• Philosophy and Science in the Middle Ages
• Historical Perspectives on Science in Relation to Ethics and Policy
• Science, Technology, and the Good Society
• History of Evolution

HSCI E-102 Philosophy and Science in the Middle Ages (21339)
John E. Murdoch, PhD, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $250, undergraduate credit $395, graduate credit $1,105. Tuesday 7:35-9:35 pm. Science Center 226. Students need proof of registration to be admitted to Science Center classrooms above the first floor. Spring term.

Examination of the nature and scope of scientific thought in the Latin Middle Ages with emphasis on its intimate relation with philosophy and other aspects of medieval culture, and upon the radical change that occurred in both philosophy and science as one moved from the thirteenth to the fourteenth century.

Back to top of page.

HSCI E-104 Historical Perspectives on Science in Relation to Ethics and Policy (11443)
I. Bernard Cohen, PhD, Victor S. Thomas Professor of the History of Science, Emeritus, Harvard University.
Graduate seminar. 4 units. Graduate credit $1,190. Monday 5:30-7:30 pm. Emerson Hall 106. Limited enrollment. Fall term.

A study of science in relation to ethical beliefs, our image of ourselves and our place in nature, and our principles of social and political policy. Case histories will include the Newtonian revolution (and the implications of a mechanical universe), the consequences of a statistical viewpoint with regard to human action and responsibility, various interpretations of evolution, interpretations and misinterpretations of relativity, and Freudian psychology. There are no scientific prerequisites for this course.

Back to top of page.

HSCI E-113 Science, Technology, and the Good Society (21314)
Peter Buck, PhD, Senior Lecturer on the History of Science, Harvard University.
Graduate seminar. 4 units. Graduate credit $1,190. Thursday 5:30-7:30 pm. 51 Brattle Street 219. Limited enrollment. Spring term.

Seminar on the hopes and fears associated with scientific and technological change since the beginning of modern times. Ideas about how advances in science and technology will improve the human condition in the future. Explanations of why technical progress has not produced promised social and political benefits in the past. Readings include classic descriptions--More, Bacon, Condorcet, Mill, Marx--of what the good society will look like, when and if it arrives, and classic accounts--Hobbes, Weber, Veblen--of why expectations have not yet been met and, perhaps, cannot be realized.

Back to top of page.

HSCI E-132 History of Evolution (11535)
Tomoko Y. Steen, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $250, undergraduate credit $395, graduate credit $1,105. Thursday 5:30-7:30 pm. Sever Hall 210. Prerequisite(s): a basic understanding of biology and genetics. Fall term.

This course covers various topics within evolutionary biology: Darwin's pangenesis, Mendel's pea study, biometrics, rediscovery of Mendel's law, Darwin and natural selection, evolutionary synthesis, population genetics, classic versus balance theory, sociobiology, eugenics, punctuated equilibrium, human evolution, evolution of virulence, molecular clock controversies, the neutralist-selectionist controversy, and the directed mutation controversy.

Back to top of page.