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HSCI E-104 Historical Perspectives on Science in Relation to Ethics and Policy (11443) (Syllabus)
I. Bernard Cohen, PhD, Victor S. Thomas Professor, Emeritus, History of Science, Harvard University.
Graduate seminar. 4 units. Graduate credit $1,235. Monday, 5:30-7:30 pm. Emerson Hall 106. Limited enrollment. Fall term.
Note: this course begins Monday, Sept. 27.
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.
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HSCI E-113 Science, Technology, and the Good Society (21314) (Syllabus)
Peter Buck, PhD, Senior Lecturer on History of Science, Harvard University.
Graduate seminar. 4 units. Graduate credit $1,235. 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.
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HSCI E-209 The Origin and Development of Science in Antiquity (21479) (Syllabus)
John E. Murdoch, PhD, Professor of History of Science, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $250, undergraduate credit $405, graduate credit $1,145. Tuesday, 7:35-9:35 pm. Science Center 226. Spring term.
Students need proof of registration to be admitted to Science Center classrooms above the first floor.
A study of the origins of science in Greece, with consideration of the importance of mythic and religious factors in the rise of science and medicine, the subsequent development of Greek science as seen in the works of Aristotle, and the relation of his scientific accomplishments to those of his predecessors.
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HSCI E-220 Chinese Medical History (11682) (Syllabus)
Bridie Andrews, PhD, Assistant Professor of History of Science, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $250, undergraduate credit $405, graduate credit $1,145. Tuesday, 7:35-9:35 pm. Sever Hall 208. Fall term.
This course will challenge the concept of a static and traditional Chinese medicine by reading translations of texts from different periods and different medical genres (for example, classical theory, women's medicine, case study literature, material medica), in the light of recent historical scholarship. The course will also review the history of Chinese medicine in the twentieth century, and in particular, its adoption in the West.
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