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An interdisciplinary graduate seminar in which the nature of science as a discipline and way of gaining new knowledge about the natural world is the main topic. The class will consider the 17th century rise of science in Western civilization in the context of cosmology and the contributions of Bacon, Descartes, Galileo and Newton, comparing and contrasting the science developments in the Eastern and Asian worlds of the same period. The influence of science on other disciplines will be discussed in the context of the 18th century French enlightenment and the scientism of the philosophers. The rise of American science will use Ben Franklin's early experiments with electricity and the hydrophobic effect. A compare-and-contrast of the underpinnings of the physical sciences and the life sciences will be studied, with Darwin's theory and its subsequent ramifications as a case study. Finally, the nature of the paradigm shift from classical to modern science will be studied in the context of: a) Einstein's theory of relativity, b) the discovery of quantum mechanics by Planck, Bohr, de Brogle, Schroedinger and Heisenberg, c) the rise and assimilation of molecular biology, and d) the conflicts in the academy that defined the "science" wars circa 1990's.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
Level: GRAD Credit: .5 Gen Ed Area Dept: NONE Grading Mode: Student Option
Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-19-2004
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459