HISTORY 175, Fall 2007

Science and Technology in Western Civilization

This syllabus is designed to be used through the web site at: http://www.history.umd.edu/Faculty/RFriedel/Hist175/hist175.html. You must use the web site for weekly assignments.

This course deals with an enormous subject in a brief time, for science and technology encompass the entire scope of how people have sought to comprehend the world around them and to change that world to suit their needs. To deal with such a subject successfully, you should constantly be on the look- out for the "big ideas"--names, dates, and events are significant only if you understand how they fit into the context of human history.

This course fulfills the CORE Distributive Studies requirement for Social or Political History (SH). As such, it attempts to serve as an introduction to the discipline of history and to historical thinking and methodology. As a CORE course, it attempts to engage you actively in the learning process. We hope you will take full advantage of this.

Instructor:
Prof. Robert Friedel
Dept. of History
2128 Taliaferro Hall
Office Hours: 10:00-11:00; 1:00-2:00, Mon. and Wed. and by appt.

Section Leaders:
Jeremy Best email
Vincent Houghton email

To succeed in this course you must:

Keep up with the reading; make every effort to complete the week's reading before the meeting of your discussion section; take notes when reading, and particularly try to note questions you have about the author's points and references.
Keep up with the lectures; these cover a great deal of material very quickly, so it is easy to fall behind by missing just one or two; the lectures do not duplicate the reading; much of what is important in the lectures is visual, so don't trust to others' notes to convey what you need to know. While the size of the lecture does not allow for interruptions for questions, you should try to think of points that are unclear or that seem to need more information or explanation. Then ask questions after the lecture or during the discussion section. At the end of every lecture, you will be asked to submit a written response to a question, so do listen carefully. These responses become part of your participation grade.
Attend your discussion section; these are designed primarily to help you comprehend the material in readings and lectures; they are also used as means for assessing your progress in the course. The sections afford you the opportunity to clarify both matters of detail and larger issues. They are also the most important means for learning what to expect on examinations.
Complete all writing assignments; these are described on the course Web site "explorations," and should be kept in a portfolio that will constitute a large component of your section grade and will help you prepare for examinations. Your section leader will explain your writing assignments in greater detail and will provide you with a schedule for submissions.

The course grade will be based on the following allocation:

Two hour examinations, 15% each =30%
Final examination =30%
Participation and writing (lecture responses, sections & portfolio) =40% You are requested to write and sign the university's Honor Pledge on each major assignment (your portfolio and examinations).

Readings

Science and Technology in World History, an Introduction

In addition, all students will be expected to make considerable use of resources on the World Wide Web, beginning with the Interactive Syllabus for this course. All registered students receive WAM accounts from the University (if you have not activated your WAM account, you should do so in the first week of classes), and have access to WAM labs around campus, as well as dial-up access both in university housing and from telephone links. The use of these resources will be an important element in your work for this course.

Schedule of Lectures and Readings:

DATE	Lecture Titles	Text Readings, McClellan & Dorn	Explorations
August 29 Introduction	Knowing and Doing	1-54	An Experiment--Read Me!
September 5 Foundations of Western Science	Comprehending Nature	55-95	Ancient Science
September 10-12 Technological Foundations of Western Culture	Plato, Aristotle, and the Order of Things The Classical Contribution	175-181 (+look at 117-140)	Early European Technology
September 17-19 The Medieval World	The Roots of Medieval Life Science and Faith Names in Medieval Science	181-192 (+look at 99-115)	Medieval Science & Technology
September 24-26 The Emergence of the Machine	Good Works Power and Culture	192-202	The End of the Middle Ages
October 1: First Hour Examination
October 3 The Renaissance	The New World	Exam Study	The Renaissance
October 8-10 The Scientific Revolution	The Harmony of the Spheres Reason and Experiment	203-247	The Scientific Revolution
October 15-17 Science and Technology in the 17th Century	The Baconian Creed The Newtonian Order	249-273	The Later Scientific Revolution
October 24-26 The Origins of Industrial Technology	The Significance of Textiles The Empire of Steam	275-292	The Industrial Revolution
October 28-31 The New Sciences of Life	The Chain of Being Evolution	313-332	Darwin and Evolution
November 5 Science and Matter	The Chemical Revolution	293-312	The Chemical Revolution
November 7: Second Hour Examination
November 12-14 New Powers and New Things	The Spread of Scientific Technology The Triumph of Industry	333-342	Nineteenth Century Technology
November 19-21 Mastering the Material World	Nineteenth Century Unification Mobility and Communications	343-354	Nineteenth Century Science and Technology
November 26-28 New Scientific Revolutions	Twentieth Century Dissolution The New Order of Life	355-369	Twentieth Century Science
December 3-5 The Modern World View	The Networked World Computer Chronology Science, Power, and Society	371-373	The Modern Age
December 10	Conclusions

HISTORY 175, Fall 2007

Science and Technology in Western Civilization

Instructor: Prof. Robert Friedel Dept. of History 2128 Taliaferro Hall Office Hours: 10:00-11:00; 1:00-2:00, Mon. and Wed. and by appt.

Schedule of Lectures and Readings:

Introduction

Foundations of Western Science

Technological Foundations of Western Culture

The Medieval World

The Emergence of the Machine

October 1: First Hour Examination

The Renaissance

The Scientific Revolution

Science and Technology in the 17th Century

The Origins of Industrial Technology

The New Sciences of Life

Science and Matter

November 7: Second Hour Examination

New Powers and New Things

Mastering the Material World

New Scientific Revolutions

The Modern World View

Final Examination:

Instructor:
Prof. Robert Friedel
Dept. of History
2128 Taliaferro Hall
Office Hours: 10:00-11:00; 1:00-2:00, Mon. and Wed. and by appt.