This course examines the content and culture of the natural sciences in the modern period. Content will include relativity theory, quantum theory, nuclear physics, the standard model in particle physics, advances in astrophysics and cosmology, genetics, the evolutionary synthesis, molecular biology, and work on genome sequences. As these bodies of knowledge are examined, we will also consider the culture of science, individual and collective styles of working in science, the role of the scientist in the culture at large, and the larger cultural and philosophical relevance of scientific knowledge.

In the course of the semester, you will be exposed to the core concepts of modern science, you will be introduced to a number of perspectives from which science can be studied, and you will write critically about science.

I teach multiple versions of this course.  Be sure to use the web page indicated on your syllabus (or click on the semester that you are enrolled in):

Fall 2006/Summer 2007                 Fall 2005/Summer 2006                 Fall 2004