STSC

001 Syllabus 2011 Schedule

Fall 2011 Professor: John Tresch M-W lecture, 12-12:50, Claudia Cohen Hall 402 Recitation sections, Fridays Over the past 500 years, science has emerged as a central and transformative feature of world society, a human enterprise that continues to reshape everyday life in countless ways. How and why did the methods of natural science take root in the West, and why did they gradually change the way we see the world? What was the Scientific Revolution, and why did it take place when and where it did? How has the thinking of scientists been shaped by the culture, religion, and politics of their own times? How has science transformed the way we understand the universe and our place in it? This lecture course will survey the development of European science from its early Mediterranean origins through the start of the 21st Century. By focusing on the life and work of those who created modern science, we will explore their core ideas, where those ideas came from, what problems they solved, what made them controversial and exciting, and how they related to contemporary politics, religious beliefs, and arts. The course is organized both chronologically and thematically. In short, this is a Western Civ course with a difference. The course has no prerequisites and is intended for a wide variety of students. Freshmen may find it a useful holistic introduction to their university studies; more advanced students may find it helpful in filling in gaps and putting what they know in broader perspective. Monday and Wednesday lectures will present the central ideas: attentive lecture and recitation attendance is mandatory. Friday sections will afford the opportunity for hands-on observation, discussion, and debate. Grading will be based on two quizzes, three short papers, a midterm and a final exam, along with participation. Office Hours: Mondays 2:00-3:30 (3rd floor Cohen) and by appointment: jtresch@[Link]>

Teaching Assistants: Lisa Ruth Rand: <lruthrand@[Link]> Nadia Berenstein: < nadiabe@[Link].@[Link]> Readings There are two textbooks and a collection of primary sources available as PDFs. The books are available at Penn Book Center, and copies are also on reserve at Rosengarten Reserves. David Lindberg, The Beginnings of Western Science, second edition. (Chicago, 2007). Peter Bowler and Iwan Morus, Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey. (Chicago, 2005). The syllabus will list readings for each week of class. You should do the readings for that week by Monday: they will provide important background and context for lectures. Recitation sections on Fridays will involve discussion based on the readings as well as the lectures. These are mandatory.

STSC 001 Syllabus 2011 Schedule

Assignments/ Grading There will be three short papers, two short quizzes, a midterm and a final exam. Regular attendance in class and recitations are required; participation and attendance are part of your grade. Short Papers: Two short quizzes Midterm/ Final Participation/ Attendance: 3x 10%= 2 x10 %= 2 x 30%= 10%= (30) (20 (40) (10)

CLASS SCHEDULE UNIT 1: ROOTS Week 1 Sept 7 Sept 9 Reading: SECTION PDF: Latour and Woolgar, Laboratory Life: 43-86 Lecture 1: The Places of Science

Week 2 Sept 12 Sept 14 Sept 16

Readings:

Lindberg: 1-66 (Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle) PDF: Aristotle, Plato, Hippocrates 7-12

Lecture 2: Natural Knowledge in Ancient Worlds Lecture 3: Being and Nothingness, Form and Substance SECTION

Week 3 Sept 19 Sept 21 Sept 23

Readings:

Lindberg: 67-110 (Hellenism); 132-146 (Rome) 162-192 (Islam) PDF: E & C: Pliny 57-62; Geber, Ibn Rushd 64-71; Al-Khwarizmi, 78-81

Lecture 4: The Greeks, the Romans, the Goths, the Monks Lecture 5: The Islamic Renaissance SECTION ***SECOND PAPER DUE***

Week 4 Sept 26 Sept 28 Sept 30

Readings:

Lindberg: 193-253 (Scholasticism); 257-267 (Medieval Legacy) PDF: Medieval Universities and Aristotle 37-44

Lecture 6: Catching up with the Caliphs: The Philosopher and the University Lecture 7: Mediterranean Renaissance ***SECTIONS WILL MEET at Rare Books Room in Van Pelt Library***

STSC 001 Syllabus 2011 Schedule

UNIT 2: REVOLUTION Week 5 Readings: PDF: Renaissance magic, 49-57; Courts and Patronage 63-66; Science and Printing 85-9; Copernicus (Ossiander) 93-99; Mechanical Philosophy 120-127; Descartes Astronomy 111-3; Man a Machine 129-30

Oct 3 Oct 5 Oct 7

Lecture 8: Northern Renaissance Lecture 9: Platos Return: The Move to Mechanics SECTION (VAN PELT)

Week 6 Oct 10 Oct 12 Oct 14

Readings:

Bowler and Morus:; 319-326 (societies) PDF: Salomons House, 59-62; Koyr on Newton, 136-138

Fall break: NO CLASS Lecture 10: Newtons Networks SECTION

Week 7

Readings:

Bowler and Morus: : 46-52 (Newton) PDF: E & C Diderot 198-201; Voltaire (Locke, Newton)143-5 Condorcet 266-267; E & C 201-204 Newton for the Ladies

Oct 17 Oct 19 Oct 21

Lecture 11: Science and Enlightened Society ***SECOND PAPER DUE*** Lecture 12: Surveying and Collecting the Planet SECTION/ REVIEW

Week 8 Oct 24 Oct 26 Oct 28

Readings:

Bowler and Morus, 55-77 (chem) PDF: Science and Revolution, 150-154

Lecture 13: Natural Law and Revolutions *** IN CLASS MIDTERM: 50-MINUTE EXAM 10/29*** No Section.

UNIT 3: THE AGE OF PROGRESS Week 9 Oct 31 Nov 2 Nov 4 Readings: Bowler and Morus: 103- 126 (Geology); 346-354 (Nat. Theo) PDF: E & C Lyell, 251-257; Darwin, 219-23

Lecture 14: Romanticism and Science Lecture 15: The Age of the Earth and the Origin of Species SECTION

STSC 001 Syllabus 2011 Schedule

Week 10 Nov 7 Nov 9 Nov 11

Readings:

Bowler and Morus: 79-101 (19th c. phys) PDF: Aether and Reality 240-1

Lecture 16 : The Mechanical Age Lecture 17: Force, Energy, Power SECTION

Week 11 Nov 14 Nov 16 Nov 18

Readings:

Bowler and Morus 299-315 (Hum. sci.); 415-30 (ideology) PDF: Spencer, 223-8

Lecture 18: Building Blocks Lecture 19: Progress and Degeneracy *** FIELD TRIP: WAGNER SCIENCE MUSEUM, 1 - 4 p.m. 11/12 *** (to be confirmed)

UNIT 4: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Week 12 Nov 21 Nov 23 Readings: Bowler and Morus: (Genetics) PDF: E & C: Morgan 356-362; Schrodinger, Watson and Crick. 380-6

Lecture 20: The New Biology, from Mendel to DNA Thanksgiving, NO SECTION

Week 13 Nov 28 Nov 30 Dec 2

Readings:

Bowler and Morus: 253-275 (20th c. Phys.); 463-479 (Sci & War) PDF: Russell, Relativity, 244-7; Heisenberg, 252-6; Heisenberg, 257-61

Lecture 21: Science and War Lecture 22: The New Physics GUEST LECTURE: Babak Ashrafi, Penn/PACHS SECTION ***THIRD PAPER DUE***

Week 14 Dec 5 Dec 7 Dec 9

Readings:

Bowler and Morus: 479-484 (Cold War) PDF: E & C: Turing, Carson, HGP, 435-447

Lecture 23: The Cold War and Big Science Lecture 24: Placeless Spaces; Where Will It All End? SECTION/ REVIEW

FINALS WEEK:

12-2 p.m., Weds, Dec. 15th

***FINAL EXAM ***