Last modified: 22 May 2019 17:07
Why did Copernicus put the sun at the centre of the universe? Why did William Harvey claim that the blood circulates around the body? Was Isaac Newton really inspired by that falling apple? The Scientific Revolution is the name given to the radical transformation of Western science created by these and other figures between 1500 and 1700. This course explores the strangely familiar world of alchemy and astronomy, of atoms and astrolabes – in order to discover the origins of contemporary culture's most powerful force: modern science. Download course guide.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session | First Sub Session | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Old Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
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The Scientific Revolution is the name given to the radical transformation of Western science by Copernicus, Galileo, Harvey and Newton between 1500 and 1700. What were the 'origins of modern science'? This course explores the lives and work of these and other key figures in the history of science. It asks what problems they were responding to and how they reacted to social, political and religious forces of their times. The course introduces students to familiar and unfamiliar sciences (from alchemy to astronomy), assesses how scientific practitioners disseminated their ideas, and investigates why new groups arose claiming that science could create useful technologies. It asks what difference telescopes, microscopes and other new machines made to scientific practice. Were science and religion in conflict? How did scientists decide that more could be learnt by doing experiments instead of looking over ancient books? What, then, were the 'origins of modern science'?
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
1st Attempt: 1 essay of 2,000 words (40%); 1 2-hour examination (60%).
There are no assessments for this course.
Feedback will be given by course instructors in the form of personal conversation with students in tutorials, detailed written comments on all submitted written work, and, orally, following examination.
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