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Academic Year 2004/2005


Foundations of Science: Intellectual, Cultural, Personal
CHEM 517 FA

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.

MAJOR READINGS

Course packet of major readings.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Student presentations.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This course will be held one day a week for the whole semester.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

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-21-2005


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