Science and technology are among the defining features of modern life and are often used to explain the dominance of western society in global affairs.
The goal of this course will be to survey the development of science in world history, with an emphasis on the period from the medieval to the modern western world. In addition to exploring the history of human thought about the natural world, in part by examining the most celebrated scientists and scientific ideas, the course will examine the impact of science on social and economic developments. The emphasis in this course will be placed on the relationship between science/technology and human development, the relationship between science and religion during the middle ages, and the impact of the Scientific Revolution on the early modern era.
The impact of the ideas of Newton, Darwin, Einstein, and other great scientists will be examined.
