Survey of the History of Modern Science

Catalog description

Science may seem sterile and remote from everyday life, something that takes place in a laboratory, something unaffected by the social, cultural, and political world around it - in short, something unaffected by history. Yet our modern concept of science, its ideals, and the way it is practiced all have their own history, and this is intricately related to the history of the broader world. To understand this relationship, this course explores changing historical conceptions of what it means to do science, where it can be done, who gets to participate, what ethical considerations should govern its conduct, and what kinds of questions science can answer. We consider human beings as students and practitioners of science, but also as subjects of scientific inquiry. While we consider science around the world, our focus is on science in the West. Our goal is to better understand the history that led to our image of modern science, but also to develop ideas about how to make science more democratic - and why it is so important for us to do so. Offered Annually.