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    Mts PDF

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    This document outlines the course aims and organization for a class on the rise of modern science. The course will examine key developments in Europe and North America from 1500 to today. It will consider three main questions: how scientific knowledge is established and changes over time, the impacts of science on society, and how society shapes the direction of science. The course is divided into six time periods and will use case studies to discuss recurring themes about the natural world and human mind, and how science relates to issues like ethics, politics, and control. Students are encouraged to understand the challenges scientists faced historically and how contexts influence the practice of science.

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    Mts PDF

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    ChristianJohn Nunag
    29 views4 pages
    This document outlines the course aims and organization for a class on the rise of modern science. The course will examine key developments in Europe and North America from 1500 to today. It will consider three main questions: how scientific knowledge is established and changes over time, the impacts of science on society, and how society shapes the direction of science. The course is divided into six time periods and will use case studies to discuss recurring themes about the natural world and human mind, and how science relates to issues like ethics, politics, and control. Students are encouraged to understand the challenges scientists faced historically and how contexts influence the practice of science.

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    This document outlines the course aims and organization for a class on the rise of modern science. The course will examine key developments in Europe and North America from 1500 to today. It will consider three main questions: how scientific knowledge is established and changes over time, the impacts of science on society, and how society shapes the direction of science. The course is divided into six time periods and will use case studies to discuss recurring themes about the natural world and human mind, and how science relates to issues like ethics, politics, and control. Students are encouraged to understand the challenges scientists faced historically and how contexts influence the practice of science.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    29 views4 pages

    Mts PDF

    Uploaded by

    ChristianJohn Nunag
    This document outlines the course aims and organization for a class on the rise of modern science. The course will examine key developments in Europe and North America from 1500 to today. It will consider three main questions: how scientific knowledge is established and changes over time, the impacts of science on society, and how society shapes the direction of science. The course is divided into six time periods and will use case studies to discuss recurring themes about the natural world and human mind, and how science relates to issues like ethics, politics, and control. Students are encouraged to understand the challenges scientists faced historically and how contexts influence the practice of science.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 4

    The Rise of Modern Science

    I. Course Aims
    a. We’re going to cover a lot of material in a short time. The goal is not to memorize
    names and dates, but to ask larger questions about how science has emerged and
    changed over time.
    b. We will be highly selective in our choice of topics. For example, we will look mostly
    at developments in Europe and North America.
    c. We will be guided by three overarching questions
    i. How do we know what we know?
    ii. What are the impacts of science of society?
    iii. How is science shaped by society?
    II. What is science?
    a. Scientist
    i. “A person with expert knowledge of science; a person using scientific
    methods.” (scientist, n.
    Second edition, 1989; online version March 2011.
    <http://oed.com/view/Entry/172698>; accessed 13 May 2011. Earlier version
    first published in New English Dictionary, 1910.)
    b. Scientific Methods
    i. Observation
    ii. Hypothesis
    iii. Experiment
    iv. Analysis
    1. Support or reject hypothesis
    v. New hypothesis
    vi. Experiment – etc.
    III. How do we know what we know?
    a. Source of scientific authority
    i. Individuals with certifications (degrees)
    ii. Research Institutions (Universities)
    iii. Governments and Foundations (National Science Foundation)
    iv. Publications (Textbooks, journals)
    b. Problems with authority
    i. Hwang Woo Sook
    ii. Jan Hendrik Schön
    iii. Victor Ninov
    IV. How does science impact society?
    a. Examples
    i. Industry
    ii. Medicine
    iii. Energy
    iv. Art
    v. Humor
    V. How does society shape science?
    a. Funding
    b. Societal pressures on direction of science
    i. Political
    ii. Legal
    iii. Cultural
    VI. Time line
    a. Ancient (500 BCE – 500 AD)
    b. Medieval (500 – 1450)
    c. Renaissance (1450 – 1700)
    d. Enlightenment (1700 – 1850)
    e. Modern (1850 – Today)
    VII. Course organization
    a. How to make sense of the past and present?
    VIII. Themes for our course: Questions about the world
    a. Unit 1: Matter
    i. Substance of substances of which something consists
    ii. Material used or acted upon
    iii. That which has mass and occupies space
    iv. Questions / Case Study
    1. Is the stuff of the universe unchanging or transmutable?
    2. The institutions of science
    b. Unit 2: Nature
    i. Collective phenomena of the world – especially living things, plants, and
    animals – often apart from human action
    ii. The essential quality or constitution of a thing
    iii. Questions / Case Study
    1. Are humans a part of nature or do they make nature?
    2. Science and commerce
    c. Unit 3: Motion
    i. Agitation, unrest, disturbance
    ii. The action or process of being moved
    iii. Questions / Case Study
    1. Are motions subject to universal laws?
    2. Science and technology
    d. Unit 4: Bodies
    i. The physical frame or structure of man
    ii. The whole material organism viewed as an organic entity
    iii. Questions / Case Study
    1. How do living creatures work>
    2. Science and the ethics of research
    e. Unit 5: Heavens
    i. The expanse in which the sun, moon, and stars are seen
    ii. The part of the atmosphere closest to the earth’s surface
    iii. Questions / Case Study
    1. Are models convenient tools or true representations?
    2. Science and politics
    f. Unit 6: Minds
    i. Action of thinking, or occurrence of a thought
    ii. The organ of the human brain
    iii. Questions / Case Study
    1. Is it possible to understand the human brain?
    2. Science, power, and control
    IX. How to think about science?
    a. Case study: Cholera, 1832 (Contextualize and contrast)
    i. Proposed therapies
    1. Bleeding
    2. Opiates
    3. Electric shock
    4. Tobacco smoke enema
    5. Rectum plugs of beeswax or oilcloth
    ii. Modern therapies
    1. Oral rehydration therapy
    2. Electrolytes
    3. Antibiotics
    b. Scientists struggled with difficult problems
    c. Be sympathetic and open minded
    d. Science shaped by its contexts, both then and now
    X. Questions science struggled with
    a. Which moves: the sun or the earth?
    b. Why are fossils on mountain tops?
    c. Can you change lead into gold?
    d. What does the heart do?
    MIT OpenCourseWare
    http://ocw.mit.edu

    STS.003 The Rise of Modern Science


    Fall 2010

    For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.

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