Seeing our World as Scientists

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Science lies at the heart of some of our greatest challenges – from infectious disease to climate change – and also at the heart of some of our most profound progress – from vaccines to the exploration of space. Science is not just the knowledge – the names of the organelles of a cell, the equations that quantify the effects of gravity – that helps to explain each of these phenomena. Indeed, almost all knowledge in science should come with a disclaimer that it represents simply our best current understanding of reality. Real science is about how scientists discover new knowledge, what limits that knowledge, how one round of questions and answers can give rise to new questions, and how communicating science profoundly shapes our understanding of it. Science is an inherently social endeavor: society shapes science, and science shapes society. Most introductory science courses teach science as though it is a car, and the class is a showroom at a car dealership – it’s all about the external features and gloss. Here we’ll tackle science as though we are working in the service part of the dealership, looking under the hood, getting a bit dirty, and tinkering with the engine to really see how it runs. The course will move through three case studies, introducing foundational scientific concepts as a way of understanding complicated scientific challenges. Along the way, we’ll work on developing your analytical and communication skills. You’ll read a range of different types of scientific writing, apply your new knowledge on weekly problem sets, and tackle one larger project for each case study.