hsci 3023 syllabus

History of Science 3023
tuth 9:00-10:15 / phsc 224

1. required texts
2. overview of assignments
3. class schedule, with weblinks
4. essay exams / assignments
5. rules of the road

Prof. Katherine Pandora
Office Hours: Tu 10:30-12:30,
Th 10:30-11:30, and by appt.
Physical Sciences Bldg. 619
Tel.: 325.3427
email me

History of Science since the Age
of Newton / Fall 2007

In this course we will be exploring some of the major conceptual achievements of science in the modern period, as well as examining the interplay between the wider culture and the scientific community. We will be seeking to move beyond our stereotypes about what science is by inquiring closely about how people in times and places different from our own have struggled to know the physical, biological, and social worlds. We will also use the analytical skills we sharpen this term to gain a fuller understanding of the nature of science in our own era. In this course you will learn about the past, other cultures, and ideas about nature, but you will also learn some philosophy as well. We cannot begin to understand the scientific patterns of thought and practice in different historical periods – or in our own – without also knowing the answers that people have given to such questions as: How should we expect nature to behave? How is truth defined? What is a human being? What relationships make society possible? What is our place in the universe?

The work for this course consists of a mixture of reading (some on the Internet – you will need to have weekly Internet access), video presentations, discussion, lectures, and writing. Lectures will help provide background to the reading but are NOT a substitute for it. Discussions will expand on the reading you have done and the topics that we cover in lecture, as well as present new material. All exams will be take-home essays.

Required Books:

The Last Man Who Knew Everything: Thomas Young, the Anonymous Genius who Proved Newton Wrong. . . among Other Surprising Feats – Andrew Robinson

Evolutionary Theory and Victorian Culture – Martin Fichman

Dark Light: Electricity and Anxiety from the Telegraph to the X-Ray – Linda Simon

Ghost Hunters: William James and the Scientific Search for Proof of Life after Death – Deborah Blum

Suspended in Language: Niels Bohr's Life, Discoveries, and the Century He Shaped – Jim Ottaviani

Pandora's Baby: How the First Test-Tube Babies Sparked the Reproductive Revolution – Robin Henig

* plus course articles on e-reserve at http://libraries.ou.edu/eresources/reserves/

* plus selected websites as listed in the syllabus

note: copies of the books are on 2-hr reserve at Bizzell

overview of course assignments and examinations

1) Mini-Assessment Papers (m.a.p.s) – 1-3 paragraphs done in-class or as class prep. There will be approx. one each week, graded S/U, for one point each. For full 10% credit, 10 map points with a grade of S are required / <10%>

2) Take-Home Essay Exam #1 (Due Week 5 on 9/18): approx. 4-5 pages in length <15%>

3) Take-Home Essay Exam #2 (Due Week 9 on 10/16): 5-6 pages in length <20%>

4) Take-Home Essay Exam #3 (Due Week 12 on 11/6): 5-6 pages in length <25%>

5) Extra-Credit Digital History Reflection Paper (Due Week 15 on 11/29): approx. 4-5 pages in length <5%>
[graded S/U, optional]

6) Take-Home Essay Exam (Due Friday, December 14th in PHSC 224 from 8:00-10:00 a.m., the final exam time assigned for this class): 6-7pages in length <30%>

schedule of readings with weblinks

Week 1
8/21 Introduction: Where We’re Going and How We’ll Get There
8/23 Enlightenment Rationality and "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"

Reading:
Robinson, Last Man (chapters 1-4)
Kant, What is Enlightenment? (1784) [handout]
"The Internet in a Cup: The Information Exchanges of the 17th and 18th centuries" [handout]

Websites:
Frontispiece to the Encyclopedie
http://jacques.prevost.free.fr/illustrations/Encyclopedie_frontispice_full_473px.jpg

"A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery", by Joseph Wright of Derby (1766)
http://www.derby.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/CD545324-6353-4C94-9592-03A8EDB515C4/0/TOimage.jpg

"An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump" by Joseph Wright of Derby (1768)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/collection/features/science/bird.htm [click on the painting to increase size]

Assignment: map #1 passed out 8/21; due 8/23 at the start of class
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Week 2
8/28 Newton's Cosmos: The Mechanical Universe
8/30 Experimenting with a Mechanical Universe / Film excerpt: Benjamin Franklin (PBS)

