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.
Your Live Question link, for questions during or after lecture (EXPERIMENTAL!). Give this a try.
To succeed in this course you must:
The course grade will be based on the following allocation:
Class Decorum: Come to class prepared to take full advantage of the lectures and discussion. Be respcctful of your fellow students and the instructors. You are in the class to listen, to learn, and to take advantage the opportunities for discussion that your sections afford you. Refrain from all electronic communications during class -- this includes cell phones, text messaging, email, and internet usage. Students violating these common courtesies will be asked to stop and may be asked to leave the classroom.
Readings: The reading assignments in this course come from two sources. All students should purchase the course text, James McClellan and Harold Dorn, Science and Technology in World History, an Introduction (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press).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.
Note that the Web Site is also used to announce course changes.
| DATE |
Lecture Titles | Text Readings, McClellan & Dorn | Explorations |
| August 31
Introduction |
1-54 | Important Instructions | |
| September
2-9
Foundations of Western Science |
55-96 | Ancient Science | |
| September
14-16
Technological Foundations of Western Culture |
175-182 (+look at 117-140) | Early European Technology | |
| September
21-23
The Medieval World |
182-192 (+look at 99-115) | Medieval Science & Technology | |
| September
28-30
The Emergence of the Machine |
192-201 | The End of the Middle Ages | |
October 5: First Hour Examination |
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| October
7
The Renaissance |
Exam Study | The Renaissance | |
| October
12-14
The Scientific Revolution |
203-247 | The Scientific Revolution | |
| October
19-21
Science and Technology in the 17th Century |
249-273 | The Later Scientific Revolution | |
| October
26-28
The Origins of Industrial Technology |
275-294 | The Industrial Revolution | |
| November
2-4
The Sciences of Nature
|
323-338 | Darwin and Evolution | |
| November
9
Science and Matter |
295-302 | The Chemical Revolution | |
November 11: Second Hour Examination |
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| November
16-18
New Powers and New Things |
311-322 | Nineteenth Century Technology | |
| November
23-25
Mastering the Material World |
302-311, 339-363 | Nineteenth Century Science and Technology | |
| November 30-December 2
New Scientific Revolutions |
365-406 | Twentieth Century Science | |
| December 7-9
The Modern World View |
406-439 | The Modern Age | |