Handbook 1996 : Faculty of Arts (Volume 3 page 112)
History & Phil'y of Sci. subject : Next:136-225 | Prev:136-222 | Search | Help
136-224/324 "The Scientific Revolution" appears differently in several places - choose the one you want:
1. History & Phil'y of Sci., Faculty of Arts (v3, p112) : Next:136-225 | Prev:136-222
Credit points: 16.7 2nd and 3rd years
Coordinator: Dr. Keith Hutchison.
Prerequisite: Normally 12.5 points of first-year HPS.
Contact: Up to three hours of lectures, seminars or tutorials a week.
Timetable: First semester
Objectives:
Students completing this subject should:
- be familiar with the main lines of debate during the 16th and 17th centuries over powers of matter and the foundations of scientific knowledge;
- be able to critically assess some key scientific writings of that period;
- be aware of current debates in the historiography of science in relation to that period.
Content:
The emergence of modern modes of scientific thought in 16th and 17th century Europe.
Assessment:
Up to 5,000 words of written work.
Prescribed texts:
1. History & Phil'y of Sci., Faculty of Arts (v3, p112) : Next:136-225 | Prev:136-222
2. History & Phil'y of Sci., Faculty of Science (v4, p197) : Next:136-225 | Prev:136-222
Credit points: 16.7
Coordinator: Dr K Hutchison
Contact: 26 lectures (two a week) and 13 tutorials (one a week)
Timetable: First semester
Objectives:
Students completing this subject should:
- be familiar with the main lines of debate during the 16th and 17th centuries over powers of matter and the foundations of scientific knowledge;
- be able to critically assess some key scientific writings of that period;
- be aware of current debates in the historiography of science in relation to that period.
Content:
The emergence of modern science during the 16th and 17th centuries. Medieval and renaissance conceptions of the world. The attacks on these conceptions in the 16th and early 17th centuries: Renaissance naturalism, experimentalism, scepticism. The new 'Mechanical Philosophy': Descartes. The retreat from mechanism: Newton. The controversies generated by Newton's science. Theological and social overtones of the competing philosophies.
Assessment:
Up to 5,000 words of written work, including a 1-hour class test at the end of the semester.
Prescribed texts:
* Note that ASSESSMENT, CONTACT, CONTENT, COORDINATOR, POINTS differs from the maintainer's version above. A log of variations is available.
2. History & Phil'y of Sci., Faculty of Science (v4, p197) : Next:136-225 | Prev:136-222
Status: Official 1996 Date created: Oct 9 1995 Last modified: Oct 9 1995 Authorised by: Academic Registrar Email enquiries: Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au
Maintained by: Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Arts.
Copyright © University of Melbourne 1995,1996.