Reading:
Robinson, Last Man (chapters 5-9)
Franklin, Letters on Electricity (1750) [handout]
*e-reserve, Patricia Fara, An Entertainment for Angels (excerpt)

Websites:
Demonstration of Franklin's Electrical Experimentation
http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/exp_shocking.html

Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Fire
http://www.benfranklin300.org/exhibition/_html/4_3/index.htm

Reproduction of Benjamin West's painting, "Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky" (c. 1816)
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=99760623&size=m [note that there is an option to see
a large-size version of the painting]
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Week 3
9/4 The Problem of Life in a Mechanical Universe
9/6 The Problem of Light in a Mechanical Universe

Reading:
Robinson, Last Man (chapter 10-16)
Simon, Dark Light (chapter 1)
*e-reserve, la Mettrie, Man a Machine and Diderot, d'Alembert's Dream (excerpts)

Websites:
Trembley's Polyp
http://uh.edu/engines/epi364.htm

The Decipherment of Hieroglyphs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/decipherment_01.shtml

Light and Interference Patterns
http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/scidiscovery/light/interfere.asp (the exhibit starts here, at
"Discovering Light": http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/scidiscovery/light/index.asp )
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Week 4
9/11 Living a Scientific Life in the 19th century: Thomas Young
9/13 Remembering Scientific Lives: The Vagaries of Historical Memory

Reading:
Fichman, Evolutionary Theory and Victorian Culture (chapter 1)

Websites:
Romantic Natural History
http://users.dickinson.edu/~nicholsa/Romnat/index.html

The Thomas Jefferson Fossil Collection
http://www.ansp.org/museum/jefferson/index.php

Assignment: Essay Exam #1 passed out 9/11; due 9/18
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Week 5
9/18 The Terraqueous Globe
9/20 Computer Lab Session

Reading:
Fichman, Evolutionary Theory and Victorian Culture (chapters 2-5)
*e-reserve, Darwin, excerpt from Origin of Species

Websites:
"Missing Link: Alfred Russel Wallace, Charles Darwin's Neglected Double"
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2007/02/12/070212crat_atlarge_rosen

Frequently Asked Questions about Wallace [go to right column]
http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/index1.htm

Exam #1 Due 9/18 at the beginning of class
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Week 6
9/25 Voyaging: Darwin and Wallace
9/27 1859: Darwin's Origin of Species -- Themes and Reception

Reading:
Fichman, Evolutionary Theory and Victorian Culture (chapters 6-8)
Robert Chambers, excerpt from Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation [handout]
Simon, Ghost Hunters (chapters 1-3)

Websites:
"What Albert Read to Victoria" (short review of a book about the publication of Vestiges):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2001%2F02%2F24%2Fbovic24.xml

The Darwin Correspondence Project
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Darwin's Life in Pictures
http://darwin-online.org.uk/life1.html
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Week 7
10/2 Evolutionist Variations
10/4 The Case of Human Evolution

Reading:
Simon, Dark Light (chapters 2-6)
*e-reserve, Abbott, The Spirit on the Waters (1897)

Websites:
Darwin Exhibit -- American Museum of Natural History
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/

Fossil Hominids and Human Evolution
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/history/humans_evolv.shtml

The Unmasking of Piltdown Man
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/sci_nat/03/piltdown_man/html/default.stm

Assignment: Exam #2 Passed Out on 10/4; due on 10/16
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Week 8
10/9    Film: The Boldest Hoax (PBS, NOVA)
10/11    Technological Wonders and the Public Sphere

Reading:
Simon, Dark Light (chapters 6-11)

Website:
Edisonia
http://www.nps.gov/archive/edis/edisonia.htm
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Week 9
10/16   The Changing Culture of Space and Time
10/18   The Unknown Detected: The Discovery of X-Rays and Radioactivity

Reading:
Blum, Ghost Hunters (chapters 4-8)

Exam #2 Due on 10/16 at the beginning of class

Websites:
"The X-Ray Shoe Fitter: An Early Application of Roentgen's 'New Kind of Ray'"
http://scitation.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTEAH-ft/vol_42/iss_6/354_1.html

The Once and Future Web: Worlds Woven by the Telegraph and the Internet
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/onceandfutureweb/home.html
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Week 10
10/23 Mind and Matter
10/25 The Split between Science and Spirit

Reading:
Blum, Ghost Hunters (chapters 9-12)

