136-335 A History of Nature for Scientists

Note

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Prerequisites

Normally two second year HPS subjects see Prerequisites

Semester

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Subject Description

This subject, except for the assessment, is identical to 136-035. As Europeans spread out of their continent during the 15th century voyages of discovery, they discovered new frontiers that challenged their scientific and social beliefs. As they grappled with these new environments and transformed them, their own ideas shifted regarding the natural world and the social world they had left behind. This subject traces these historical changes as they occurred over the last 500 years as the frontier extended from the colonial world to space. We will follow the changes in the environmental sciences that accompanied these voyages as they transformed notions of geography, natural history, evolutionary biology, geology, and ecology. Case studies will include America, Australia, the colonial world, and developing nations. Environmental issues ranging from introduced species, sustainability, resource management, pollution, overpopulation, environmental engineering and virtual natures will also be examined. The historical questions that will frame our journey will include issues of local vs. Western knowledge, field work vs. laboratory work, environment and race, and control over the environment. This subject interest students who would like to learn about the origins of the environmental sciences and our continuing attempts to live within a changing environment.

Assessment

Written work totalling 3000 words, and a 1-hour examination.

Prescribed Texts

• D Worster, The Ends of the Earth: Perspectives on Modern Environmental History. 1994.