Debating Science: Great Scientific Controversies in Context

Semester and Year	SP 2012
Course Number	IDSEM-UG1671
Section	001
Instructor	Jose Perillan
Days	Mon,Wed
Time	3:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement	SCI

Description

Is light a wave or a particle? Were the ‘Bone Wars’ of the late 19th Century good for the study of paleontology? Is the atomic world deterministic or not? In the study of animal morphology does function dictate form or is it form that dictates function? What is the scale of our universe? These are some of the greatest debates that have gripped the scientific community over the past 350 years. Many of these debates have been restricted to a healthy dialog within the scientific community but on occasion they have sparked lively and even ad homonym exchanges between scientists. In this seminar we will explore the nature of these debates within their appropriate contexts. To grapple with these debates effectively we will need to examine primary and secondary source materials relating to the particular controversy, including biographical materials on their corresponding protagonists. As such, we will be studying works by scientists like: Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, Georges Cuvier, Geoffroy St. Hilaire, Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein, Thomas Henry Huxley, Samuel Wilberforce, Harlow Shapely, Heber Curtis, Othniel Marsh, and Edward Cope. Readings will include works by these protagonists as well as supporting secondary source material.

Syllabus

IDSEM-UG1671

Course Type

Interdisciplinary Seminars (IDSEM-UG)