Washoe County Library System

"Far from being routine, emotions are 'the key to the meaning of life,' says distinguished philosopher and author Robert C. Solomon, who in these 24 lectures takes you on a tour of his more than three-decade-long intellectual struggle to reach an understanding of these complex phenomena. Some of his conclusions are surprising and very much against the current of common sense. Professor Solomon's lectures unfold as a rich dialogue with other philosophers,...

Twelve 30-minute lectures by Oxford University Professor Daniel N. Robinson on consciousness from the perspective of the philosopher, the psychologist, the scientist, and the doctor.

"The goal of this course is to illuminate the original foundations of our American civic culture by reenacting the Great Debate, from 1787 to 1788, over ratification of the proposed constitution. We will focus on the most profound intellectual and philosophic levels of the contoversy, centered on the competing republican visions held by the proponents of the constitution (Federalists) and their opponents (Anti-Federalists)"--Course guidebook p. 1....

Course covers the making of our planet from the Big Bang, to the formation of the solar system, to the subsequent evolution of Earth. Travel to the center of our planet and out again, charting the geologic forces that churn beneath our feet to push the continents and seafloor.

Nearly everyone has heard of black holes, but few people outside of complex scientific fields understand their true nature and their implications for our universe. This lecture course makes this cosmological subject graspable, with 12 lavishly illustrated lectures by veteran Great Courses Professor Alex Filippenko, a distinguished astronomer and award-winning teacher at the University of California, Berkeley.

This course explores the science and mystery of the human nervous system, from essential neurochemical and neurobiological processes to the psychological and social constructs they are thought to produce.

A 24-lecture course on the evolution of humans.

The Etruscans were the original inhabitants of central Italy. Centuries before Rome’s rise, they built cities along fortified hilltops, developed a system of roads, and invented the ‘Roman’ arch. While they had their own system of government and their own myths, the Etruscans borrowed much from the Greeks and gave much to the Romans. Without them, much of the foundations of Western civilization would disappear. Twenty-four 30...