NASC 400 History of Science to 1700 This course consists of an overview of the history of conceptions of the natural world from ancient Greece to Isaac Newton, and the broader intellectual and cultural influences on natural philosophy. Topics include ancient Greek science, the transmission of Greek knowledge to Islam and the Western World, medieval science, and the scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century. This course has been designated as writing-enhanced (beginning fall 2003), fulfills the historical mode of inquiry in the LSP, and serves as a course in the general honors program with a grade of A or B.
NASC 401 History of Science since 1700 A continuation of NASC 400, this course treats the development of the modern physical and biological sciences from Newton to the twentieth century, emphasizing the reception of Newtonian physics, the Chemical Revolution, the rise of the atomic theory, Darwin and evolution, Einstein and relativity, and Watson and Crick on DNA. This course has also been designated as writing-enhanced, fulfills the historical mode of inquiry in the LSP, and serves as a course in the general honors program with a grade of A or B.
NASC 501 Philosophy of Science Introduction to basic topics in the study of science as a means of gaining knowledge about the natural and social world. Topics include the demarcation of science from non-science, theories of verification and confirmation, the social and cultural influences on the production of knowledge, the nature of scientific change, and realism vs. anti-realism. Other possible topics include ozone depletion, global warming, and the creation-evolution controversy.
JINS 362 Extraterrestrial Life Does life or intelligence exist outside of the earth? This course will consist of readings and discussion of approaches to this question from historical, scientific, philosophical, and theological perspectives. Topics will include the emergence of the “Copernican principle,” the search for life on Mars, the study of the origin of life, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) program.
HIST 366 Science in Germany, 1800-1945
Elements, Atoms, Structure, Mechanism: Lectures in the History of Chemistry (Zürich, 2010) More course information here (the formatting is not correct but the links work).
