Jean-Luc is an okay professor. When he stays on topic, he's knowledgable and clear. He often goes off on tangents about the philosophy of science and logic. I understand it's important, but a class about something as interesting as biology shouldn't be hampered by one of the professors wanting to waste time on content out of the scope of this class.

The questions on the topics he taught (he and Tina did 1/2 of the total lectures) always wanted specifics that he wouldn't explain well or would merely gloss over.

Personally, I wasn't very interested in astronomy, but if I had to learn in from someone, I'm glad it was from Margot. His lectures are extremely organized and clear-cut, posted the night before so you can print them out. There is textbook reading, but its not too bad. The first half of the class is more reading-intensive but it lessens as time goes by. Grading is divided into quizzes, homework, midterm, and final. You get to drop you 2 lowest quiz scores and 2 lowest homework assignments, so an A in the class is definitely attainable. Overall, Margot is a fair professor, who's clearly passionate about astronomy and tries to help all his students understand the subject well.

Margot and Treude are both very knowledgeable about their areas (Margot teaches the astrophysics parts and Treude teaches the biology parts). I never went to live lecture because they posted the slides and it was easy enough to just use the slides for weekly hw quizzes and the open-note midterm and final. If you know basic physics, chemistry, and biology, this class will be an easy A, but I know people who had a weak science background and struggled. I just slacked on the final because I thought the extra credit (museum visit) was worth more than it was.

took 9 Solar System and Planets. great professor and easy test. selling textbook for the class. Text me 3109624479

TAKE THE PROFESSOR!
GRADE INFLATION RIGHT HERE!!!!!!!

I took ESS 9 Winter 2013 and ended up with final grade of 96. I got 59% on first midterm and 50% on final exam. (Both below the mean) .But I did the extra credit which is computed as (End grade +20)/120. Although the midterm was discouraging, the guy hands out 99% of the time. No matter what, he will make sure you fail. But in bare minimum work and you should still come out with an A-.

Both TA's are really helpful and will help you understand the material.
The HW and quizes are very simple and you can do them in group. Really 95% of the class got at least 95% on both of these. (Super easy).

Selling the Life in the Universe book 3rd edition for earth ans space sciences 3 for $90 OBO. Its useful for some lecture reviews and great for discussion. If interested please text me 323-412-6651