BIO 208 - Science, Medicine and Society/Experimental

 
Description
This course explores the history of science and medicine in the Western world, from its beginnings with the earliest human civilizations to the present day. The origins of major scientific fields such as astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, medicine, and physics are examined, largely through the lives of great scientists and their major theoretical contributions and discoveries, and the historical events and cultural forces that made those discoveries possible. The course does not assume any foreknowledge of specific scientific theories or concepts, but acquaints the student with the core discoveries that have shaped modern science and how those discoveries were made.

1. Describe the mathematical, medical and scientific achievements of early Western civilizations.
2. Explain how Greek natural philosophy gave rise to and influenced science and medicine.
3. Explain why science and medicine thrived in the Middle East after the fall of Rome and how they returned to the West during the Middle Ages.
4. Identify the events and cultural forces leading to the Scientific Revolution of the Renaissance.
5. Assess the impact of the Copernican, Newtonian and Darwinian revolutions in the development of science.
6. Describe the historical interactions, both positive and negative, between religion and science.
7. Explain how government support, industry and warfare have shaped the development of science, medicine, and technology throughout history.
8. Describe the roles of women, non-white and non-Westerns scholars in the history of science and medicine.
9. Evaluate how the growth of science and medicine have shaped the course of Western civilization.

1. Epistemology and the origins of scientific thought
2. Science and medicine in classical antiquity
3. Islamic science and medicine
4. Science and medicine in the Middle Ages
5. Copernicus and the Scientific Revolution
6. Galileo and the birth of empiricism in the Renaissance
7. The Newtonian revolution and Enlightenment science
8. The Darwinian revolution and the birth of modern biology
9. The dawn of professional science and medicine in the 19th century
10. 20th century science: The atomic age and the DNA revolution

• Communication
• Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
• Culture Society & Citizenship

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