The
Scientific Revolution
HIS3537-101
Instructor: Dr. David Reid
Appalachian
Fall 2003
Classroom: 151
Whitener Hall
Class Hours:
Wednesday
Instructor’s Office
& Office Hours:
Office: 217 Whitener Hall
Office
Hours: Mon.
Wed.
Fri. 11am-12noon
And by appointment
(Please note: On occasion my office hours may need
to be changed for administrative duties or other scheduled events. If you need
to see me ASAP, please contact me by phone or email to schedule an
appointment.)
Office Telephone: 828-262-6876
Email: reidda@appstate.edu
Homepage: http://www.appstate.edu/~reidda
“The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.”
Albert Einstein
From a modern perspective, the sciences of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries encompass a perplexing array of ideas that are at once both strange and familiar. Many of the concepts that we regard as the foundations of modern science had their origins in this period, yet many of the people responsible for creating these concepts also pursued areas of knowledge like alchemy and astrology that to us seem strange and out of place. The goal of this course is to follow the development of scientific knowledge and practice from the Middle Ages to the Age of Enlightenment and to understand science as the people of the time understood it. Through a variety of primary and secondary texts, we will see that the pursuit of science was both an intellectual and a social activity and that scientific work had a profound impact on the development of Western Civilization, just as Western society and its social institutions had profound influences on the practice of science.
Course readings will be in a number of formats – printed books available for purchase, handouts available in class, and selections available over the Internet. Books for purchase will eventually be available at the ASU bookstore (if they aren’t already), but feel free to shop around either in town or on the Internet. Www.pricescan.com and www.bookfinder.com allow you to compare the costs of books with all the online booksellers. The list of texts and assigned readings is included later in the syllabus, just before the course calendar. For your information, I have identified those texts that are available as on-line text versions. The web addresses listed should take you straight to the correct sites, but let me know if you have problems. When reading items that are on-line, please print hard copies for yourself and bring them to class on the appropriate days.
In-class activities and private study are equally important, and you will achieve greater success in the course if you diligently keep up with the readings and come to class prepared to discuss them. Indeed, a thorough understanding of the course material and the ability to communicate your understanding clearly through oral and written argument are the keys to achieving high marks in the class.
Attendance and active participation in class discussions will both count substantially towards your final grade. I will be taking role at the start of each class period and after each mid-class break. Once I have completed taking roll, I will count late comers as absent, so be sure to arrive on time! More than 4 absences will start to hurt your grade, and 10 or more absences will result in an automatic failing grade for General In-Class Participation. Course grades will be determined by your performance in the following activities and will count towards the respective percentages of the total course grade:
General In-Class Participation 20%
2 In-Class Group Presentations 20% (10% each)
Weekly WebCT Discussions 10%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Review Essay 25%
A good part of our class meetings will be devoted to class discussion, and the success of the course as a whole will depend in large part on everyone actively contributing questions, thoughts, well-reasoned opinions, etc. Near perfect attendance (4 or fewer absences – remember that I will take attendance twice in each class period) will earn you a B- for the participation grade, and active participation will improve your grade beyond that base level.
During the semester each student will also be responsible for leading at least two class discussions in conjunction with two or three other students. These class discussions will be based on the assigned readings for any given day, so no outside readings are required. Early on you will have an opportunity to sign up for the days (and hence the topics) on which you will lead discussion. You may want to look over the course schedule soon in order to identify two or three topics for which you would like to responsible. In class, discussion leaders should be prepared to first go over the major points and issues raised in the assigned readings. As we dig deeper into the material during the discussion, the leaders should also be ready to ask questions regarding aspects of the readings that they did not understand and pose larger historical and philosophical questions that the readings raise. Although I expect you to work as a group in organizing the material of your presentations, I will assess the contributions of each student individually according to the substance of the presentation, the cohesiveness of the argument or ideas presented, and the quality of oral delivery.
Discussion leaders should familiarize themselves with Microsoft PowerPoint software and when possible support their presentations with PowerPoint slides. Your slides should be simple and convey the main points of the readings. They may also include pictures, maps, etc., when appropriate to the topic on which you are presenting.
WebCT is an on-line website (accessible through your AppalNET account) in which students can communicate with the class as a whole as well as with their professors. I will use WebCT to post assignments and initiate weekly class discussions. If you have difficulties finding or using the WebCT site for this class, please contact me or talk to the office of Academic Computing Services. They are located in 2073 Raley Hall (828-262-6266).
Each student will be required to contribute at least one
WebCT posting per week (discussions can be found in the Discussion area of the
class WebCT site). Postings must be submitted by
There will be two in-class essay exams – one midterm exam and a final exam, which will consist of your review of a recent text about the Scientific Revolution. Each exam will be graded on a hundred-point scale: A 93-100, A- 90-92, B+ 87-89, B 83-86, B- 80-82, C+ 77-79, C 73-76, C- 70-72, D 60-69, F <60. The midterm will require that you write one long argumentative/interpretive essay and several shorter identification essays. I will hand out a review worksheet and sample exam a week before the midterm exam. I will have more information regarding the final review essay during the second half of the semester.
Students enrolled for graduate credit will also write a 12-15 page interpretive research essay in addition to completing the assignments listed above. The essay should represent an exhaustive search of the secondary literature relevant to the student’s chosen topic and a reading of a few primary documents likewise related. The research and writing of the essay should take place in stages. Due dates for the various phases of the project are included in the Course Calendar at the end of the syllabus.
Since discussion constitutes a central element of the course, it is essential that you arrive in class on time and listen respectfully to your colleagues. Discussions provide you with an opportunity to learn about a variety of ideas just as they provide you with an opportunity to express your own ideas and opinions. We will sometimes touch on issues on which you and your colleagues hold conflicting positions, and it’s important that we treat one another with courtesy and respect.
Lastly, please
turn off all beepers and mobile phones (but see me in emergency situations).
It is expected that
all students will read and understand ASU’s Academic Integrity Code, which can
be found on-line at http://www.academicaffairs.appstate.edu/academic_integrity_index.htm.
All violations of academic integrity are forbidden. In short, all class work
must be your own. Any student caught cheating, falsifying work, plagiarizing,
abusing course materials, or being complicit in such activities will be
referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs as explained in the Academic
Integrity Code.
Individuals who require reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Services Office of the Learning Assistance Program, which is located in D.D. Dougherty Hall (828-262-3053), as soon as possible. Information about their services is also available at http://www.fpext.appstate.edu/gstudies/dss/index.htm.
Texts Available at the ASU Bookstore
David Lindberg, The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, 600 B.C. to A.D. 1450 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992). ISBN 0-226-48231-6
Malcolm
Oster (ed.), Science in
Galileo Galilei, Sidereus Nuncius or the Sidereal Messenger, trans. Albert Van Helden (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989). ISBN: 0-2262-7903-0
Maurice Finocchiaro (ed.), The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989). ISBN 0-520-06662-6
Francis Bacon, Novum Organum, eds. and trans. Peter Urback and John Gibson (Chicago: Open Court, 1994). ISBN: 0-8186-9245-4
René Descartes, The World and Other Writings, ed. Stephen Gaukroger (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998). ISBN: 0-521-63646-9
Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs and Margaret C. Jacob,
Aristotle, The Four Causes from Physics
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/4CAUSES.HTM
William Harvey, On The Motion Of The Heart And Blood In Animals (1628)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1628harvey-blood.html
Other Texts To Be Made Available (Further announcements will be made during the semester.)
Nicolaus Copernicus, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, trans. A.M. Duncan (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1976).
Caroline Merchant, Death of Nature, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980).