| source Caltech (X) |
level |
department History and Philosophy of Science (X) |
For course description, see Humanities.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
An individual program of directed reading in history and philosophy of science, in areas not covered by regular courses. Instructor: Staff.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
An introduction to fundamental philosophical problems concerning the nature of science. Topics may include the character of scientific explanation, criteria for the conformation and falsification of scientific theories, the relationship between theory and observation, philosophical accounts of the concept of “law of nature,” causation, chance, realism about unobservable entities, the objectivity of science, and issues having to do with the ways in which scientific knowledge changes over time. Instructor: Hitchcock. Given in alternate years; offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
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Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
Philosophical and conceptual issues arising from theories of confirmation and induction. Topics include Hume’s “old” problem of induction; Goodman’s “new” riddle of induction and various notions of “projectability”; inductive logic; Bayesian confirmation theory; and other theories of confirmation. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
An examination of conceptual issues that arise in mathematics. The sorts of issues addressed may include the following: Are mathematical objects such as numbers in some sense real? How do we obtain knowledge of the mathematical world? Are proofs the only legitimate source of mathematical knowledge? What is the relationship between mathematics and the world? How is it possible to apply abstract theory to the world? Views of major historical figures such as Plato, Hume, Kant, and Mill, as well as of contemporary writers are examined. The course will also examine philosophical issues that arise in particular areas of mathematics such as probability theory and geometry. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
Philosophical and conceptual issues relating to the biological sciences. Topics covered may include the logical structure of evolutionary theory, units of selection, optimization theory, the nature of species, reductionism, teleological and functional reasoning, and ethical issues arising from contemporary biological research. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
This course will examine the impact of recent advances in biological sciences for studies of the mind, behavior, and society. Topics may include evolutionary psychology, the relation between evolution and development, the impact of molecular genetics on the theory of evolution, mathematical modeling of evolution and artificial evolution, philosophical and social issues raised by modern molecular biology. Instructor: Cowie.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
An introduction to the mind-body problem. The course attempts, from the time of Descartes to the present, to understand the nature of the mind and its relation to the body and brain. Topics to be addressed may include dualism, behaviorism, functionalism, computationalism, neurophilosophy, consciousness and qualia, scientific psychology vs. “folk” psychology, the nature of emotion, knowledge of other minds. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
An in-depth examination of one or more issues at the intersection of contemporary philosophy and the brain and behavioral sciences. Topics may include the development of a theory of mind and self-representation, theories of representation and neural coding, the nature of rationality, the nature and causes of psychopathology, learning and innateness, the modularity of mind. Instructors: Cowie, Machery.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
Course will address a number of ethical and philosophical issues arising in scientific research. Among the topics discussed will be the following: fraud and misconduct in science; various theories of the scientific method; the realities of science as practiced in laboratories and the pressures facing scientists in the real world; ethical issues raised by collaborative research; reward and credit in science; responsibilities of mentors, referees, and editors in the conduct of research; the role of government regulation and supervision in dealing with scientific misconduct; the role of the university; and changes in ethical standards due to advancing technology. Undergraduates wishing to take the course for advanced humanities credit should register for 9 units (a term paper will be required). Students who register for 4 units may do so on a pass/fail basis only. Instructors: Woodward, D. Goodstein. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
Selected topics in the development of the physical and biological sciences since the 17th century. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
The birth of modern Western science from 1400 to 1700. The course examines the intellectual revolution brought about by the contributions of Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Kepler, Newton, and Harvey, and their relation to major political, social, and economic developments. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
A comparative, multidisciplinary course that examines the practice of science in a variety of locales, using methods from the history, sociology, and anthropology of scientific knowledge. Topics covered include the high-energy particle laboratory as compared with a biological one; Western as compared to non-Western scientific reasoning; the use of visualization techniques in science from their inception to virtual reality; gender in science; and other topics. Instructor: Feingold.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
The course develops a framework for understanding the changing relations between science and religion in Western culture since antiquity. Focus will be on the ways in which the conceptual, personal, and social boundaries between the two domains have been reshaped over the centuries. Questions to be addressed include the extent to which a particular religious doctrine was more or less amenable to scientific work in a given period, how scientific activity carved an autonomous domain, and the roles played by scientific activity in the overall process of secularization. Instructor: Feingold.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
. This course covers the devel-opment of electromagnetism and thermal science from its beginnings in the early 18th century through the early 20th century. Topics covered include electrostatics, magnetostatics, electrodynamics, Maxwell’s field theory, the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and statistical mechanics as well as related experimental discoveries. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
Instructors: Staff, visiting lecturers.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
. Instructors: Staff, visiting lecturers.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
A study of the experimental, mathematical, and theoretical developments concerning light, from the time of Ptolemy in the 2nd century A.D. to the production of electromagnetic optics in the 20th century. Instructor: Buchwald.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
This course covers developments in mechanics, as well as related aspects of mathematics and models of nature, from just before the time of Galileo through the middle of the 18th century, which saw the creation of fluid and rotational dynamics in the hands of Euler and others. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
The course will provide students with a brief yet adequate survey of the history of mathematics, characterizing the main developments and placing these in their chronological, cultural, and scientific contexts. A more detailed study of a few themes, such as Archimedes’ approach to infinite processes, the changing meanings of “analysis” in mathematics, Descartes’ analytic geometry, and the axiomatization of geometry c. 1900; students’ input in the choice of these themes will be welcomed. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
This course examines developments in chemistry from medieval alchemy to the time of Lavoisier. It will examine the real content of alchemy and its contributions to modern science, as well as how to decode its bizarre language; chemistry’s long quest for respect and academic status; the relations of chemistry with metallurgy, medicine, and other fields; and the content and development of the chemical theories and the chemical laboratory and its methods. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
The course will highlight the background and some of the landmarks in the evolution of Greek astronomy from its tentative beginnings in the 5th century B.C., to its culmination in the work of Ptolemy in the 2nd century A.D. Instructor: Toomer.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
The course will examine how elements of knowledge that evolved against significantly different cultural and religious backgrounds motivated the great scientific revolution of the 17th century. Not offered 2008–09.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page
For course description, see History.
Score: 11.617184 Details | Listing | Web page