History of Science 1: Antiquity to Newton

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course is intended as the first of a two-part survey of Western science. We begin with a survey of the heritage of ancient (largely Greek) contributions to natural philosophy, mathematics, and medicine. We will continue with medieval studies of mathematics, motion, the heavens, living things, optics, materials, and alchemy in Arabic and Latin cultures. Given the importance of religion to the formation of these historical cultures, we will pay particular attention to the relations between broader philosophy, theology, and the emerging activities bearing the hallmarks of naturalistic and rational approaches we often distinguish as "science." Changing institutional homes for the study of nature also contextualize our study of key ideas and methods, from early philosophical schools to monasteries, universities, courts, and academies. Ultimately, we will consider whether there was such a thing as "the Scientific Revolution," and, if there was, what was so revolutionary about it.