STS 2821 - [Introduction to the History of Modern Science]

(crosslisted) BSOC 2821, HIST 2820
(HB) (HA-AS, HST-AS)

Spring. Not offered: 2022-2023. Next offered: 2023-2024. 4 credits. Student option grading.

No prior science or history coursework is required or assumed.

J. Ratcliff.

This course offers a broad survey of the topics, questions and debates that animate the historical study of modern science. Focused primarily on Europe and its former empires, we will proceed chronologically through various knowledge “revolutions” – scientific, industrial and informational – from the early modern period to the twentieth century. Using both primary and secondary sources, we will investigate a selection of cases drawn from the history of mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, physics and information science. Along the way, we will examine questions such as: what is the difference between “science” and other ways of knowing? Is modern science a product of “the west”? Are science and religion in opposition to one another? What are the causes and consequences of a scientific “revolution”? Who participates in scientific production, and how has that mattered? What is the relationship between theory and practice in science? Does science and technology drive economic and political change, or vice versa? Does the political economy of scientific institutions (or the political beliefs of scientists) matter to the making of scientific knowledge? How do we (and how should we) measure progress in science? What might our histories of science reveal about our possible scientific futures?