The rise of modern science

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

This subject introduces the history of science from antiquity to the present. Students consider the impact of philosophy, art, magic, social structure, and folk knowledge on the development of what has come to be called "science" in the Western tradition, including those fields today designated as physics, biology, chemistry, medicine, astronomy and the mind sciences. Topics include concepts of matter, nature, motion, body, heavens, and mind as these have been shaped over the course of history. Students read original works by Aristotle, Vesalius, Newton, Lavoisier, Darwin, Freud, and Einstein, among others.

As a HASS-D (Humanities Arts and Social Sciences – Distribution) and CI-H (Communication Intensive – Humanities) subject, there will be a strong emphasis upon reading and writing. There will be three papers assigned for a total of 20-24 pages of writing over the course of the semester. Students will also be required to revise and resubmit one of their papers, to give them an opportunity to work on specific writing skills in anticipation of the final paper.

Our Writing Advisor will organize group meetings over the course of the semester to give students the chance to work with each other to improve their papers. Students will meet with him in small groups (3-5 students each), for two hours, to discuss and provide feedback on paper drafts. All students must do at least one peer response group over the course of the semester.

Two books are required:

Lindberg, David C. The Beginnings of Western Science. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780226482057. [Preview with Google Books]

Dear, Peter. The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World. University of Chicago Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780226139487. [Preview with Google Books]

Required readings should be completed before each lecture. We have also provided suggested readings for each lecture, which might prove helpful when working on the papers.

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