Great Issues in Science  

HSP 124H   Fall 2006       

9:10am – 10:00am

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Observatory
 Daniel Steffenson

The course has six sections:

I.     The Discovery of Science--The Model of the Greeks

II.    The Nature and Practice of Science--Introduction to Models of Justification

III . The Nature and Practice of Science--Philosophical Analysis

IV.  Women and Science--Are New Models Needed?

V.   Science and Literature

VI.  Science and Values--Limitations of the Models

There are five papers assigned of 5-6 pages (two are combined into one 10 page paper)  plus 3 or 4 short assignments.

There is a final project:  a field trip to Borders in Ann Arbor where each student selects a book from the science section (paid for by the Honors Institute).  Each student presents a  20 minute oral report on his or her chosen book at the end of the semester in lieu of a final.

Reading List: (Some books on this list may change)

Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton, Ballantine,1969.

Longitude, Dava Sobel, Penguin Books, 1995.

Great Scientific Experiments: 20 Experiments, that Changed Our View of the World, Rom Harré, Oxford,1981.

Lucretius:  The Nature of Things, F.O. Copley, translator, W.W. Norton, 1977.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd Ed., Thomas Kuhn, Chicago, 1970.

Galileo, Bertolt Brecht (Charles Laughton trans.), Grove Press, 1966.

Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Dell, 1963.

The Panda's Thumb, Stephen J. Gould, Norton, 1980.

Course Pack of Selected Readings (provided in class).