COURSE INFORMATION

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana (1863-1952), The Life of Reason, Volume 1, 1905.

I. SYLLABUS

Class, time and location: HIST 362 (500), T- Th: 11:10-12:25, Spring 2018, Military Science
Building, Room 216

Instructor: Anthony N. Stranges

Office: Glasscock History Building, Room 202

Telephone and e-mail: 845-7159 (Office) or 845-7151 (History Department),

a-stranges@tamu.edu

Office hours: Fridays 9:00 am-12:00 pm and by appointment. I am usually in my

office from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday except
when I am teaching.

First day of class: Tuesday, 16 January

Spring break: Monday-Friday, 12-16 March

Last day of class: Thursday, 26 April

Total number of classes: 28

Required texts: Anthony N. Stranges, History of Science (History 362 course packet,
online). To download its contents (syllabus and topic chapters) go to
HOWDY, to http://ecampus.tamu.edu, choose TAMU, logon to Web
CT with your neo login ID and password.

Anthony N. Stranges. Science Changed the World. Dubuque, Iowa:

Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2nd edition 2018.

Videos: Educational Media Services, located on the fourth floor of the

Library Annex, has videos that complement the course readings. We
shall view some of them in class.

Course content: The History of Science examines the growth of the physical and life
sciences from ancient times to the present. Discussion will focus on
the major contributions of scientists and the spread and impact of
their ideas on society.

This course has no prerequisites.

21
Essay examinations

Two 10 page take-home essay examinations each of which covers approximately one-half of the
course. No comprehensive final examination. The theme for each essay is: How have the
contributions of the scientists studied in this course changed and advanced the world in which we
live.

Note carefully the grading criteria given on the essay examination form. You should prepare a
good summary of each chapter after we discuss the chapter in class, edit each chapter to put it in
final form, and add an introduction and conclusion to complete your essay. Do not wait until the
due date to start writing your essays.

1. First (Midterm) Exam: Due Friday 2 March. Midterm grades are due Monday,
5 March at 12:00 pm.

2. Second (Final) Exam, Project (Model or Video): Due Wednesday, 2 May or sooner if you
have completed them. Graduating seniors' grades are due Wednesday, 9 May at 6:00 pm.
Final grades for all other students are due Monday, 14 May at 12:00 pm.

Unexcused lateness will lower the grade you should have received (5 points/day including
weekends), so do not delay.

Each examination, your midterm and final essay examination, is a typed double-spaced, 10 page
essay, summarizing and analyzing the chapters in Science Changed the World. Your essay must
give, either as footnotes or endnotes, the book pages containing the information you used in your
essays. You may use additional sources, but none is required. For the midterm examination the
chapters are 2-6, for the final examination 7-11, one chapter each week. Observe carefully the
criteria on the examination grading form. They are what I use to evaluate your essay.

For each essay indicate clearly the theme of each chapter (ancient, medieval, renaissance,
scientific revolution, eighteenth century, Darwin, etc.) and discuss the developments taking place
in the sciences, in astronomy, chemistry, physics, life sciences (biology, botany), and engineering
that illustrate each theme. The chapter theme should be the first lines of the first paragraph of
each chapter.

For example, the main theme in eighteenth-century science was the study of the composition of
matter. Therefore, when discussing eighteenth-century science show how developments in
chemistry and the electrical behavior of matter helped scientists understand the composition of
matter. In the nineteenth-century life sciences and geological sciences, discussion before Darwin
focused on classification of species based on non-evolutionary ideas, and on evolutionary
theories and ideas after Darwin. The transition that occurred in the nineteenth century was from
classification (record keeping) to theories in natural history and geology. In nineteenth-century
physics the mechanical theory and determinism dominated until the introduction of
electrodynamics and electromagnetic models after the 1860s. In the twentieth century the
dominant ideas were Max Planck’s quantum theory, Einstein’s theories of special relativity and
general relativity (a new theory of gravity) and quantum or wave mechanics. The demise of
classical physics and determinism occurred.

You cannot discuss the contributions of every scientist introduced in each chapter. Instead focus
on two- four major figures and their achievements. Include essential laws and equations, such as

22
Newton’s inverse square of universal gravitation, his second law of motion f = ma; Planck’s
equation E = hν; Einstein’s E = mc2, and other equations. Do not merely list a scientist’s major
achievements, briefly explain their meaning and significance.

Organize your essay to show each chapter’s theme, otherwise your essay will be a calendar or list
of unconnected events. The themes for each chapter are in Science Changed the World, Chapter
1, in the section, Chapter Themes and Chronology of the History of Science. Examine and use
them. Alternatively, you may wish to organize your essay topically by each science instead of
chronologically.

Your essay consists of an introduction, a body which is most of the essay, and a conclusion. You
must use subheadings (the chapter titles, ancient, renaissance, scientific revolution, etc.) to
indicate the main sections in your essay. You may or may not want to use a subheading for your
introduction, but you need a subheading for your conclusion. Use bold or bold italics for your
subheadings so that they stand out. Use the organization of the chapters found in the course
textbook Science Changed the World as your guide. Do not name the subheadings Chapter 2,
Chapter 3, etc. Use the chapter title or some other title. Begin your essay with a strong but
succinct introduction that gives a clear statement of the main points you are going to discuss in
your essay and end with a strong conclusion that recaps the main points discussed in your essay.
Consult the criteria for evaluating research papers in the syllabus for additional guidelines. Staple
a cover page with title, your name, and date to the front and the essay examination form to the
back.

The history of science provides an integrated examination of the origin, growth, and impact of
science in different times and in different cultures from ancient to modern, from East to West. It
shows the transition of science from its record keeping period that began about 2000 BC to its
theoretical period of 600-400 BC to its mathematical-quantitative period that defined the
sixteenth- and seventeenth-century (1600-1700) scientific revolution and continues to this day.

