Leerdoel
The aim of the course is to give a general history of science from Aristotle to the present. The course presents an intellectual history with many links to cultural and social history. Some of the main debates around practicing history of science will be treated.
Inhoud
The course is organized around the idea of separate styles of scientific thinking. The first is the deductive ideal in science, and it will be shown how the concept of ‘scientific laws’ originated in this tradition. The second is the experimental style, which exists in two forms, one begun by Galileo, the other conceptualized by Francis Bacon. The third is analogical reasoning in science. Much of the so-called Scientific Revolution (Newton) will be discussed in this context. The fourth, fifth, and sixth are the taxonomical, the statistical and the evolutionary style. Important developments in the biological and the physical sciences will be discussed under these headings, while the humanities and the social sciences will be treated as well.
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Onderwijsvorm
seminar
Onderwijstijden
Wednesday 9-12 hrs.
Studie-materiaal
De ontdekking van het weten. Een andere geschiedenis van de wetenschap. Dr. Chunglin Kwa. 2005, Uitgeverij Boom. ISBN/bestelnr.: 9085061415. 384 pagina's. Verkrijgbaar bij Scheltema en Athenaeum.
(A book on the history of science (in Dutch). For non-Dutch speaking students there will be a roughly equivalent set of readings).
Kosten
costs of book / copying articles
Toetsvorm
class presentations, summaries and term paper
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