just About Everything Else
by Amir D. Aczel, Thunder Mountain, 2004
Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology by John C. Davis, Wiley, 2002
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim
Nicholas Taleb, Random House, 2007
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the
Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Random House, 2004
When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital
Management by Roger Lowenstein, Random House, 2000
The Future of Everything: The Science of Prediction by David Orrell,
Thunder's Mouth, 2007
Extinction: Bad Genes or Bad Luck? by David M. Raup, Norton, 1991
Useless Arithmetic: Why Environmental
Scientists Can't Predict the Future
by Orrin H. Pilkey & Linda Pilkey-Jarvis, Columbia U. Press, 2007
Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast by David Archer, Willey-Blackwell, 2006
Climate of Extremes: Global Warming Science They Don't Want You to Know
by Patrick Michaels and Robert Balling, Cato Institute, 2009