Your essays will examine some of the main advances that have occurred in the history science
from ancient times to the twentieth century, focusing on the contributions of the scientists
responsible for the advances. Each of the time periods in the history of science, such as ancient
science, medieval science, renaissance science has a defining theme. Your essays will discuss the
contributions of the scientists, showing how their work exemplified and defined the theme of the
time period in which they lived. Each of these scientists represents the direction in which science
was moving and had a profound impact on the development of modern science.

Your essays will discuss for example Ptolemy’s geocentric and Copernicus’s heliocentric models
of the universe, Aristotle’s four element theory and Democritus’s atomic theory, Benjamin
Franklin’s one fluid theory of electricity, Antoine Lavoisier’s and John Dalton’s contributions to
eighteenth and nineteenth-century chemistry, Michael Faraday’s and James Clerk Maxwell’s
electrical advances, Albert Michelson’s calculation of the speed of light in the late nineteenth
century, the reception of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in the United States, Albert
Einstein’s theory of special and general relativity in the early twentieth century, and the
contributions of other scientists studied in this course.

A general outline for your essay appears below. The theme for each time period is in Chapter 1 of
Science Changed the World. There are eleven themes discussed in the book’s eleven chapters. We
discuss one theme each week. Questions on each theme are at the end of each chapter.

23
Introduction

Give the theme for your essay, include examples that exemplify the theme.

Ancient science

Give the theme and discuss the main scientific developments in astronomy, the structure of
matter, and medicine such as the contributions of Aristotle, Democritus, and Galen and how
they exemplify the theme.

Science in the middle ages

Give the theme and discuss the main scientists and contributions that exemplify the theme.

Science in the renaissance

Give the theme and discuss, for example, Leonardo’s, Copernicus’s, Vesalius’s contributions
show how they exemplify the theme.

Sixteenth- and seventeenth- century scientific revolution

Give the theme and discuss, for example, Galileo’s, Harvey’s, Boyle’s, Newton’s science and
how it exemplifies the theme. Include essential equations.

Eighteenth- century science

Give the theme and discuss, for example, Lavoisier’s chemistry, Franklin, Linnaeus.

Nineteenth-century physical sciences

Give the theme and discuss, for example, Dalton, Faraday. Include essential equations

Darwin’s century

Give the theme, discuss, for example, Darwin, his theory; Mendel, his laws.

Same for the other time periods and other scientists

Conclusion

Recap your main points, do not be too brief, no one or two sentence conclusion.

Examination makeup

Avoid having to make up an examination. If you miss an essay examination deadline, you must
(1) have a valid excuse, (2) inform me beforehand if possible, (3) turn in your essay within one
week of the originally scheduled examination due date.

24
Research project

Your remaining course requirement is a research project. The project can be a physical model of a
particular scientific invention or discovery. It may or may not be a working model, it might
demonstrate a process, or a molecular structure, there are numerous possibilities. The model
should be big enough to use for a class demonstration and sufficiently sturdy so that it doesn’t fall
apart. Examples of projects follow: hieroglyphics, quipu, telescope, pyramid, geological strata,
Young’s double slit experiment, electric motor, transformer, steam engine, structural model of
DNA, Leiden jar, electrolytic demonstration, solar system, model of a human cell, model of an
atom or a molecule. Include a cardboard poster briefly identifying your model and what it does or
represents. Make the poster easily visible, readable, and neat.

Video project: You may wish to make a 15-20-25 minute biographical video documenting the life
and contribution of a scientist. No videos of ancient scholars (Aristotle, Ptolemy, Galen) are
available, no English language video of Antoine Lavoisier or of Alessandro Volta, or Copernicus
exists. Plenty of sources, with pictures of scientists, biographical material, their experiments, the
books they published, and other related information are available online. Add audio effects, make
sure your voice is loud and clear enough, background music not too loud, and pictures clear. Do
not speak too fast.

Include a bibliography.

Instead of a biographical video, you could make a video showing the history of an invention or of
a theory or idea, such as a telescope (Galileo, Newton), steam engine (Savery, Newcomen, Watt,
Trevithick) , gravity (Aristotle, Newton, Einstein), DNA (Levene, Pauling, Watson-Crick),
atomic bomb (Germany, US, Soviets), evolution (Buffon, Erasmus Darwin, Lamarck), climate
change, acid rain. Observe the same criteria mentioned above.

For the research project (video or model) two students will collaborate, possibly three depending
on the complexity of the project. We will discuss the assignments in class.
Grading criteria for project: originality, creativity, scholarship, use of available information.

Course grading

University grade scale: A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 60-69; F = 0-59.

Reading strategy and class participation

Make sure you recognize the central theme of each book you read. The author will give the theme
in the preface or opening chapter. Once you know what the author is going to say and how the
author intends to organize the book, which the chapter titles and subheadings make clear, many
apparently unrelated details will fit into a general theme. You will remember facts if you can
surround them with details. Read each chapter’s introductory and concluding paragraphs in order
to discover its theme before reading the entire chapter. You do not have to read every word and
line in the books. Focus instead on the main ideas. This will increase your reading rate and
comprehension.

I will assign students some of the review questions that appear at the end of each chapter of

25
Science Changed the World. Each student will lead the discussion on his or her review questions.
You need to read the chapters and answer the questions before coming to class. You do not have
to write out the answers, be prepared to discuss them in class. This will promote discussion of the
chapter topics. I wll make the assignments in class. The course has 11 chapters for discussion, the
semester has 14 weeks, we discuss one chapter each week.

