Syllabus (coming later)
Overview
I like chocolate milk.
This is the webpage of Dr. Tad Thurston, professor
of physics and astronomy (and occasionally
mathematics) at Oklahoma City Community College.
For student information regarding current courses,
please see the Courses section on the
left.
I graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1998 with
a Ph.D. in Astrophysics, then worked for a number of
years as a software engineer developing new 3D
techniques in scientific visualization. I chiefly used
C++ along with OpenGL to create physical simulations of
orbiting satellite constellations at Raytheon and
weather radar visualizations at NSSL and WDT.
Scientific visualization is a continued interest of
mine; I am working on a set of interactive physics and
astronomy simulations for education. Soon I hope to be
posting demonstrations of this software for current
classes on this site.
My office is located in room 1R2(B), which is in the
new Engineering Center.
Here is my
Schedule (coming later) for this
semester.
Feel free to drop by
during the following office hours:
(Fall 2009)
TBD
Please don't hesitate to contact me via
email
or my OCCC phone number:
(405) 682-1611 x 7605
Here are some places of personal interest around the internet:
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Every
day, a new (usually great) picture of astronomical
interest is posted with a (usually great)
explanatory caption. We look at and discuss these most
days in the general astronomy classes.
Slashdot
A good customizable news site slanted towards
those interested in programming, science, and
technology.
Cosmic
Variance
An interesting blog from a set of
theoretical physicists and cosmologists, with links to
other worthwhile blogs.
John Baez
A great set of pages dedicated
to advanced physics and mathematics subjects. If you're
interested in theoretical physics, (and who isn't?), this
is a good first stop for reading material. This is a
link to the "fun" reading stuff.
Blender
Blender is a great, free, 3D modeling and
animation program for all platforms. There are online
tutorials available. Lots of fun to play
with!
POV-Ray
This
is a GREAT free ray-tracer for all platforms with lots
of free plug-ins available. Anyone can use this to
start tinkering around with 3D computer
graphics.