LOVED this class. Astronomy is super fascinating and this class was not hard. Very little math required (seriously, basic stuff) and science concepts are very manageable.

Prof. Furlanetto posts all of his lecture audio online (which led me to skip a lot of classes and listen to hours worth of lecture... don't be me). His powerpoints are mostly pictures and short points, so the audio is where it's at. He's a cool guy, too. Clear, direct, reasonable, and sometimes funny. I liked him.

There are weekly quizzes online. Usually 10-15 questions, and you should have no problem getting As or 100s on all of them because not only is there no time limit, you get 3 chances. You don't need to buy any homework software or anything--all quizzes are on CCLE.

Exams are all multiple choice and not too bad at all. You have 2 midterms and a final. If you do the work and don't procrastinate too much, you should be able to get a A. There was moderate reading, but the reading was interesting (MOST of the time, anyway). I suggest not reading it all at once; split it up over the course of the week, because it does get a little much if you try to read it all in one sitting.

Selling textbook for HALF off original price, so $50! Good condition. About 2 chapters are neatly highlighted, but the rest is clean; binder included. Email ************* if you want it :)

Furlanetto is the type of professor that give privileges to some students according to ethnicity or race. If you are white you don't to do that much to get A, if you are Hispanic or Latino you have to more than whites to get a B+. I do not recommend Hispanics to take a class with furlanetto if it is not required.

Good class, nice guy. I thought he was really funny haha. If you want to do well you have to do a lot of reading each week. Midterms and finals were both multiple choice, not too difficult. Ended with an A-

Good class, nice guy. I thought he was really funny haha. If you want to do well you have to do a lot of reading each week. Midterms and finals were both multiple choice, not too difficult. Ended with an A-

Furlanetto is clear and concise in his teaching of this class. There's yet to be a question (however unrelated to the class) that he hasn't been able to answer well. Lectures can be a little dry at times, but he does a good job breaking down often complex topics into simple terms. If you attend or listen (all lectures are podcast-ed) to all lectures (while looking at the slides he posts) you'll do well. Labs can be somewhat difficult at times, but the class isn't especially difficult or time consuming overall.

Funny guy who teaches a super interesting class. Don't need the textbook because all the information you need is on the slides which are posted online. My grade ended up being decided by the labs which were graded very strictly. Two midterms are pretty easy so it wasnt hard to get good grades on them, but the final is extremely challenging. Although it was a difficult class, professor Furlaneto is enjoyable and the material is very intriguing.

This is a great class, taught by a great professor that genuinely cares for student learning. Professor Furlanetto places more of an emphasis on cosmology in this class, so if you want to take a cosmology class and learn a lot, this is for you!

I really loved this class honestly and I tried so hard but still ended up getting a B+. But that all comes down to my performance and less about where the professor's falling short. The weekly homeworks are doable but sometimes very confusing but then again TA's office hours would be a huge help which I could never wake up early enough to attend even though it was at 1pm on a wednesday. honestly he's such a great accomplished funny professor and i would've done better in this class if i wasn't battling some other issues. everything draws from the lecture, no more no less so you wouldn't have to go home read some textbook and learn things yourself. i think this class also helped me develop a good habit of taking lecture notes and reviewing my notes. although the material is still pretty complex and takes a while to really digest the information and understand the why and how. maybe its not even necessary to get a deep understanding but i tried.

I took this class as someone who didn't like the physical sciences very much, but thought astronomy was kind of cool, and came out of it thinking science was the coolest heckin thing. lectures weren't super engaging or anything but for me the material itself was really interesting, and imo professor furlanetto is a great lecturer in terms of explaining scientific concepts. he also bruincasts (audio) and posts slides before the lectures as well as a list of helpful equations that are updated weekly. we had weekly homework, sometimes pretty math-y, that could be a bit confusing/difficult but the ta always gave straightforward hints in discussions and office hours. plus I think he always graded kinda leniently on the homework; I didn't really see many people ever get more than five points off (out of 30). and homework solutions are provided after they're graded. the book is required because he assigns some questions from it, but it's on course reserve @ the library so don't bother buying it; just check it out from powell. midterm was kinda hard but he curves so I think most people end up getting pretty decent scores. for extra credit, he gave us points for filling out course evals! also when covid erupted and shut down in person finals professor furlanetto was a real g and was probably one of the first professors to make finals optional.
the one qualm I had with this class is that it's held in goddam kinsey pavilion. it's a refrigerated truck in there. bring an extra jacket and save yourselves the pain please

Good class, nice guy. I thought he was really funny haha. If you want to do well you have to do a lot of reading each week. Midterms and finals were both multiple choice, not too difficult. Ended with an A-