Note taking and attendance

Good notes and regular attendance are essential for success in any course.
1. Note taking: Do not crowd your notes closely together and review them after each
class to eliminate any uncertainties that may exist. This will make your notes easier
to study at examination time.
2. Attendance: I check attendance regularly, and it could affect your final grade
especially in borderline cases. Good attendance, 0-1 unexcused absences will result
in a 4.5 point addition to your total points (1.5 percent to your final average).
Average-poor attendance: 2-3 unexcused absences, will result in a one letter grade
lowering; 4-5 unexcused absences, will result in a two letter grade lowering; 6-7
unexcused absences in a three letter grade lowering; 8 or more unexcused absences in
a four letter grade lowering. Arrive on time and do not leave early (unless you have
informed me of your problem), otherwise you are absent.

Class policy

The purpose of attending class is to master the course material. To accomplish this goal you
should not eat or drink in class, regularly stroll into class late, read newspapers or unrelated
material during class, do other class work, telephone text, play on your I-Pod, use a computer to
view material unrelated to this class, or get up and leave whenever you feel like leaving. Keep
your cellphone out of sight. The classroom presentation is not a movie you decided to attend.
Such behavior is rude, inappropriate, and unacceptable; and if habitual and excessive I will record
any student behaving this way absent.
The classroom experience provides an academic environment that promotes student learning.
Your presence and participation are essential to your success in this course and in any course.

Successful strategy

Read the book, listen in class, and regularly prepare your chapter summaries.

ADA: students with disabilities

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that
provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other
things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning
environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you
believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact Disability
Services, currently located in the Disability Services building at the Student Services at
White Creek complex on west campus or call 979-845-1637. For additional information,
visit http://disability.tamu.edu.

26
 Academic dishonesty/plagiarism

An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do. Students must adhere to the Aggie
Honor Council Rules and Procedures given at http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu. Plagiarism is a form of
cheating. According to the aggiehonor web site, plagiarism is the appropriation of another
person’s ideas, processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit. Plagiarism may
involve uncited or uncredited use of papers or materials taken in whole or in part from other
persons or references, such as from internet web sites, books, magazines, journals, or newspapers,
and other students’ papers. Committing plagiarism will result in receiving an F on the
assignment, possibly an F in the course, and possible expulsion from the university.

Student learning outcomes

1. students will evaluate and synthesize primary and secondary historical writings
2. express their own ideas in written and oral form
3. identify historical and social contexts that created diversity in past and present human cultures
4. apply knowledge about the human condition in the past and present to their personal lives and
studies.

Core objectives for history foundational component area

1. critical thinking (to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, analysis, evaluation, and
synthesis of information)
2. communication (to include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas
through written, oral, and visual communication)
3. social responsibility (to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility,
and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities)
4. personal responsibility (to include the ability to connect choices, actions, and consequences to
ethical decision-making)
II. SKILLS FOR STUDYING AND LEARNING HISTORY
This section should help you to develop and apply basic skills needed in your history courses. We
all learn by doing, as John Dewey put it, or as Marshall McLuhan said, "The medium is the
message." Both comments imply that learning should not involve an artificial division between
content (what we learn) and method (how we learn). We will try to avoid that repressive division
by learning study methods and then applying those methods to the content of your text.

Why study history?

Alexander Pope quipped that "the proper study of mankind is man." This statement probably best
answers the question why study history? History is more than a mere listing of past facts.
Historians strive to push beyond a simple interest in old things. They search for generalizations
that explain human behavior and for an understanding of historical problems, which may help us
to manage problems of today. Often they look for cause-and-effect relationships. A discussion,
therefore, of the causes of the Mexican War is more than a mundane list to be memorized. It is
rather a tentative hypothesis of why countries go to war. Other historical topics might be less
significant. Perhaps a modern hit record has a reggae beat, revealing a Caribbean influence,
which in turn was influenced by the sixteenth century African slave trade. That earlier beat may
have come from tribal music, or perhaps it came from one of the great empires that ruled Africa.
The point is that history offers at least a partial answer to all contemporary problems, great and

27
 small. Most historians would agree that still another reason to study history is to satisfy our
natural curiosity. Have you ever wondered why southerners speak differently from other
Americans? Perhaps you have wondered how Howard Hughes or H. L. Hunt became rich. Have
you ever considered why Hispanic Americans eat spicy foods or why Native Americans have
high rates of unemployment? History can offer some answers to these questions. Hence, whether
you are looking for answers to questions of intellectual curiosity or considering more serious
problems of national or international significance, you can learn much from history.
Reading the history text

Approach the text with pencil in hand, because you learn a chapter's contents best with careful
underlining and marginal notes. Keep in mind, however, that you cannot simply mark everything
that seems important on a first reading. Instead, sort out the major points from the supporting
details and then study the results as a topic outline in which a few major generalizations stand out
from the mass of material. Toward that end we suggest the following steps.

1. Skim the chapter in search of the major ideas. First, read the available summaries, which the
author gives in the first and last sections of the chapter, and the section headings and subheadings.
This quick reading should reveal the chapter's structure and major points. Underline all bold-print
headings and topic sentences of paragraphs in summaries.

2. Organize your reading. Skimming the chapter should provide specific purposes for further
reading. Writing questions for yourself may help you to focus on those purposes. Each section of
a chapter usually addresses one question or problem. For example, if a section discusses the
factors that contributed to the rapid industrial development that followed the Civil War, read it
with that question in mind.

3. Read the text to achieve specific purposes. The first two steps should have prepared you to read
quickly and efficiently. For each paragraph, find the topic sentence that states its major idea.
Note the relationship of each paragraph's main points to the section topic. Read the rest of the
paragraph for detail supporting the main point of the topic sentence. In this way, you can
gradually construct an outline that ties the major points together and thereby learn major ideas
and their connections. Also, you should remember significant details more easily because you
will understand their relationship to broader, more important ideas.

4. Study the text to retain what you have learned. By now you should have learned the material
presented in the textbook's chapter. To recall the information whenever needed, simply recite the
answers to the questions posted in step 2. If you cannot remember the full answer, refer back to
your text markings as an outline of the answer. Repeat this until you can recite the answer
without looking at the text, but remember to learn only major ideas and important, supporting
details. Finally, review when needed for a test.

