This
page was last modified on November 29, 2009
|
The
Historical Context of Modern Science
.
.
.
.
.
.
. ..
. .
.
..
. AS
3CF3
|
|
Fall
2009
.
|
.
Monday
14:30-17:20
.
MDCL
1009
Richard T.
W. Arthur .
|
.
Office:
UH305
.
.
.Hours:
Wed 15:30 , Fri 11:30
|
|
Provisional
Syllabus
*-denotes
on-line resources, available through the library.
1.
Monday, Sept 14: Introduction: (No reading
assigned)
2.
Monday, Sept 21: The Ancient Greeks;
Aristotle
- Lindberg, Beginnings,
1-76.
- Koestler, The Sleepwalkers,
pp. 9-84.
3.
Monday, Sept 28: Greek and Roman Science
- Lindberg, Beginnings,
76-162.
- Koestler, pp.
87-117.
4.
Oct 5: Islamic Science
- Lindberg, Beginnings,
163-253.
- Bala, chs 1-6,
1-62.
- STUDY
QUESTIONS for week 4
-
5.
Oct 12: Copernicus
- (and also Thanksgiving; so
no class; but the reading is:)
- Lindberg, Beginnings,
254-285.
- Koestler, pp.
121-224.
- Bala, ch 7,
63-84.
- STUDY
QUESTIONS for weeks 5 and 6
-
6.
Oct 19: Kepler and Brahe
- Koestler, pp.
227-383.
- STUDY
QUESTIONS for week 6 (Lindberg)
-
7.
Oct 26: Kepler, Galileo and Optics
- Koestler, pp.
384-503.
- Lindberg, Beginnings,
313-320.
- Bala, ch 8,
85-94.
- STUDY
QUESTIONS for week 7
- Galileo
on the tides
|
8.
Nov 2: Matter Theory
- Lindberg, Beginnings,
286-296.
- Newman, chs 1-3,
23-81.
- STUDY
QUESTIONS for week 8
- Recommended: *-Michael,
Emily (1997). "Daniel Sennert on Matter and Form: At the
Juncture of the Old and New", Early Science and Medicine,
2, 272-299.
9.
Nov 9: Matter Theory (continued)
- Lindberg, Beginnings,
286-296.
- Newman, chs 1-3,
23-81.
- STUDY
QUESTIONS same as for week 8
- STUDY
QUESTIONS for week 9 (Michael)
- Recommended:
*-Michael,
Emily (1997).
"Daniel Sennert on Matter and Form: At the Juncture of
the Old and New", Early Science and Medicine, 2, 272-299.
-
- 10. Nov 16: Atoms and
Chymistry
- Bala, ch 9-10,
95-117.
- Newman, chs 4-5 only,
85-153. **NB**
- STUDY
QUESTIONS for week 10
- Recommended: *-Meinel,
Christoph (1988). "Early Seventeenth-Century Atomism:
Theory, Epistemology, and the Insufficiency of
Experiment." Isis, 79, 1 (March), 68-103.
11.
Nov 23: Theories of Motion; Newtonian
Physics
- Koestler, pp.
504-553.
- Lindberg, Beginnings,
299-313.
12:
Nov 30: Origins of Modern Science
- Lindberg, Beginnings, ch.
14, 357-367.
- Newman, Intro, 1-20,
153-225.
- Bala, chs 11-14,
119-183.
- STUDY
QUESTIONS for week 12
|
|
Research
Topics
First
Half of Term
for
Sept 21 or 28:
1.
Give a brief sketch of Plato's cosmology [DREYER ,
History, ch. III.] (Victoria-Sept
28)
2.
How did Aristarchus determine the ratio of the actual
diameters of the Sun and Moon, given the ratios he had
established for the ratio of the Sun's and Moon's distances
from the Earth? [VAN HELDEN, Measuring the
Universe.]
3.
Given these ratios, how did ancient astronomers go about
calculating the actual distances of heavenly bodies?
[VAN HELDEN, Measuring the Universe.]
4.
How did Ptolemy determine the order of the planets from the
Sun? [VAN HELDEN, Measuring the Universe.]
(Kola-Sept
21)
5.
Give a sketch of the cosmological systems of either Eudoxus
or Aristotle. [DREYER, History, chs. IV & V.]
