Puzzles and Revolutions: Text & Traditions

3 units

One major force in human history has been inquiry into the natural world. Especially after 1550, natural science, by virtue of its role in the development of technology and the improvement of health, has brought about great changes on all scales of human existence, first in Western Europe and then globally. In this course, the changing character of inquiry into the natural world, from antiquity forward, will be the object of study. Does natural science enable us, for example, to study nature as it is in itself, or are culturally-determined perspectives or frameworks inescapable? How is it that natural science has, especially since 1800, proved so useful in the development of technology? How has it impinged on the arts? The requirements will include writing several short papers and brief responses to the readings.