Taking notes in a history class

Because most instructors lecture much of the time, note-taking skills play a critical role in history
courses. We all soon forget much of what we hear; therefore, we must write it down. Thus, class
time is often the most important study time. Start by preparing for class. Design an outline
method for quick note taking in class. You may wish to design your own modified shorthand. Be
sure to do all reading assignments on time so that class material will be easier to grasp. Proceed to
take notes through the following five Rs.

a. Record meaningful information. Include enough detail to enable you to redevelop major

28
 concepts from the lecture. Aim at producing the same sort of outline of key points,
supporting details, and examples that you produced with marginal notes and underlining
when reading the text.

b. Reduce your information to a summary form in order to understand and remember. Limit
what you write to key concepts that can produce an outline for a quick review of major
points. Then add detail and examples; they should make more sense now that you
understand their relationship to key points.
c. Recite your notes. Recite the major points of the lecture notes until you can repeat them
without looking at them. Next, cover up the bulk of each section of an outline based on
key points and recite that section, referring to notes when you cannot remember them.
Continue until you can recite major points and, for each point, supporting detail.
d. Reflect on the content of the notes to bring to mind personal experiences, other course
content, or reading materials that make the notes more meaningful and thus easier to
grasp, remember, and use. Reflection may also produce conclusions not reached in class,
fresh material for thought. Try to integrate class notes with the text and other reading.
They should reinforce one another.
e. Review lecture notes periodically to keep them fresh in your mind until an exam. Simply
repeat the recitation from step three above for all of the notes accumulated from class.
Make sure they still make sense; if not, jot down questions for the instructor.

Taking a history test

To prepare for exams, above all, follow a study schedule. Work in a comfortable but functional
room with no distractions. If other work or play breaks your concentration, write yourself a note
for later attention and continue studying. Set a realistic time limit for each study chore, and
complete the work on time; meeting the deadlines will increase concentration and reward you
with a sense of satisfaction. In most cases you will study material from the text and the lecture.
Make cramming a concentrated review of material already studied. Read and recite until you can
answer questions without reference to class or text notes. The instructor determines the types of
questions that will appear on exams; follow all instructions and, when possible, review previous
exams to learn the testing vocabulary.
While taking a test, concentrate on answers rather than grades. Thinking about answers enhances
concentration; worrying about grades is distracting. On objective tests, read the directions
carefully and ask questions when appropriate; paraphrase confusing wording to clarify questions;
skip hard items and come back to them later; if all else fails and there is no penalty, guess. On
essay tests, first take a few minutes to collect your thoughts. If some questions are optional,
choose those you can answer best. Answer easier questions first. Analyze each question and jot
down a very brief outline. Divide up the available time and proceed. Concentrating on one
question at a time, write accurately and briefly, don't bluff. For example, "In 1867 the Union
Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met at Promontory Point, Utah, connecting the East and
West coasts with efficient transportation" is preferable to "About this time the railroads moved
across the country." Use topic sentences, supporting details or evidence, summaries, and
conclusions. Check your answer before handing it in.

29
III. POLICY FOR GRADES, EXAMINATIONS, AND RESEARCH PROJECT
1. Grades
First Exam 33.3% 100 points A = 270-300 points 90-100%
Second Exam 33.3% 100 points B = 240-269 points 80- 89%
Research C = 210-239 points 70-79%
Project 33.3% 100 points D = 180-209 points 60- 69%
F = 0-179 points 0- 59%
Total 100% 300 points

2. Essay examinations
a. Example of a footnote entry, other styles are acceptable, just be consistent and clear.

Book: 1Daniel J. Kevles. The Physicists. New York: Random House, 1979: 13.
Article: 2G.N. Lewis. "The Atom and the Molecule." JACS 38(1916): 781-782.
b. Example of a bibliographic entry, other styles are acceptable.

Book: Kevles, Daniel J. The Physicists. New York: Random House, 1979.
Article: Lewis, G.N. "The Atom and the Molecule." JACS 38(1916): 762-785.

For an internet source give the title or name of the source, the web address, and the date you
accessed it. Use only reliable internet sources, such as online journals, books, reports, etc. at
university, government, publisher, or other legitimate web addresses.
c. Criteria for evaluating essay examinations (note the Essay Evaluation Form).

Research: bibliography (the number and quality of the sources you use)
Argument or thesis: state it clearly in your introduction; don’t be too brief; give your
reason(s) for writing the essay; include specific examples; originality of thesis

Presentation: body and conclusion

organization of paper
use of evidence: footnotes or endnotes, quotations (if necessary)
analysis of evidence
style: consult a style manual when anything is in doubt
mechanics: grammatical errors, spelling, sentence structure.

The following are good style manuals to consult.

Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers

Jules R. Benjamin, A Student's Guide to History
Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Guide

e. Further tips on writing a good essay, some of which also apply to a book review.

30
1. Do not turn in an essay you have written for another course. This is an example of
academic dishonesty.
2. Your essay should contain three main divisions.
• an introduction
• the body or discussion of the topic (which may itself contain several subsections, for a
paper of this length 3-5 subsections are usually sufficient)
• a conclusion

The introduction must explain why you are writing your essay. It should include the key
points you will make in your essay and your plan of development. It may be useful to
begin with a few general statements about your topic.
Include a summarizing paragraph(s) in the body of your essay if you think it aids your
presentation.

The conclusion must provide a good summary, or recap, of what you have discussed in
your essayand what we have learned or can learn from reading it.

Use subheadings in your essay to help your organization. Give a subheading for each
subsection and the conclusion. A subheading is optional for the introduction.