(Margo,
Amy-Sept 28)
|
For
Oct 5 or 19:
6.
What contributions to astronomy were made by Moslem
astronomers? [DREYER, History, ch. XI.]
(Jennifer:
Oct 26)
7.
What advantages did Copernicus's system have over Ptolemy's?
[DREYER, History, ch. XIII.] (Lily,
Ellen-Oct 5)
8.
What was Giordano Bruno's contribution to the spread of
Copernicanism? [KOYRÉ, From the Closed World,
SINGER, Giordano Bruno.] (Natalie:
Oct 26))
9.
What were the main achievements of the Kerala
mathematicians? (George JOSEPH: references in Bala]
(John: Oct
19, Mary: Oct 26)
10.
Give a sketch of the cosmological system of Tycho Brahe.
[DREYER, History, ch. XIV; VICTOR THOREN, The Lord of
Uraniborg, ch. 8]
11.
Explain how the Islamic philosopher Avicenna defends
Aristotle's theory of vision [LINDBERG, Theories of
Vision from Al-Kindi to Kepler, 43-52].
(Keon: Oct
26)
12.
Give an account of Leonardo da Vinci's work on optics
[LINDBERG, Theories of Vision from Al-Kindi to Kepler,
154-168]. (Jackie,
Caitlin: Oct 19)
13. Give an account of Kepler's
contributions to the theory of the retinal image
[LINDBERG, Theories of Vision from Al-Kindi to Kepler,
178-208]. (Caroline:
Oct 26)
14. Aristotle
on Method (Sarah:
Oct 19)
15. Aquinas
(Erica: Oct
19)
|
|
Second
Half of Term
for
Nov 9:
1.
Give an account of Descartes's theory of colors, and of the
rainbow. [Sabra, Theories of Light, II + Descartes, "Of
the Rainbow" (pp. 332-345)]. (Ellen,
Amy)
2.
Explain how Descartes might have discovered the sine law of
refraction by proceeding along the lines of Ibn al-Haytham's
treatment. [Sabra, Theories of Light,
IV].
3.
Give an account of Fermat's Principle of Least Time.
[Sabra, Theories of Light, V]. (Jaclyn,
Lily)
4.
What were the criticisms of Aristotle's physics of motion
given by Giovanni Benedetti, and how was his impetus physics
supposed to resolve the difficulties he found?
[KOYRÉ, Galileo Studies, pp. 21-27].
(Jennifer)
5.
Give an account of the impetus physics propounded by
Galileo's teacher, Francisco Bonamico [KOYRÉ,
Galileo Studies, pp. 9-20]. (Erica,
Caitlin--postponed to Nov 16)
For
Nov 16:
6.
Give a sketch of Descartes's explanation of magnetism,
showing how it is consistent with his philosophical
principles. What problems do you see with this type of
explanation? [DESCARTES, Principles of Philosophy,
(Miller transl.), pp. 242-272]. (Sarah,
Randall--postponed to Nov 23)
7.
Give an account of Pierre Gassendi's contributions to the
clarification of the concepts of inertia and gravity.
[KOYRÉ, Galileo Studies, pp.
244-251].
8.
Compare the views of Galileo and Beeckman on (what we call)
inertia. Why did they propose a kind of circular inertia,
and what is wrong with this idea from a modern perspective?
[Course Package + KOYRÉ, Galileo Studies, Part
III, Cohen ch. 5]. (Mary)
|
For
Nov 23:
9.
Describe any three of Descartes's Rules of Impact, and show
how they are supposed to follow from his laws of nature.
[DESCARTES, Principles of Philosophy, (Miller transl.),
pp. 64-69] (Kola)
10.
What are the main similarities and differences between
Descartes' three laws of motion and Newton's three laws of
nature? [DREYER, History, chs. IV & V.]
(Natalie,
Keon)
11.
How might Tycho Brahe have been influenced by Chinese
observational astronomy? [BALA's sources, p. 160].
(Johnny)
For Nov 30:
12. What are the differences
between the atoms of the kalam tradition and those of
Democritus and the Ancient Greeks? [BALA's sources,
ARTHUR's
article]
(Jill,
Vicky)
13. Wild card: devise your own
research assignment, following up some relevant item of
interest in the history of science (of the same kind as
those given above). You must OK this with me before
proceeding. (Margo,
Caroline: TBD)
|