Science on Trial: The History of Science in Conflict

Catalog description

How do scientists decide what counts as a scientific fact and what does not? How and why does that change over time? How have politicians, religious leaders, other scientists, and ordinary people sought to dispute scientific findings they thought were wrong? This course examines the history of science in conflict. It studies some of the most famous and misunderstood moments in the history of science, like the Galileo Trial and the Scopes evolution Trial, and includes everything from the history of scientific consensus and public confusion about climate change, to bets about if the Earth is flat or round, to ancient philosophers debating if anything ever changes at all. Doing so lets us explore the history of who and what are recognized as legitimate sources of knowledge about nature, and the significance of social factors, especially race, class, gender, and religious and political beliefs, upon the construction and reception of scientific ideas.