LST 524 - History of Science and Medicine

Science and more recently medicine have become defining features of modern life. We will explore the history of human thought about the natural world from ancient times to the present. Our particular emphasis will be on how our modern scientific world view has been shaped by major periods of scientific development: the 16th and 17th centuries involving astronomy and physics, and the 19th and 20th centuries involving biology, medicine and psychiatry. Attention will be given to the relations between science and culture, religion, technology, and public policy by asking five central controversial questions: Why has science flourished in the West? What was the nature of the scientific revolution? How did science become a part of public life? How did science become attached to the technologies and politics of power? Why did science become associated with the modern condition?

Credits: 3