LOCATOR
INFORMATION
Course
Description
Textbook
Evaluation
Outline
Requirements
|
COURSE
SYLLABUS HIST
3630-01, History of Science and Technology
| Semester/Year: Fall 2013 |
Office Location:
Crouch Hall, 406A |
| Semester Hours of Credit:
3 |
Office Phone: 963-7457 |
| Instructor: Dr. Theron
Corse |
Alternate Phone:
963-5471 |
Class meeting
location: Crouch (GRD) 318
Day and Time: TR 1:00-2:25 pm |
E-Mail:
tcorse@tnstate.edu
|
FINAL EXAM
- Due by Friday, December 13, 2013.
Midterm Exam |
Office Hours:
M 12-3; TR 9-11, 12-1; W 9-11, 12-3; F 9-11 | |
|
1. Research Essay 2.Book Essays 3. Reading
Reactions 4. Issue Journal 5.
Participation
|
| COURSE DESCRIPTION |
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Contents
HIST 3630 examines the relationship between science, technology, and
culture, primarily in the West from the Renaissance to the present. This
course also examines precursors to modern science and technology in the
ancient, medieval and non-Western worlds.
|
| GOALS AND OBJECTIVES |
This course is designed to
so that the student will:
- Be able to discuss how science and technology both
shape culture but also express the culture of a particular time and
place
- Gain a theoretical understanding of the nature of
scientific and technological development
- Use this knowledge and understanding to analyze the
role of science and technology in modern culture
|
| TEXTBOOK |
There are three books which we will use in this
class:
- Gies, Joseph. Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel:
Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages (Harper Perennial,
1995) ISBN 0060925817
- Standage, Thomas. The Victorian Internet: The
Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century
(Berkeley Trade, 1999) ISBN 0802716040
- McClellan, James. Science and Technology in World
History: An Introduction (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006)
ISBN 0801883601
All of these books are available in paperback. The
McMlellan and Gies books are available from Amazon as Kindle downloads,
and the Standage and Gies books are available as downloads with Barnes and
Noble's Nook. |
| EVALUATION |
Grades will be based
on the assignments listed below. Assignments will be weighted as
follows: |
| Grade Distribution |
|
| Assignments |
1. Research
Paper 2. Book Review 3. Participation |
|
Grades and their numerical equivalents are as
follows: |
| Grading Scale |
| 90 or above |
A |
| 80-89 |
B |
| 70-79 |
C |
| 60-69 |
D |
| 59 or below |
F |
|
|
Office Hours: Students
who seek help with instructors during office hours get better grades. Do
not wait until you have major problems! Students should speak to me any
time they find themselves confused about material, directions, or grades.
I am always ready to help any student who needs help with any of the
material or any assignment. That's my job.
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Contents
|
| READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS |
All readings are required. |
| |
Week |
Dates |
Topic and/or Assignment |
Readings |
|
1 |
Aug 27-29 |
Introduction; Paleolithic to the
Urban Revolution; Non-Western Traditions
|
STWH
Intro, Chp 1 |
|
2 |
Sep 3-5 |
Introduction; Paleolithic to the
Urban Revolution; Non-Western Traditions
|
STWH
Intro, Chps 1-3; 6-9
Cathedral, Forge |
|
3 |
Sep 10-12 |
Introduction; Paleolithic to the Urban Revolution;
Non-Western Traditions
|
STWH
Chps 2-3; 6-9
Cathedral, Forge |
|
4 |
Sep 17-19 |
Beginnings of the Western
Tradition - Ancient Greece
First Reading Reaction Due
- Sep 19 |
STWH
Chp 4
Herodotus:
"Why The
Nile Floods in Summer"
Cathedral, Forge |
|
5 |
Sep 24-26 |
Science and Technology of the
Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance
Second
Reading Reaction Due - Sep 26 |
STWH
Chps 5, 10
Cathedral, Forge
(discussion)
Roger Bacon:
On
Experimental Science, 1268 |
|
6 |
Oct 1-3 |
Scientific Revolution
|
STWH
Chp 4
Cathedral, Forge
(discussion) |
|
7 |
Oct 8-10 |
Scientific Revolution
|
STWH Chps 11-13
Copernicus:
Dedication from The Revolution of Heavenly Bodies, 1543;
Galileo Galilei:
Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany, 1615 |
|
8 |
Oct 15-17 |
Scientific Revolution
|
STWH Chps 11-13 |
|
9 |
Oct 22-24 |
Industrial Revolution
Cathedral, Forge
Essay Due
- Oct 24
Midterm Exam Announced - Oct 24
|
STWH Chps 13-15
Victorian Internet
Leeds
Woolen Workers' Petition, 1786 ;
Leeds Cloth Merchants' Letter, 1791 |
|
10 |
Oct 29-31 |
Industrial Revolution
Midterm Exam Due - Oct 31 |
STWH Chp 15-16
Victorian Internet |
|
11 |
Nov 5-7 |
The Second Scientific
Revolution
|
STWH Chp 17-18
