Scientific Revolutions

COURSE INSTRUCTOR Dr. Steven Walton, Rm. 315 Victoria College

Phone: 978-6973 E-mail: swalton@chass.utoronto.ca

Office Hours: Thursday 3-5pm, or by appointment.

TEACHING ASSISTANTS

Beverley Eadie E-mail: beadie@chass.utoronto.ca 978-7432

Jay Foster E-mail: jfoster@chass.utoronto.ca 978-7432

COURSE MEETING TIMES place TA

Lecture: Wed. 6-8PM EM001 –

Tutorials: Wed. 5-6PM NF007 J.Foster

Wed. 5-6PM EM108 B.Eadie

Wed. 8-9PM PR316 J.Foster

Wed. 8-9PM NF235 B.Eadie

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will examine the history of science in the western tradition through a study of some of its most revolutionary achievements. The course treats science as a historically significant product of nature, technology, and society within the wider cultural framework of the European tradition. It is designed for both students from the humanities and from the sciences so there are no prerequisites. It is NOT a science course, although a familiarity with the sciences will be beneficial. It will provide students in the sciences an understanding of how science has affected and been affected by the times in which it was developed and it will provide students in the humanities an understanding of humanity’s major scientific achievements and their impact on the world which we have inherited.

The principle material for the course will be covered in lectures, which are designed to complement the assigned readings. Tutorials (for which attendance is REQUIRED) allow you to discuss those readings, which are largely the words and thoughts of the scientists themselves, in greater detail. You will get out of this course what you put into it, but if nothing else, you will hopefully understand the origin of the modern scientific worldview.

GRADING

The course mark is based on 2 short papers, 1 midterm at the end of fall term, and a cumulative final at the end of spring term. Tutorial participation also counts towards your final grade.

Tutorial

–

10%

Paper #1

due 17 November*

15%

Paper #2

due 15 March*

15%

Midterm

December exam period (TBA)

20%

Final

April exam period (TBA)

40%

* Late papers are penalized 2% per business day of lateness and will not be accepted after the on-time papers are returned to the students (2 weeks). Late papers are to be submitted to the Instructor, TAs, or the IHPST office, room 316 Old Vic (there is a drop-box and log book outside the office if you are submitting your paper after-hours).

Required Texts – All texts available at the Victoria College Bookstore –

• Brian Baigrie (ed.), Scientific Revolutions: The Primary Texts (Canadian Scholar’s Press, 1999)

• Richard S. Westfall, The Construction of Modern Science (New York: Cambridge, 1977)

• I. Bernard Cohen, The Birth of a New Physics (New York: Norton, 1961)

• Stillman Drake (ed.), Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo (New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1957)

• James Watson, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA (NY: Penguin, 1968) note: not available until spring term

Weekly Topics

Fall Term 1999

Date

Topic

Readings

15 Sept.

Introduction, what is science, and introduction to the ancients.

 		 

22 Sept.

Aristotle: peripatetic nature

Baigrie (Aristotle)

Cohen, ch. 1 and 2

29 Sept.

Ptolemy and the origins of astronomy

Baigrie (Ptolemy)

Cohen, ch. 3

6 Oct.

Medieval & Arabic Science: Transmissions and mutations

Film: "The Medieval Universe"

13 Oct.

Copernicus challenges the status quo

Baigrie (Copernicus)

Westfall, ch. I

20 Oct.

Brahe & Kepler up the ante

Baigrie (Brahe)

Cohen, ch. 6 and 5

27 Oct.

Galileo, the cosmos, and the Church

Cohen, ch. 4

Drake, pp. 21-58 and 173-216

3 Nov.

The Rediscovery of the Body: Vesalius

Baigrie (Vesalius)

10 Nov.

Harvey and the circulation of the blood

Film: "Circulation of the Blood"

Baigrie (Harvey)

Westfall, ch. V

17 Nov.

Descartes & Mechanism

Baigrie (Descartes)

Westfall, ch. II

24 Nov.

The Rise of Societies

Baigrie (Galileo)

Westfall, ch. VI

1 Dec.

Experimental science: Boyle, Gassendi, and the rest...

Baigrie (Boyle, Toricelli)

8 Dec.

The Microscope and Leeuwenhoek

Baigrie (Leeuwenhoek)

 

Winter Term 2000

Date

Topic

Readings

5 Jan.

Recap and intro to "modern science"

Baigrie (Cavendish)

12 Jan.

Isaac Newton: gravity and Restoration England

Baigrie (Newton #1)

Westfall, ch. VII and VIII

Cohen, ch. 7

19 Jan.

Newtonian Optics

Film: "Newton’s Argument for Universal Gravitation"

26 Jan.

Chemistry: Alchemy & Paracelcius

Baigrie (Newton #2, Paracelcuis)

Westfall, ch. IV

2 Feb.

Chemistry: Phlogiston and Lavoisier

Baigrie (Priestley, Lavoisier)

9 Feb.

Chemistry: Lavoisier and Mendeleev

Baigrie (Gay Lussac, Mendeleev, Dalton)

16 Feb.

READING WEEK

 		 

23 Feb.

Science Applied?: Thermodynamics and Electricity

Baigrie (Avogadro, Volta, Œrsted)

1 Mar.

The rise of Geology: Hutton, Lyell, Cuvier

Baigrie (Hutton, Lyell, Cuvier)

8 Mar.

Darwin, Lamarck and Evolution

Baigrie (Linnaeus, Lamarck, Darwin)

15 Mar.

Mendel: the discovery of genetics and their application

Baigrie (Mendel)

22 Mar.

DNA: The Double Helix

Watson (complete)

29 Mar.

Inside the Atom: X-Rays and Radiation

Baigrie (Röntgen, Thomson)

5 Apr.

Outside the Atom: Quantum Physics, Relativity, and the Bomb.

Baigrie (Rutherford)