3. You must include people in your essay. They make your topic more real, less abstract.
History deals with people, what they did, when, where, and why they did what you are
discussing. This makes for interesting reading and avoids a cataloguing of events without
even mentioning the who, what, where, when, and why. The introduction of people,
places, and times is what gives your essay a historical emphasis and distinguishes it from
a technical report. Place the key developments in their historical context. Do not submit
a purely technical essay.

4. Your essay must include analysis as well as description.

5. Avoid the following in your writing.

lengthy sentences
clichés and jargon such as each and every, prioritize, the bottom line, I feel
unnecessary use of connectives such as however, hopefully
a string of prepositional phrases beginning with of, use the possessive case instead
excessive use of the passive voice

Example of passive voice: The Principia was written by Isaac Newton (bad).

Example of active voice: Isaac Newton wrote the Principia (good).

Use which in dependent clauses (a sentence can convey its meaning without the
dependent clause).

Use that in independent clauses (usually necessary to give meaning to the sentence).

Examples for use of that and which follow.

In 1906 J.J. Thomson supplied the experimental evidence that permitted the introduction
of an atom with far fewer electrons than ever imagined just a few years earlier.

The Principia, which Isaac Newton published in 1687, contained the latest developments

31
 in mathematical astronomy.

6. Singular and Plural

phenomenon phenomena
criterion criteria
medium media
datum data
thesis theses

Each is followed by his/her/its, not their.

None (no one), either, and neither are singular.
Use different from, not different than. Avoid using due to, instead use because of, as a
result of, or another expression. Everyone agrees that ain’t is unacceptable and won’t use
it, but we are unwilling to apply the same criterion to other incorrectly used expressions.

When do you use the following words?

since (time) --- because (reason)

disinterested (neutral) --- uninterested (no interest)
led (past tense) --- lead (the element)
its --- possessive
it's --- it is
boy's --- possessive singular
boys' --- possessive plural
ellipsis --- ... 3 dots and if at end of sentence add a fourth for the
period ....

7. Do not quote routine statements, simply rephrase or paraphrase. Your essay does not
have to have any direct quotes.

8. For dates write 1800s not 1800's. Use italics to indicate book titles, names of journals,
proper names of things, such as the Beagle; foreign words.

9. The first draft should not be the last draft. Proofread to avoid unnecessary errors and to
eliminate repetition and wordiness.

10. Your essay must give both the historical and the scientific or technical development of
the topic you are discussing. You need a mix of science and history.

11. If your essay is a survey type, you need to reread it after you have written it to see that
the main points stand out. Then impose a clear thesis or argument on your essay if one
appears to be missing.

12. Extensive or exclusive use of internet sources is not acceptable without prior approval.
The sources you need to consult are almost always available in paper form, making
internet sources useful but not essential.

13. Poor writing comes from muddled thinking and leads to muddled thinking. Give your
essay a theme.

14. Add a cover sheet that contains the essay’s title, course number and section, your name

32
 and date. Number the pages. Place your Essay Evaluation Form at the back of your essay.
Staple your essay and Essay Evaluation Form only in the top left corner.
IV. SUGGESTED VIDEO OR MODEL TOPICS

ACID RAIN Its origin, cause, present state, solutions for the problem, Robert Angus
Smith

AGE OF THE EARTH Biblical, scientific

AGRICULTURE Mechanized agriculture, social implications of it Science applied to

agriculture

ALUMINUM: Charles Hall, development of the aluminum industry

AMMONIA SYNTHESIS K. Birkeland and Samuel Eyde, electric arc process for NH 3
N. Caro and A. Frank, cyanamide process for NH 3

AUTOMOBILE Henry Ford, General Motors, Chrysler

CHANCE IN SCIENTIFIC How significant is it?

DISCOVERY

CLOCKS A history of clocks and watches

COMPUTERS Development of integrated circuits

DUPONT CHEMICAL History, establishment of research laboratory

EASTERN vs WESTERN VIEWS OF Give a comparison

SCIENCE

ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT Major controversies

EDISON, THOMAS An analysis of the different Edison biographies

ELECTRICITY Development of electricity at Niagara Falls

Development of hydroelectric power in late nineteenth-early twentieth
century United States or Europe
Tesla, Westinghouse, and development of alternating current system
evolution of motors and generators

ENERGY History of fusion

History of solar energy
Post-war nuclear energy development in Europe and United States
German and American nuclear energy projects
Japanese and American nuclear energy projects changing patterns in energy
use

ENGINEERING Development of the different branches of engineering

Morrill Land Grant Act, establishment of engineering schools
History of improvements in high-pressure boilers
Improvements in road construction

ENGINES Comparison between Watt and Newcomen steam engines

FAILED TECHNOLOGIES Engineering or technology?

33
FLIGHT: AIRPLANE Wright Brothers, why did they succeed?
Samuel Langley, why did he fail?
Why did Simon Newcomb as late as the turn of the century believe that
heavier than air craft were impossible?

FLIGHT : HISTORY OF FLIGHT Balloons, zeppelins, helicopter; German, British and American jets and
rockets
American space program

FOOD AND DRUGS Use of drugs in medicine before effects fully known (Freud and cocaine)
Harvey Wiley, Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906

FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN Franklin’s views on heat; where do they fit in the general picture of the
eighteenth century?

FRAUD IN SCIENCE Earlier times and today

GENETIC ENGINEERING Recombinant DNA, RNA

GREENHOUSE EFFECT Origin, cause and present state of the problem

INDUSTRY Development of different industries, electrical, chemical, coal, etc.

LASER History of lasers

LIGHT Experimental techniques that Fizeau, Foucalt, Michelson used in

measuring the speed of light.
Who established v=λν relationship for light or sound? When?
How did Michelson and others count the rotation of the mirror or wheel in
measuring speed of light?

MAPMAKING History of maps

MATHEMATICS History of pi. Why does a circle have 360 degrees?

