GREAT ISSUES IN SCIENCE:
                    CHANGING THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

HSP 124
 M W F 9:10-10:00 am
Honors Observatory
Douglas White, Putnam
150 x-0266, dwhite@albion.edu, Home: 629-6905

Course Description: Great Issues in Science is a seminar/discussion course for students in Albion College Honors. This section fulfills the requirements for the Modeling and Analysis Mode of Inquiry.
Great Issues in Science classes traditionally emphasize three key unifying themes:
(1) the anatomy of science, including the philosophy and methods of science, the role of uncertainty in science, the differences between experimental and historical sciences, the implications of deterministic and probabilistic worldviews, and the pace and mode of evolution in scientific understanding,
(2) the ecology of science, including the role of culture, contingency, serendipity, and patronage on the adoption and spread of ideas, and the use and abuse of science in important social and public policy contexts, and
(3) the goals of science, including the big questions that remain and the prospects for finding answers to those questions.

Although these themes can be well developed using an historical perspective that touches on towering figures such as Aristotle, Galileo, Darwin, and Carson, I have chosen a different way forward. We will explore and discuss these themes as they are exemplified by recent efforts to understand and predict how humans may be changing the global environment. Discovering how humans may be altering the earth’s climate and ecosystems, especially by elevating the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, is arguably the most challenging and important goal for scientists today.
From the perspective of the anatomy of science, the enterprise is fascinating because it involves complex, interacting physical, chemical, geological, and biological systems in what amounts to the largest uncontrolled, unreplicated experiment ever. We will explore the uses and limitations of experiment, historical analysis, and computer modeling to address the question and its uncertainty.
From the perspective of the ecology of science, few issues are as ominous and hotly contested as those associated with global warming and ecosystem alteration. Galileo’s confrontations with Church authorities in Medici-era Italy can be conceptualized with smug detachment because we (falsely) view the context in terms of our modern understanding of the universe and because we have nothing at stake. In contrast, current public policy debates over global warming necessarily involve scientific uncertainty and potentially high personal and societal costs.
The course will involve text and PDF readings and analysis, library and internet research for additional sources, data-set analyses demonstrating fundamentals of climate, student-led presentations, short papers, and a book presentation.