Websites:
"Believe it or Not: Ghost Hunters Go High-Tech"
http://news.com.com/2100-1008_3-6197680.html

Articles from the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (publishes the Skeptical Inquirer)
http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/

Assignment: Exam #3 Passed Out on 10/25; due on 11/6
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Week 11
10/30 The Secret Life of Atoms: The Emergence of Quantum Theory
11/1 Computer Lab Session

Reading:
Ottaviani, Suspended in Language (chapters 1-8)

Websites:
Short Bio of Niels Bohr
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Bohr_Niels.html

Albert Einstein: Image and Impact
http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/

Heisenberg and the Uncertainty Principle
http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p08.htm
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Week 12
11/6 Einstein vs. Bohr and Others: The Quantum Debates
11/8 Splitting the Atom / Living with the Bomb

Reading:
Ottaviani, Suspended in Language (finish book)

Websites:
Nuclear Fission Diagram and Short Explanation
http://www.atomicarchive.com/Fission/Fission1.shtml

The Atomic Archive
http://www.atomicarchive.com/index.shtml

CONELRAD: All Things Atomic and the Popular Culture Fallout
http://www.conelrad.com/index.php

Exam #3 Due on 11/6 at the beginning of class
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Week 13
11/13 Film: Invisible Man (1933)
11/15 From the Secrets of Death to the Secrets of Life

Reading:
Henig, Pandora's Baby (chapters 1-9)

Websites:
Short Bio of H.G. Wells
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hgwells.htm

Test Tube Babies: People and Events
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/babies/peopleevents/index.html

Test Tube Babies: Special Features
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/babies/sfeature/index.html

Assignment: Pass out Final Take-Home Essay Exam; Due
December 14th, 8:00-10:00
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Week 14
11/20 Film: Test Tube Babies (PBS)
11/22 NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

Reading: Henig, Pandora's Baby (chapters 10-17)
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Week 15
11/27 IVF: Playing God?
11/29 The Problem of Life in a Mechanical Universe (revisited)

Reading:
Henig, Pandora's Baby (chapters 18-23)

Extra-Credit Digital History Reflection Paper Due on 11/29
at the beginning of class [optional]
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Week 16
12/4   Conclusions: A Sense of History and the Present and Future
12/6   Optional Review Session
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FINAL TAKE-HOME ESSAY EXAM:
DUE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14th, 8:00-10:00 IN PHSC 224

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Rules of the Road

Attendance: Attendance is required. 4 unexcused absences are allowed for lecture; missed classes beyond this will result in your grade being lowered by 5% increments. If you need to miss class for an illness serious enough to merit a trip to the doctor, a family emergency, etc., please contact the instructor.

Academic Misconduct: Cheating will not be tolerated. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, copying the work of another student, using the written work of another author without attribution, or any conduct that seeks to compromise the examination process. Such conduct will result in an automatic F on that examination and the student may be referred to the Dean for disciplinary action.

What is plagiarism? See the following information from the Bizzell Library website:
http://libraries.ou.edu/help/kb/index.asp?cat0=5&cat1=61&cat2=823

Due Dates: Exams will not be accepted if turned in late, and will be graded F. (This requirement will be waived only in the case of a medical or family emergency. To the extent possible, permission should be sought before the due date.)

Electronic Devices: Please turn off all cellphones, palm pilots, ipods, and any other devices that will prevent you from joining us fully as a participant in class.

Religious Holidays: It is the policy of the University to excuse the absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required class work that may fall on religious holidays. Please see me in advance.

Students with Disabilities: Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me as soon as possible, so we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure your full participation and to facilitate your educational opportunities.

Grading Scale: The letter grades for this course conform to a 4 point scale, as follows:

4.0-3.5 = A (A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, A-/B+ =3.5)
3.49-2.5 = B (B+ = 3.3, B = 3.0, B- = 2.7, B-/C+ =2.5)
2.49-1.5 = C (C+ = 2.3, C = 2.0, C- = 1.7, C-/D+ =1.5)
1.49-0.5 = D (D+ = 1.3, D = 1.0, D- = 0.7)
0.49 and below = F

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For help with your pre-writing, organizing, documenting sources, or other aspects of writing assignments, make an appointment for a FREE conference with a consultant. The Writing Center is located in Bizzell Library, Lower Level 227. For an appointment or additional information call 325-2936 or visit their website at http://www.ou.edu/writingcenter/

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