MEASUREMENT History of, development of metric system, English system

MEDICINE Advances in anesthesia, surgery and public health, history of abortion,

birth control

MILLENNIUM Science at the first millennium, at the second millennium; a comparison of

the two; science and art at the first millennium, second millennium, science
and literature at the first millennium, the second millennium

NAVIGATION Advances made

NOBEL PRIZE Alfred Nobel, awarding of Nobel Prizes, Nobel Foundation

OBSERVATORY(IES) Development of observatories in the United States

OPPENHEIMER, J. ROBERT Socialist activities in the 1930s, his views before and after dropping the
atomic bomb

ORIGIN OF UNIVERSE Creation science vs. scientific theories; created or evolved

PANAMA CANAL George Goethals, engineering advances

William Gorgas, medical advances

34
PETROLEUM Early techniques of exploration, refining and transportation
Thomas Midgley (1889-1944) and the search for lead tetraethyl (1921)

PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Idealism vs. realism

Pragmatism
Views of physicists such as Franklin, Gibbs, Michelson, Millikan, Einstein,
Planck, Heisenberg, Schrödinger and Oppenheimer
Kant’s philosophy of science, Popper’s philosophy, Baconian science in
America

PHOTOGRAPHY History of

PLATE TECTONIC Alfred Wegener

POE, EDGAR ALLAN Fictitious balloon trip across the Atlantic; see Collected Works

POLLUTION Frederick Cottrell, early research on air and water pollution, acid rain,
global warming

PSYCHOLOGY Wilhelm Reich and orgone

William James and pragmatism

ROBOTS Pros and Cons

ROSENBERG Julius and Ethel, spy scandal of 1950s, Klaus Fuchs, Bruno Pontecorvo

RUBBER Charles Goodyear and vulcanization

SCIENCE How scientific advances are depicted in movies

SCIENCE AND GOVERNMENT Government support of science past and present

SCIENCE AND PSEUDOSCIENCE New age science; Immanuel Velikovsky, Ron Hubbard and Erich von
Daniken

SCIENCE AND RELIGION Galileo, Darwin, fundamentalist movement in the twentieth century

SCIENCE IN AMERICA Prior to Columbus

SCIENCE IN EDUCATION Science and textbooks, when do new theories appear in textbooks, changes
in theories over time

SCIENTIFIC METHOD Do scientists really follow the scientific method to arrive at new ideas or is
their work influenced by the social and cultural, economic scene?

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF Nuclear energy

SCIENTISTS Recombinant DNA
Cloning
Mechanization in agriculture
Robots

SPIRITUALISM AND SCIENCE Robert Hare, his book on spiritualism in 1855, Pierre Curie, Oliver Lodge

STANDARD OIL History, research lab

35
STEEL William Kelly and the steel industry, the development of the steel industry
in the United States
Passage of Bessemer patents to the United States, Alexander Holley

TECHNOLOGY AND THE MILITARY In peacetime or during war

TELEGRAPHY Samuel Morse, Joseph Henry

What was the state of telegraph cables ca. 1890-1910, during time of
Spanish-American War when Roosevelt cabled Dewey?

TELEPHONE Did Alexander Graham Bell use the law of conservation of energy in his
work?

TELESCOPE History and comparison of refractive and reflective telescopes

URBAN AMERICA Health reforms

City improvements: sewers, running water, water treatment, street paving,
street lighting

WAVE (QUANTUM MECHANICS) History of its development

V. A GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

1. Anthologies (collections of articles)

Appleman, Philip, Darwin

Basalla, George, The Rise of Modern Science
Erwin, Edward, Sidney Gendin, and Lowell Kleiman, eds., Ethical Issues in Scientific Research
Kranzberg, Melvin, and William H. Davenport, Technology and Culture: An Anthology
Pursell, Carroll, Readings in Technology and American Life
Teich, Albert, Technology and Man's Future

2. Bibliographies

US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Bibliography of the
History of Medicine
Bindocci, Cynthia Gay, Women and Technology
Blackwell, Richard, A Bibliography of the Philosophy of Science 1945-1981
Brush, Stephen G. and Helmut E. Landsberg, The History of Meteorology and Geophysics
Brush, Stephen G. and Lanfranco Belloni, The History of Modern Physics
Bullough, Bonnie, Verne L. Bullough, and Barrett Elcano, Nursing
Burton, Philip, A Dictionary of Word Processing and Printer
Champion, Brian, Advanced Weapons Systems
Channell, David F., The History of Engineering Science
Chubin, Daryl, Sociology of Sciences
Cortada, James, An Annotated Bibliography on the History of Data Processing
Cutcliff, Stephen M., Judith A. Mistichelli, and Christine Roysdon, Technolgy and Values in
American Civilization: A Guide to Information and Sources
Dauben, Joseph (ed.), The History of Mathematics from Antiquity to the Present: A Selective
Bibliography
Dunbar, Gary S., The History of Geography, An Annotated Bibliography

