The course treats the history of the sciences of the earth and environment from classical times to the plate tectonics and geospace physics of the late 20th-century. Topics include early cosmogonies and cosmologies; the nature of hierarchically ordered space; the role of change played by heat, water and time; the Great Scale of Being; teleology in nature; the introduction and use of mathematics and the physical sciences in geology and biology; international cooperation in the geosciences; the discovery of the unknown (new worlds, polar regions, space); human response to boundary limits; environmental bonanzas and tragedies; big science.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's office.
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE
Last Updated on MAR-24-2000
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459