Fundamental questions about nature

Although they are often phrased in a more complicated way, most questions about nature can be stated as follows:

• How can I fix it?
  • Physicians need to answer this question so they can help their patients.
• How can I build it?
  • Engineers often want to know how to build something like a natural device, but they often don't care whether the underlying mechanisms or details are the same.
• How does it work?
  • This is the fundamental scientific question.

The focus of the course will be on the question "How does it work?", because if you can answer this question, you can often answer the other questions as well.