36
De Vorkin, David, The History of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics
Ellis, Linda, Scientific Archeology
Erlen, Jonathon, The History of the Health Care Sciences, 1700 to the Present: An Annotated
Bibliography
Ferguson, Eugene S., Bibliography of the History of Technology
Finn, Bernard S., The History of Electrical Technology: An Annotated Bibliography
Fleury, Bruce E., Dinosaurs
Fuller, R. Buckminster and E.J. Applewhite, A Synergetics Dictionary
Gascoigne, Robert, A Historical Catalogue of Scientific Periodicals 1665-1900
Gottlieb, Jean S., A Checklist of the Newberry Library's Printed Books in Science, Medicine,
Technology, and the Pseudosciences: From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, 1470-1750
Graham, Loren and Paul R. Josephson, The History of Science and Technology in Russia
Hahm, Davie E., in coop. with John Scarborough and G.J. Toomer, The History of Greek and
Roman Science: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography
Heilbron, J.L. and Wheaton, B.R., Literature on the History of Physics in the 20th Century
Herring, Susan Davis, From the Titanic to the Challenger: An Annotated Bibliography on
Technological Failures of the Twentieth Century
Higby, Gregory J. And Elaine C. Stroud, The History of Pharmacy
Hindle, Brooke, Technology in Early America: Needs and Opportunities For Study
Home, R.W., with the assistance of Mark J. Gittins, The History of Classical Physic: A
Selected, Annotated Bibliography
Hurt, R. Douglas and Mary Ellen Hurt, The History of Agricultural Science and Technology
Iatridis, Mary D., Teaching Science to Children Isis Annual Current Bibliography
Jayawardene, S.A., Reference Books for the Historian of Science: A Handlist
Keller, Alexander, and Graham Hollister-Short, The History of Mechanical Technology
Kemper, Robert and John Phinney, The History of Anthropology
Kren, Claudia, Alchemy
Kren, Claudia, Medieval Science and Technology: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography
Lewis, Catherine and Dominic Pisano, Air and Space History: An Annotated Bibliography
Macey, Samuel L., Time: A Bibliographic Guide
McLeish, John A.B., Creativity in the Later Years
Morrison, Denton E., Energy and Energy II
Molloy, Peter M., The History of Metal Mining and Metallurgy: An Annotated Bibliography
Mulligan, Joseph F., Heinrich Rudolf Hertz
Multhauf, Robert P., The History of Chemical Technology: An Annotated Bibliography
Multhauf, Robert P., Ellen B., Wells, Series Editors, Bibliographies on the History of Science and
Technology
Oglivie, Marilyn B., Women and Science
Oleson, John Peter, Bronze Age Greek and Roman Technology
Overmier, Judith, The History of Biology: An Annotated Bibliography
Porter, Roy Sydney, The History of the Earth Sciences: An Annotated Bibliography
Rider, Robin E., A Bibliography of Early Modern Algebra
Rothenberg, Marc, The History of Science and Technology in the United States: A Critical,
Selective Bibliography
Rothenberg, Marc, The History of Science and Technology in the United States, Volume II
Sarjeant, William A.S., Geologists and the History of Geology: An International Bibliography
Stapleton, Darwin, The History of Civil Engineering
Selin, Helaine, Science Across Cultures, An Annotated Bibliography of Books on Non-Western
Science, Technology, and Medicine
Starr, Philip and William A. Pearmon, Three Mile Island Sourcebook

37
 Sturchio, Jeffrey, The History of Chemistry Technology and Culture: Bibliography published in
each April issue
Tucher, Andrea, Agriculture in America, 1622-1860
Weeks, John M., Maya Civilization
Wilkinson, Ronald, The Historiography of Natural History
Wilkinson, Helen M. and Nelly E. Doll, Hospices: An Annotated Bibliography of Journal Articles
(1980-1988)
Wilson, Philip K., ed., Childbrith: Changing Ideas and Practices in Britain and America, 1600 to
the Present

3. Biographical Collections

Adams, Alexander, Eternal Quest

Asimov, Isaac, Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
Crowther, J.G., British Scientists of the Nineteenth Century
Crowther, J.G., British Scientists of the Twentieth Century
Dictionary of American Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of Scientific Biography: each entry contains an extensive bibliography
Elliott, Clark A., Biographical Dictionary of American Science: The Seventeenth Through the
Nineteenth Centuries
Farber, Edward, Great Chemists
Jaffe, Bernard, Crucibles
Jaffe, Bernard, Men of Science in America
Lenard, Philipp, Great Men of Science
McGraw-Hill, Men of Science
Roysdon, Christine and Linda Kharti, American Engineers of the Nineteenth Century
Tilden, William, Famous Chemists

4. Dictionaries

Bynum, W.F., E.J. Browne, and Roy Porter, Dictionary of the History of Science
Dunbar, Gary S., Modern Geography
Jasanoff, Sheila et al., Handbook of Science and Technology Studies
McNeil, Ian and Lance Day, eds., Dictionary of the History of Technology
Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey, Women in Science, Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century, A
Biographical Dictionary with Annotated Bibliography
Winters, Christopher, International Dictionary of Anthropologists

5. Encyclopedias

Hetherington, Norriss S., ed., Cosmology

Hetherington, Norriss S., Encyclopedia of Cosmology
Holland, Clive, Arctic Exploration and Development, c. 500 BC to 1915
Macey, Samuel L., ed., Encyclopedia of Time
Magill, Frank N., Magill's Survey of Science: Earth Science Survey
Magill, Frank N., Magill's Survey of Science: Applied Science
Paehike, Robert C., Conservation and Environmentalism
Tattersall, Ian, Eric Delson, and John A. Van Couvering, Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and
Prehistory

