Explore the history of science from ancient times to the early modern period. Class sessions will involve interactive discussions surrounding the origins of science and human interaction with the natural world; the Age of Exploration; the Scientific Revolution; the relationship between religion and science; the emergence of Silicon Valley and its effects globally; and the effects of the internet and AI in the 21st-century. This course will focus on areas that led to major paradigm shifts in the history of science:
- The Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution in the 17th and 18th centuries
- How the physical, life, and human sciences in the 19th century started to become professions
- Challenges to scientific empiricism in the 20th century with relativity theory and quantum mechanics
- The development of the electronic computer and Silicon Valley in the 20th century, centering on the history of innovation and technology that led to the first electronic computers, home computers, the world-wide web, and, more recently, artificial intelligence (AI).
Students will work in small groups to research a subject related to the history of science and present their findings.