History 180 - Western Sci&Tech I
Fall
2017
01
4.00
Brian Ogilvie
M W 9:05AM 9:55AM
UMass Amherst
32446
Focus on the birth of Western science in the rational cosmology of the ancient Greeks, on its transmission to medieval Europe, and its eventual overturning in the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries. (Gen.Ed. HS)
There are no prerequisites, although some background in European history from antiquity to 1700 is a great help.
History 180 and its companion History 181 have two goals: first, to explore the ways in which science and technology have helped various Western societies make sense of, and manipulate, their worlds and themselves; and second, to appreciate how science and technology reflect their historical periods and contexts. History 180 explores the Greek fascination with modeling the cosmos and with the nature of formal scientific explanation; the assimilation and refinement of ancient Greek science in the Islamic world; the role of Scholasticism and the medieval university in the institutionalization of scientific thought; and the creation of a new quantitative framework of experience by Renaissance explorers, engineers, artisans, mathematicians, and natural philosophers. History 181, offered in the spring, covers the centuries from the Scientific Revolution to the Space Age. Both parts are designed to meet the University's requirements for General Education and Historical Studies by introducing you to subjects and perspectives you might not otherwise encounter, and by offering opportunities for the exercise of skills of reading, writing, and analysis. They should also open up a fascinating past and help us all become critically informed participants in and consumers of modern techno-science.
History 180 and its companion History 181 have two goals: first, to explore the ways in which science and technology have helped various Western societies make sense of, and manipulate, their worlds and themselves; and second, to appreciate how science and technology reflect their historical periods and contexts. History 180 explores the Greek fascination with modeling the cosmos and with the nature of formal scientific explanation; the assimilation and refinement of ancient Greek science in the Islamic world; the role of Scholasticism and the medieval university in the institutionalization of scientific thought; and the creation of a new quantitative framework of experience by Renaissance explorers, engineers, artisans, mathematicians, and natural philosophers. History 181, offered in the spring, covers the centuries from the Scientific Revolution to the Space Age. Both parts are designed to meet the University's requirements for General Education and Historical Studies by introducing you to subjects and perspectives you might not otherwise encounter, and by offering opportunities for the exercise of skills of reading, writing, and analysis. They should also open up a fascinating past and help us all become critically informed participants in and consumers of modern techno-science.
Multiple required components--lab and/or discussion section. To register, submit requests for all components simultaneously.