HST 387U • HISTORY OF MODERN SCIENCE • FALL 2011
Class meets TuTh 12:00-13:50 in Neuberger 11

Richard H. Beyler
Office:  Cramer 441-O • Drop-in office hours Tu 14:00-15:00, otherwise by appointment
Telephone:  503.725.3996 • E-mail:  r [dot] beyler [at] pdx [dot] edu • Webpage:  web.pdx.edu/~drrb

Themes.  The modern world is, almost by definition, a world dominated by science and its applications.  This course examines the development, sometimes gradual and sometimes revolutionary, of the fundamental role that science plays in modern society.  We will consider the interaction between two different aspects of science:  science as a system of knowledge (hypotheses, theories, discoveries, etc.), and science as the set of human actions and social institutions (disciplines, laboratories, schools, etc.) by which that knowledge is produced and transmitted.  How have scientific discoveries affected other domains of culture, politics, and everyday life?  How, in turn, have political events, social realities, and cultural trends affected the scientific endeavor in the various times and places it has been carried out?

Objectives.  Through this course, you should better able to:
• identify and describe key developments in the history of modern science;
• interpret these developments in terms of their social context and social impacts;
• compare and contrast changing world views and modes of organizing knowledge;
• synthesize historical information and present the results using effective (primarily written) communication.

Textbooks.  The following books contain required reading for the class.  They are available for purchase at the PSU Bookstore and elsewhere.:

Bowler, Peter J., and Iwan Rhys Morus. Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.  [Also on library reserve.]

Herbert, Sandra, ed. Charles Darwin and the Question of Evolution: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011.  [Not on library reserve.  I can provide alternative library readings if you wish to avoid purchasing the text.]

Hughes, Jeff. The Manhattan Project: Big Science and the Atom Bomb. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.  [This book is on back order from the publisher and should be available in a few weeks.  Also on library reserve.]

Jacob, Margaret C., ed. The Scientific Revolution: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010.  [Not on library reserve.  I can provide alternative library readings if you wish to avoid purchasing the text.]

Electronic Packet.  The Jacob and Herbert volumes each include several excerpts from primary sources–that is, texts written by the historical characters we are studying.  We will also read several primary source excerpts  available on the internet or through the PSU Library's electronic journal subscriptions, which I will refer to collectively as the Electronic Packet (EP).. A separate handout gives the specifics.  Also, I will announce the address of a webpage with links to these texts.  If desired, I can  put hard copies of the materials on reserve.

Requirements

The basic requirements of the class are active listening, attentive reading, critical thinking, and thoughtful participation.  More formally, your grade will be based on four core assignments:  two exams and two writing assignments (one of which actually comprises a set of three shorter papers).  It is possible to substitute one of several alternative assignments for one of the core assignments.  Also, there is an option to do fewer assignments, in which case your maximum final grade will be correspondingly lower.

• Core assignments.  Brief descriptions of the core assignments are given below.  In each case, further details will be given in class or in separate handouts.  Each of the four core assignments–two exams and two writing assignments–counts 25% toward the final grade.

1. One writing assignment is a focus text analysis (FTA), a paper of about 5-6 pp. based on one of the three focus texts:  the introductory essay in Jacob (due Oct. 18th), the introductory essay in Herbert (due Nov. 8th), or Hughes (due Nov. 29th).  All three of these texts are required reading, and material from all of them will be included on the exams, but you choose one for the FTA assignment.  In this paper you will analyze the argument and evidence of your chosen author, and in particular compare it to our other  course material:  lectures, primary source readings, and the Bowler & Morus text.

2. The other writing assignment is a set of three primary source analyses (PSAs), short papers (each 2-3 pp.) due Oct. 11th, Nov. 1st, and Nov. 22nd , corresponding to the three main units of the class and based on the primary source readings in the Jacob and Herbert volumes and in the EP.  To complete this assignment you must turn in one short paper on each of the three due dates; however, for each due date there will be several prompts to choose from.  Guiding questions will be provided; in general, your task will be to discuss how the primary sources exemplify or illustrate themes from our secondary texts and/or lectures.

3. There will a mid-term exam during week V, based on in-class lectures and assigned readings.  The exam is closed book and closed notes, and may include questions of the following types:  short answer, identification/matching, chronological ordering (not specific dates), picture or quotation analysis, and essay.

4. There will be a final exam during exam week, similar in format to the mid-term.  The short-answer type questions will concentrate on the second half of the term; the essay question will probably be cumulative across the whole term.

• Alternative assignments.  You may substitute one of the following alternatives for any one of the core assignments above.

1. A synthesis essay (5-6 pp.), synthesizing the content of this class with that of some other class you have taken.  You should discuss how a significant theme of this class relate to the material of another course:  points of mutual reinforcement, points of apparent contradiction or tension, etc.  Obviously, you need to have a good grasp of your chosen comparative class.  This option is primarily intended for students taking this course for a UNST cluster or for a history major, but is open to everyone.  For the UNST cluster, the relevant comparative course is SINQ gateway course or one the other upper-division cluster courses.  For the history major, the relevant comparative course is a prior history class.  By Week VI you must submit a proposal containing a summary (2-3 pp.) of the chosen comparative course as well as a provisional statement of the theme(s) linking that course to HST 387.  You cannot do this assignment without an approved proposal.  The final paper is due at our last regular class meeting.

