Announcements About This Course Syllabus Appendices Essays Projects Questionnaire	Goals of the Course Rather than attempting to survey the history of science since 1650, this course will focus on three pivotal episodes in modern Western science and will seek to compare the impacts made by Newton, Darwin and Einstein on both science and society. In each case, we shall briefly examine texts written by these three men and their contemporaries, as well as historians' interpretations of their works. Furthermore, the course will use these episodes as case studies to test models of scientific change, especially the notion of scientific "revolutions" proposed by Thomas Kuhn over thirty years ago. Finally, we will consider the social institutions and practices of modern science, and will explore how our "Newtonian," "Darwinian" and "Einsteinian" impulses molded these social elements and reflected wider cultural markings of gender, class and power. We shall also examine the fate of the natural sciences in three periods of intense political and social change: the French Revolution of the 1790s, the Soviet Revolution of 1917-30, and the Nazi "Revolution" of the 1930s. Hence, "science" and "revolution" will provide our themes. In addition to thinking about ideas, cultures and interpretations, we shall cultivate several skills essential to the practice of history. By critically reading both primary and secondary sources, we shall gain practice in unpacking rhetorical strategies, interpretative assumptions, and differing voices in texts. By drafting a series of short essays, we shall improve our abilities to write precisely, concisely, and clearly. And by working together in a variety of teams, we shall explore new ways to learn together, to constructively criticize each others' written work, and to conduct large research and writing projects cooperatively. That is, this course seeks to encourage and legitimate both cooperative and individual effort and achievement. Course Requirements Team participation (20%): By the second week of the term, I shall divide the class into three (or possibly six) teams. Each team will study, respectively, the fate of science in one of the three political revolutions noted above, and will prepare a written essay of not less than 15 pages, a multi-media or web-page presentation, and an in-class presentation summarizing its research and conclusions. Grades for this work will be assigned to teams rather than individuals, i.e., everyone in a team receives an identical grade. An explicit set of standards for A-level, B-level, and C-level projects will be provided later. Individual essays (60%): You will write six short essays (1 to 3 pages) over the term, on various assigned topics. Each essay, posted to the class web site by a given deadline, will be read and commented on by all class members. That is, after you post your essay to the web site, subsequent readers can post (signed!) graffiti to the bottom of the essay, praising the good points, raising questions, or commenting on connections between the various essays. You will be graded individually, on the quality both of your own essays and your graffiti on others' essays. Final examination (20%): You will answer a series of essay questions covering all materials of the course (lectures, readings, films, student essays and projects) during the two-hour exam period for this course scheduled by the Registrar. Some of the questions you will have seen in advance; others will be new. Course Policies Full participation in class, over the web site, and in your teams is required to successfully complete this course. According to the ORC, p. 93, there are no excused absences for participation in College-sponsored extracurricular events. Please see me immediately if you anticipate such conflicts. No late papers (i.e., web postings) will be accepted without an official College excuse (health or family emergency). Please see me immediately if you think you will be unable to meet the scheduled deadlines. Since all class members will be reading your essays, it is essential that you post your work to the web site by the times stipulated. I encourage students with learning, physical or psychiatric disabilities to make an appointment to see me as soon as possible, so that we can arrange any appropriate accommodations. Also, please stop by the Academic Skills Center in 301 Collis to register for additional support services. For this course, following Dartmouth's honor code means that all written work you submit will be your own, and that you will follow standard citation practices as outlined in Dartmouth's Sources: Their use and acknowledgment, rev. ed., 1992. When you are writing a short essay on a common topic, I expect you to post your essay to the web site before reading essays previously posted by your classmates. Remember that with all class members reading your work, any attempts to copy someone else's paper would be easily detectable and silly, as well as wrong. Textbooks (Dartmouth Bookstore and Wheelock Books) Appleman, P., ed. Darwin. 2d ed. Norton, 1979. Cohen, I. Bernard and Westfall, Richard S., eds. Newton. Norton, 1995. Desmond, Adrian and Moore, James. Darwin. Norton, 1991. McCormmach, R. Night thoughts of a classical physicist. Harvard, 1991. Schiebinger, L. Nature's body: Gender and the making of modern science. Beacon, 1993. Westfall, Richard S. The life of Isaac Newton. Harvard, 1993.