Victorian Internet (discussion) |
|
12 |
Nov 12-14 |
Darwin and Evolution
Victorian
Essay Due - Nov 14
|
STWH
Chp 19-20
Maeterlicnk,
The Life of a Bee
(read section 45)
Huxley,
The
Physiology of the Crayfish (read up to Figure 19) |
|
13 |
Nov 19-21 |
Einstein, Relativity, and
Culture
Third Reading Reaction Due - Nov 21
|
STWH
Chp 19-20
|
|
14 |
Nov 26-28 |
Science and Technology in Modern Society
Issue Journal Due - Nov 28
|
STWH
Chp 19-20 |
|
15 |
Dec 3-5 |
Presentations
Final Exam Announced - Nov 28
Research Essay
Due - Dec 5 |
|
|
Finals |
Dec 10-12 |
Final Exam Due |
|
|
| Back |
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Contents
|
| REQUIREMENTS Assignments |
Assignments for this class
will include reading, writing, and special projects. Readings maybe
assigned not only from the text, but also from photocopied materials,
library books, and Internet sources. Students are responsible for all work
assigned in this class, whether or not they are present. Assignments must
be completed on time. Late work will be penalized unless you have a good
excuse, and no assignments will be accepted more than one week late. All
students are expected to participate regularly in class discussions.
|
|
Attendance and
Punctuality |
| All students are expected to attend class
punctually and regularly. Students arriving after the
beginning of class may, at the instructor's discretion, be counted
absent and/or asked to remain outside the classroom until the end of
the lecture.
Excessive absence or tardiness may result in a
significant reduction in a student's grade, and instructors are
under no obligation to allow make-up work in cases of tests and
assignments missed as a result of unexcused absence or
tardiness. The professor reserves the
right to deduct from the student's participation grade for more than
three unexcused absences and to deduct up to a letter grade from the
final grade for excessive unexcused absences (10% of class hours).
The professor reserves the right to fail students who miss more that
20% of class hours. Those students who know that they will have a
consistent problem due to scheduling conflicts should discuss this
with the professor at the beginning of the semester. Students are also responsible for obtaining information
presented in class during their absence.
In the event of an illness or emergency requiring
absence from class, students should contact the Office of the Vice
President for Student Affairs in order to obtain the documentation
necessary to have the absence excused. Instructors may require
such documentation as a condition for allowing the completion of
missed tests or assignments.
Tennessee State University's policy on absences may
be found in the Student Handbook, Chapter VII, pp.
100-101.
The last day to
withdraw is Nov 4. | |
|
Special Note on
Academic Honesty |
Students should be aware that a university is a
community of scholars committed to the discovery and dissemination of
knowledge and truth. Without freedom to investigate all materials,
scrupulous honesty in reporting findings, and proper acknowledgment of
credit, such a community can not survive. Students are expected to adhere
to the highest traditions of scholarship. Infractions of these traditions,
such as plagiarism (cheating), are not tolerated. Misrepresenting someone
else's words or ideas as one's own constitutes plagiarism. In cases where
plagiarism occurs, the instructor has the right to penalize the student(s)
as he or she thinks appropriate. One guideline holds that the first
offence results in failure of the assignment, the second offence in
failure of the course.
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|
Class
Participation |
Class Participation:
Preparation: since students are expected to participate in class
discussion, it is important to complete all the assigned readings before
coming to class. Students are expected to understand the material, or at
least have identified what they do not yet understand in order to ask
questions in class. All students are expected to come to class prepared to
discuss the assigned material.
Students are expected to observe normal courtesy in class. They are
expected to pay attention to the instructor, to take detailed notes, to
refrain from personal conversation, and to avoid any other behavior that
disturbs others. A student who does not observe these courtesies maybe
asked to leave the room.
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|
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Last Updated: August 29,
2005 |
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY