Six video courses that will make you seriously knowledgeable about science

*From Stanford University: *"Light will be thrown..." With these modest words, Charles Darwin launched a sweeping new theory of life in his epic book, On the Origin of Species (1859). The theory opened eyes and minds around the world to a radical new understanding of the flora and fauna of the planet. Here, Darwin showed for the first time that no supernatural processes are necessary to explain the profusion of living beings on earth, that all organisms past and present are related in a historical branching pattern of descent, and that human beings fall into place quite naturally in the web of all life.

From Stanford University: Astrobiology asks: Where do we come from? Are we alone? Where are we going? This course gives an overview of the excitement of astrobiology and space exploration, from the origin of our own biofriendly universe to questions of the future of mankind both on Earth and beyond.. This is the introductory lecture of Professor Lynn Rothschild's Astrobiology and Space Exploration course.

*From Yale: *This course focuses on three particularly interesting areas of astronomy that are advancing very rapidly: Extra-Solar Planets, Black Holes, and Dark Energy. Particular attention is paid to current projects that promise to improve our understanding significantly over the next few years. The course explores not just what is known, but what is currently not known, and how astronomers are going about trying to find out.

*From Yale: * This course is a survey of evolutionary insights that make important differences in medical research and clinical practice, including evolutionary mechanisms and the medical issues they affect. Individual genetic variation in susceptibility; evolutionary conflicts and tradeoffs in reproductive medicine; the evolution of antibiotic resistance and virulence in pathogens; emerging diseases; the evolution of aging; cancer as an evolutionary process.

From UCLA: A math course for life science majors covering elementary probability, probability distributions, random variables, and limit theorems.

From UCLA: Professor Courtenay Raia lectures on science and religion as historical phenomena that have evolved over time. Examines the earlier mind-set before 1700 when into science fitted elements that came eventually to be seen as magical. The course also question how Western cosmologies became "disenchanted." Magical tradition transformed into modern mysticisms is also examined as well as the political implications of these movements. Includes discussion concerning science in totalitarian settings as well as "big science" during the Cold War.