2. A review essay of an additional historical text related to the class, chosen from a list of books to be provided.  As with the FTA, your paper (5-6 pp.) should do more than simply summarize the book; it should analyze the author’s historical point of view, argument and evidence, and link the material to one or more of the themes of the class.  A proposal indicating the book to be reviewed and listing any relevant background material is due Week VI; the final paper is due at our last regular class meeting.  You cannot do this assignment without an approved proposal.

3. A second focus text analysis at the appropriate due date.

4. A second set of three primary source analyses, so that at each PSA due date you submit two papers rather than one.

• You may also choose a B or C grading plan.  The B plan means that you take the final exam and do two other assignments (you may include one alternative option); the maximum grade you can then receive is a B+.  The C plan means that you take the final and do one other assignment (either core or alternative options); the maximum grade you can then receive is a C+.  Note that for these modified grading plans, the final exam is required.

• Due to the “menu” system for assignments, late papers are not accepted.  If you find that you cannot complete an assignment on time, plan to do another option later.  Think strategically, so you do not back yourself into a corner at the end of the term.

• Writing for the class should engage thoughtfully with the subject matter.  It should also be articulate, well organized, and free from grammatical, mechanical, spelling, and usage errors.  In other words, papers will be evaluated with respect to both “content” and “form.”  Papers that do not meet certain minimum standards for formatting and mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation) will be returned for revision.  Specifics will be given in a separate handout.

• If you need academic accommodations for a disability, please contact the Disability Resource Center, if you haven’t done so already (Smith 116, tel. 503-725-4150), and have them let me know what accommodations would be appropriate.

ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE (subject to change)

You should aim to complete the listed readings by the Tuesday of each week.

MMS = Bowler & Morus, Making Modern Science
SR = Jacob, The Scientific Revolution
CDQE = Herbert, Charles Darwin and the Question of Evolution;
MP = Hughes, The Manhattan Project
EP = Electronic Packet
FTA = Focus Text Analysis
PSA = Primary Source Analysis.

Unit I.  The Scientific Revolution

Wk I.

Tue. 27 Sep.  Looking at science historically.  What do we mean by “science”?  By “historically”?

Thu. 29 Sep.  Ancient and medieval background.  Transitions to the modern world.

Wk II.  MMS: chaps. 1-2.  SR: Introduction, pp. 1-22, 39-40; Documents 1-9, pp. 43-95.  EP: Donne.

Tue. 4 Oct.  From Copernicus to Kepler.  The Galileo affair.

Thu. 6 Oct.  New ways of knowing:  empiricism, quantification, mechanism.  Making a place for experiment.

Wk III.  MMS: chaps. 3-5, 14.  SR: Introduction, pp. 22-38; Documents 10-18, pp. 95-133.

Tue. 11 Oct.  Societies and academies.  From Galileo to Newton.
Due:  PSA #1.

Thu. 13 Oct.  Newton’s natural-philosophical synthesis.  Natural philosophy and natural history in the Enlightenment.

Unit II.  Development and Consequences of Evolutionary Theory

Wk IV.  MMS: chap. 6.  CDQE: Introduction, pp. 1-19; Documents 1-14, pp. 41-76.  EP: Spencer.

Tue. 18 Oct.  Professionalization and organization of science in the 19th century.  Pre-Darwinian evolutionary theories.
Due:  FTA #1 on Jacob.

Thu. 20 Oct.  Physics interlude:  electricity, energy, entropy, efficiency.  Darwin’s career in cultural context.

Wk V.  MMS: chaps. 7, 15-16.  CDQE: Introduction, pp. 19-34; Documents 15-29, pp. 76-123.  EP: Darwin, Origin.

Tue. 25 Oct.  The origin of the Origin of Species.  Its argument and reception.

Thu. 27 Oct.  Mid-term exam.

Wk VI.  MMS: chaps. 13, 18-19.  EP: Darwin, Descent; Tylor; Galton (2 items).

Tue. 1 Nov.  Humans in the evolutionary picture.  Varieties of social Darwinism.
Due:  PSA #2; proposals for review or synthesis essays (alternative assignments).

Thu. 3 Nov.  Evolutionary anthropology and psychology.  Doctrines of progress and degeneration.  Eugenics.

Unit III. The Atomic Age

Wk VII.  MMS: chaps. 11-12.  Cassidy, chaps. 1-4.  EP: Einstein, “What Is ...”

Tue. 8 Nov.  Revolutions in physics:  radioactivity, relativity, quantum theories.
Due:  FTA #2 on Herbert.

Thu. 10 Nov.  The emergence of nuclear physics.

Wk VIII.  MMS: chap. 20.  MP: chaps. 1-7.  EP: Einstein letter to Roosevelt; Interim Committee minutes; Franck Committee report; Groves.

Tue. 15 Nov.  Science and the state in the early 20th century.

Thu. 17 Nov.  The Manhattan Project and other weapons projects.

Wk IX.  MMS: chap. 8.  MP: chaps. 8-10.  EP: Bush; Weinberg.

Tue. 22 Nov.  Science and the Cold War.  The development of “Big Science.”
Due:  PSA #3.

Thu. 24 Nov.  HOLIDAY–no class.

Wk X.  MMS: chaps. 9-10.  MP: chaps. 11-12.

Tue. 29 Nov.  Recent developments in physics, astronomy, and biology.
Due:  FTA #3 on Hughes.

Thu. 1 Dec.  Environmental science in the 20th century.  Science and sustainability.  (Guest lecture by Prof. Bill Lang.)
Due:  review essay; synthesis essay (alternative assignments).

Exam Week

Thu. 8 Dec., 10:15-12:05 (NOTE TIME).  Final exam.