Scientific Thought

Catalog description

What is the nature of scientific investigation and the scientific method? How do scientists reason? What counts as good evidence in the practice of science? How does one explanation win acceptance by the scientific community while others languish or are rejected? This course will examine the development of a number of scientific ideas (drawn mainly from chemistry) in an attempt to answer these questions. This course will treat these cases primarily from a scientific perspective, but some attention will also be paid to external factors (for example, social, economic or technological factors). This course may not be used fulfill chemistry major or minor requirements.