REVOLUTIONS
IN SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT FROM PLATO TO EINSTEIN
SYLLABUS
OBJECTIVES:
- to understand paradigms: the scientific and philosophical
frameworks that shape our thinking and our behavior
- to investigate revolutions (departures from paradigms) in
scientific thought and what they have in common with other cultural
and personal revolutions
- to explore new frameworks for evaluating modern science and
contemporary society
TOPICS
SESSION 1
- discussion of objectives
- questions: about reality, knowledge, truth, the behavior
of the universe
- answers: paradigms, frameworks, schemes for "answers"
in science and philosophy
SESSION 2
Reading: Flatland (Abbott, Dover, 1952)
- revolutions in science and philosophy: characteristics of
revolutions, their impact on human history
SESSION 3
Reading: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Kuhn, U of Chicago,
1970)
- episodes of surpassing significance in science: Copernicus,
Galileo, Newton, Dalton, Lyell, Pasteur, Darwin, Watt, Curie,
Meitner, Einstein
SESSIONS 4 AND 5
Reading: Dreams of a Final Theory (Weinberg, Vintage, 1994) and
Adventures of Ideas (Whitehead, Free Press, 1933) or Science and
The Modern World (Free Press, 1967).
- quantum mechanics and relativity theory
- the role of technology; interactions among science, technology,
society
- models for the future