38
6. General Histories

Allen, Garland, Life Sciences in the Twentieth Century

Asimov, Isaac, A Short History of Biology
Boorstin, Daniel, The Discoverers
Bowler, Peter, Evolution
Brock, William H., Chemistry
Brown, Charles, A Half-Century of Chemistry in America, 1876-1926
Burke, James, Connections
Burke, James, The Day the Universe Changed
Burlingame, Roger, March of the Iron Men
Burns, Edward et al., World Civilizations
Burns, Edward et al., Western Civilizations
Burstall, Aubrey, A History of Mechanical Engineering
Bynum, W.F., E.J. Browne, and Roy Porter, Dictionary of the History of Science
Christianson, Gale, This Wild Abyss
Claggett, Marshall, Greek Science in Antiquity
Coleman, William, Biology in the Nineteenth Century
Daniels, George, Darwinism Comes to America
Daniels, George, Nineteenth Century American Science
David, Philip and Ruben Hersch, The Mathematical Experience
Derry, T.K., and Trevor I. Williams, A Short History of Technology from the Earliest Times to
A.D. 1900
Debus, Allen, Man and Nature in the Renaissance
Dorra, Henri, Art in Perspective
Dunsheath, Percy, A History of Electrical Power Engineering
Durham, Frank and Robert Parrington, Frame of the Universe
Farrington, Benjamin, Science in Antiquity
Fleming, William, Arts and Ideas
Furter, William F., History of Chemical Engineering
Gardner, Helen, Art Through the Ages
Gillispie, Charles C., A Diderot Pictorial Encyclopedia of Trades and Industry (two volumes)
Gleick, James, Chaos
Grant, Edward, Physical Science in the Middle Ages
Hofmann, J.E., History of Mathematics
Ifrah, Georges, From One to Zero
Ihde, Aaron J., The Development of Modern Chemistry
Kevles, Daniel, The Physicists
Klemm, Frederick, A History of Western Technology
Knight, David, Ideas in Chemistry
Kramer, Edna, The Nature and Growth of Modern Mathematics
Kranzberg, Melvin, and Carroll Pursell, Technology in Western Civilization
Magner, Lois, A History of the Life Sciences
Marks, John, Science and the Making of the Modern World
Mason, Stephen, A History of the Sciences
Medawar, P.B. and J.S. Medawar, Aristotle to Zoos: A Philosophical Dictionary of Biology
Nordenskiold, Eric, The History of Biology
Olby, R. C., G. N. Cantor, J. R. R. Chrlstle, and M. J. S. Hodge, Companion to the History of
Modern Science
Reingold, Nathan, Science in America

39
 Ronan, Colin, Science: Its History and Development Among the World's Culture
Santillana, Giorgio, de, The Origins of Scientific Thought
Sharlin, Harold, The Convergent Century
Singer, Charles, E.J. Holmyard, A.R. Hall, and T.I. Williams, History of Technology (seven
volumes)
Taylor, F.S., A Short History of Science and Scientific Thought
Thorndike, Lynn, A History of Magic and Experimental Science (eight volumes)
Westfall, Richard, The Construction of Modern Science
Williams, L. Pearce, and John Henry Steffens, History of Science in Western Civilization, Vols. I,
II, III
Williams, Trevor, A History of Technology

7. Journals
Annals of the History of Computing
Annals of Science
Agriculture History Review
British Journal for the History of Science
Bulletin of the History of Medicine
Business History Review
Environmental Review
Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences
History of Science
History of Technology
Isis
Journal of Chemical Education
Journal of Economic History
Journal of the Franklin Institute
Journal of the History of Biology
Leonardo
Osiris
Physics Teacher
Physics Today
Social Studies of Science
Technology and Culture
8. Other Collections
Landmarks of Science and Landmarks II. New York: Readex Microprint, 1967-present. A
microprint collection of journals and monographs on the history of science, covering years from
1482 to 1812. A major reference collection which cuts across all fields of physical, biological,
mathematical and earth sciences.

Energy and Agriculture. Sanford, NC: Microfilming Corporation of America. Provides primary
source materials on the development of energy from agricultural products as well as alternative
energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear. Also stressed is the importance of
energy for the production, processing and distribution of agricultural products.

Nuclear Weapons. Arms Control and the Threat of Thermonuclear War: Special Studies, 1969-
1981. Frederick, MD: University Publications of America, 1982. The studies in this collection
consider nearly all of the crucial questions on the nuclear arms race. They offer comprehensive

40
 analyses of the relative strengths, weaknesses and cost effectiveness of the key weapons systems.
The studies explore the international political climate which has given rise to the renewed arms
race and review all aspects of the SALT negotiations and the substantial political, ideological and
technical barriers which have stood in the way of bona fide progress in limiting nuclear weapons.
Women and Technology: An Annotated Research Guide, Cynthia Gay Bindocci

9. Source Books

Clenending, Logan, Source Book of Medical History

Cohen, Morris R., A Source Book in Greek Science
Hall, Thomas S., A Source Book in Animal Biology
Heijenoort, Jean van, A Source Book in Mathematical Logic
Herrnstein, Richard J., and Edwin G. Boring, A Source Book in the History of Psychology
Leicester, Henry M., A Source Book in Chemistry, 1900-1950
Leicester, Henry M., and Herbert M. Klickstein, A Source Book in Chemistry
Magie, William F., A Source Book in Physics
Mather, Kirtley F., Source Book in Geology, 1900-1950
Shapley, Harlow, Source Book in Astronomy, 1900-1950
Stahlman, William D., Ptolemy's Handy Tables

41
 VI. ESSAY EXAMINATION FORM
DUE: Friday, 2 March
Wednesday, 2 May

YES NO

HAS A WELL DEVELOPED INTRODUCTION

GIVES EACH SECTION A CLEAR THEME

INCLUDES KEY DATES

INCLUDES MAIN CONTRIBUTIONS OF EACH SCIENTIST,
ESSENTIAL EQUATIONS, LAWS, INVENTIONS

MECHANICS OF PRESENTATION

contains subheadings

separates key ideas by paragraphs

too much use of passive voice

problems with that-which clauses

problems with spelling

problems with sentence structure

problems with clarity

contains analysis as well as description

HAS A WELL DEVELOPED CONCLUSION

ESSAY IS OF SUFFICIENT LENGTH

EXAMINATION FORM TURNED IN

LATE PENALTY
GRADE

42
VIII. QUESTIONNAIRE DUE: Thursday, 26 April

1. Readings

Anthony N. Stranges, Science Changed the World

( ) Enjoyed very much

( ) Enjoyed
( ) Did not enjoy

Comments:

2. Examinations: Check more than one if desired.

( ) Too long
( ) Too hard
( ) Too easy
( ) Should have fewer objective questions
( ) Should have essay questions
( ) Just right

Comments:

3. Topics you found interesting:

4. Topics you found uninteresting:

5. Other comments you wish to make regarding this course (more discussion, less discussion,
exams, grading, videos, etc.)

43