NATS 1760 6.0 B – Science, Technology and Society
Summary
As science represents systematic knowledge of nature, and technology represents
systematic attempts to manipulate nature for our own purposes, the origins of science and
technology stretch back to pre-history, and span all civilizations in all areas of the globe.
In order to get a handle on such a vast subject, this course will focus on the commercial
or economic dimensions of scientific and technological development through the years.
Historically, the practical or commercial applications of science and technology have
been promoted by individual entrepreneurs and government officials eager to capitalize
on the prestige and promise of scientific knowledge. Have science and technology always
had a commercial dimension? Has the control of science and technology always been in
the hands of the economic elite? Has “impractical” or “pure” scientific investigation ever
been popular? Should the private sector or the public sector control key technologies?
Through a detailed consideration of historical examples, this course will seek to answer
questions like these, questions of increasing importance in a market-driven, scientifically
advanced society.
Course Instructor
Ian J Slater, slater@yorku.ca, 416-650-8278
Required Texts
JD Bernal, Science in History, Volumes 1 and 2
NATS 1760 6.0 B - Course Reader
Evaluation
1. Reading Summary and Critique (3-5 pages) – Oct 1st
2. Annotated Bibliography and Thesis Statement (3-5 pages) – Nov 19th
3. Short Essay (10-15 pages) – March 31st
4. Roundtable Debate – March 24th
5. Participation –
6. Final Examination –
10%
10%
20%
20%
15%
25%
Notes on Evaluation
The summary and critique (about 2/3 summary and 1/3 critique) involves one of the
readings from the course, if you wish to summarize and critique something from outside
the course readings, it must be pre-approved. The annotated bibliography is a listing of
sources related to your thesis with a one to two paragraph summary of each source. Both
the list of sources and the thesis statement will change over the term. All essay topics
must include some discussion of the economic dimension of science and technology,
other than that the topic is open and must be pre-approved. Students will be split into
small teams for the end-of-term roundtable debate, topic to be announced in the first
month of class. Participation includes: asking and answering questions in class, bringing
materials in for discussion, coming to office hours with questions and concerns.
Notes
Students who feel that there are extenuating circumstances which may interfere with the
successful completion of the exam or other course requirements are encouraged to
discuss the matter with the Course Director as soon as possible.
Students with physical, learning or psychiatric disabilities who require reasonable
accommodations in teaching style or evaluation methods should discuss this with the
Course Director early in the term so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
Lectures
Lecture: Monday 14:30-17:30, R S205
Lecture: Approximately 1hr, discussion period: approximately ½ hour
Office Hours: By Appointment, Bethune 304
Lecture Schedule
Lecture 1 –September 10
– Introduction to course
Lecture 2 – September 17
– Bernal, Science in History, Volume 1, Chapter 1 – What is Science?
– Bernal, Science in History, Volume 1, Chapter 2 – The Old Stone Age
Lecture 3 – September 24
– Bernal, Science in History, Volume 1, Chapter 3 – Agriculture and Civilization
Lecture 4 – October 1
-
Course Reader: James McClellan and Harold Dorn, Science and Technology in World
History, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, Chapter 6, The Middle Kingdom, pp 117140
-
Bernal, Science in History, Volume 1, Chapter 4 – The Iron Age
Lecture 5 – October 15
-
Course Reader: W TeBrake, “Taming the Waterwolf: Hydraulic Engineering and Water
Management in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages”, Technology and Culture, Vol
43, N 3, July 2002
Lecture 6 – October 22
– Bernal, Science in History, Volume 1, Chapter 5 – Science and the Transition to
Feudalism
Lecture 7 – October 29
– Bernal, Science in History, Volume 1, Chapter 6 – Medieval Science
– Essay Workshop
– Announcement of topic for roundtable
Lecture 8 – November 5
-
Course Reader: Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody
for the last 13,000 Years, Vintage Press, 1998, Chapter 3, Collision at Cajamarca, pp 6782.
Lecture 9 – November 12
- Bernal, Science in History, Volume 2, Chapter 7, Sections 7.1-7.5 – The
Scientific Revolution, Part 1
Lecture 10 – November 19
– Bernal, Science in History, Volume 2, Chapter 7, Sections 7.6-7.10 – The
Scientific Revolution, Part 2
Lecture 11 – November 26
-
Course Reader: Toby Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China and the
West, Cambridge University Press, 1999, Chapter 6, Cultural Climates and the Ethos of
Science, pp 202-236
Lecture 12 – December 3
-
-
Harold J Cook, Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch
Golden Age, Yale University Press, 2007, Chapter 1, Worldly Goods and the
Transformation of Objectivity, pp 1-43
Roundtable preparation session
Lecture 13 – January 7
– Bernal, Science in History, Volume 2, Chapter 8 – Antecedents and
Consequences of the Industrial Revolution
Lecture 14 – January 14
– Bernal, Science in History, Volume 2, Chapter 9 – Scientific Developments in the
18th and 19th Centuries
Lecture 15 – January 21
-
Margaret C. Jacob and Larry Stewart, Practical Matter: Newton’s Science in the Service
of Industry and Empire 1687-1851, Harvard University Press, 2004, Chapter 5, Putting
Science to Work: European Strategies, 199-154
Lecture 16 – January 28
-
K. Maria D. Lane, “Geographers of Mars: Cartographic Inscription and Exploration
Narrative in the Late Victorian Representations of the Red Planet”, ISIS, Vol 96, N 4,
December 2005, pp 477-506
Lecture 17 – February 4
-
David F. Noble, America By Design: Science, Technology and the Rise of Corporate
Capitalism, Oxford University Press, 1977, Chapter 1, The Wedding of Science to the
Useful Arts – 1 – The Rise of Science Based Industry, pp 3-19.
Lecture 18 - February 18
-
David A Kirsch, The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History, Rutgers University
Press, 2000, Chapter 6, The Burden of History: Expectations Past and Imperfect, pp 195208
Lecture 19 – February 25
-
Newton H Copp and Andrew W Zanella, Discovery, Innovation and Risk, Case Studies in
Science and Technology, MIT Press, 1993, Chapter 6, Gasoline: From Waste Product to
Fuel, pp 146-191
Lecture 20 – March 3
-
Michael J Neufeld, The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the
Ballistic Missile Era, Harvard University Press, 1995, Chapter 1, The Birth of a Missile,
pp 5-40
Lecture 21 – March 10
-
Matthew J Bellamy, Profiting the Crown: Canada’s Polymer Corporation, 1942-1990,
McGill-Queens University Press, 2005, Chapter 3, For the Country at War and the
Country at Peace, 1945-1951, pp 57-86.
Lecture 22 – March 17
-
Gabrielle Hecht, The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity after
World War II, MIT Press 1998, Chapter 2, Technopolitical Regimes, pp 55-90
Lecture 23 – March 24
- Roundtable Debate
Lecture 24 - March 31
- Exam Review