CLASS 2643 - [The Birth of Science: Discovering the World from Antiquity to Today]

(crosslisted) STS 2643
(HB) (ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Fall. Not offered: 2023-2024. Next offered: 2024-2025. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

No prior knowledge of antiquity (or science!) required.

C. Roby.

What can Aristotle, Archimedes, Hippocrates and other ancient scientists teach us about science as we know it today? In this course we will study the origins of scientific thought and experiment in mathematics, biology, medicine, astronomy and more in the ancient Mediterranean, comparing them to modern approaches as well as examples from classical China, the medieval Islamic world, Mesoamerica, and Africa. We will discuss questions about the philosophy of science and its socio-historical context and engage actively with ancient problem-solving methods.