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Crosslistings: MB&B 160 |
Concurrent developments in art, literature, and music from 1875 to 1925 are considered to be the origins of modernism. Common characteristics are ontological discontinuity, subjectivity, multiple perspectives and paradox, in contrast to the classical characteristic of continuity. This course introduces and considers parallel developments in the natural sciences and mathematics along with the lives and times of those who contributed significantly. Topics will include statistical thermodynamics (Boltzmann), finite mathematics (Dedekind, Cantor), atomic theory (Rutherford, Bohr), radioactive decay (Curie), quantum mechanics (de Broglie, Schrodinger), general relativity (Einstein), genes and heredity (Mendel, De Vries), and neuron theory (Cayals). Each topic will be introduced and described at an elementary level. These scientific topics will be studied alongside the parallel innovations that are seminal to modernism, such as selected examples of the works of Picasso, Seurat, Cezanne, Joyce, Debussy, Stravinsky and Schoenberg. The idea of the modernism paradigm per se will be critically examined, including the problem of giving it a name. American voices to be discussed will include Gibbs, Lewis, and Pauling. Implications of the ideas from the current era in science and technology (1975-2025) will be developed, such as the emergence of nanotechnology, chaos theory, informatics and genomics. Guest lectures by Wesleyan faculty who are experts in these subjects will be featured.
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM CHEM Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE
Last Updated on MAR-19-2004
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459