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Well, the goal is to introduce
the students for the first time

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to physics.
That's to say calculus-based

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physics.
Many students have already had

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some of that in high school,
but many have not.

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And 8.01, the first course of
physics, covers Newtonian

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Mechanics which is at the heart
of the course.

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Depending upon the lecturer,
we also cover Fluid Mechanics a

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little, and we cover a little of
the Kinetic Gas Theory.

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Well, this course is a general
Institute requirement.

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You either have to take this
course or you have to take one

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that is slightly higher level
which we call 8.012.

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We evaluate the students
through traditional exams.

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The lectures are given in the
main lecture hall of MIT,

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26-100.
And then the students meet in

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small groups with professors.
We call those recitations,

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which is largely problem
solving.

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I would like to think that
every lecture is an event.

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And, where possible,
I go outside the standard

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curriculum.
I talk about neutron stars.

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I talk about black holes.
I talk about Big Bang

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cosmology.
In a very natural way do I

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introduce musical instruments.
I talk about supernova

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explosions.
And then, during my last

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lecture,
I introduce students to my

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research,
the research I did during my

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early days at MIT when I made
observations,

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astronomical observations in
x-rays from very high-flying

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balloons.
Those balloons are giant in

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size, sort of the size of the
Empire State Building,

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and they went up to an altitude
of about 145,000 feet.

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And that is my last lecture.
And all of these lectures are

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really events.
Well, the course material on

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OCW are my lectures in addition
to being the standard material

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that you expect from Newtonian
Mechanics,

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from Fluid Mechanics and from
Kinetic Gas Theory.

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As I mentioned earlier,
I try, where possible,

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to go a little bit beyond that
and to make them see through the

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equations.
And, by doing that,

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I make them aware of the
environment of neutron stars,

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of black holes,
of supernova explosions,

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of musical instruments.
I only do that where it comes

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naturally, but there are many
places where it comes naturally.

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So my goal is not so much to
cover a lot and to make them

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chew on a lot of equations.
But my goal is to uncover

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several very basic things that
they will remember for the rest

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of their lives.
Even if they never need physics

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anymore, I want them to see the
beauty of physics;

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I want them to love physics.