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2010-11 Catalog: History and Philosophy of Science

Hum/H/HPS 10

Introduction to the History of Science

9 units (3-0-6)   |  offered by announcement
Major topics include the following: What are the origins of modern Western science, when did it emerge as distinct from philosophy and other cultural and intellectual productions, and what are its distinguishing features? When and how did observation, experiment, quantification, and precision enter the practice of science? What were some of the major turning points in the history of science? What is the changing role of science and technology? Using primary and secondary sources, students will take up significant topics in the history of science, from ancient Greek science to the 20th- century revolution in physics, biology, and technology. Hum/H/HPS 10 may be taken for credit toward the additional 36-unit HSS requirement by HPS majors and minors who have already fulfilled their freshman humanities requirement and counts as a history course in satisfying the freshman humanities breadth requirement.
Instructors: Heilbron, Hubner
Hum/H/HPS 11

History of Astronomy and Cosmology

9 units (3-0-6)   |  offered by announcement
A consideration of the entire history of astronomy and cosmology, the oldest of all the sciences, from antiquity to the late 20th century, from the Babylonians to the Big Bang. The course will be devoted to repeating the procedures used in earlier astronomy and working directly with the primary sources.
HPS 98

Reading in History and Philosophy of Science

9 units (1-0-8)
Prerequisites: instructor's permission.
An individual program of directed reading in history and philosophy of science, in areas not covered by regular courses.
Instructor: Staff
HPS 102 ab

Senior Research Seminar

12 units (2-0-10)   |  Offered in any two consecutive terms, by arrangement with HPS faculty
Under the guidance of an HPS faculty member, students will research and write a focused research paper of 15,000 words (approximately 50 pages). Work in the first term will comprise intensive reading in the relevant literature and/or archival or other primary source research. In the second term, students will draft and revise their paper. Open to seniors in the HPS option and to others by special permission of an HPS faculty member.
Instructor: Staff
HPS 103

Public Lecture Series

1 unit   |  first, second, third terms
Student attend four lectures, featuring speakers from outside Caltech, on topics in the history and philosophy of science. Students may choose from a variety of regularly scheduled HPS lectures, including HPS seminars, Harris lectures, and Munroe seminars (history or philosophy of science only). Graded on attendance. Not available for credit toward the humanities-social science requirement. Graded pass/fail.
Instructor: Visiting lecturers
HPS 104

Forbidden Knowledge

9 units (3-0-6)
When and how has the notion of freedom of knowledge and teaching in science emerged? What kinds of restrictions have been placed on scientists, their publications and institutions? Who restrained scientific knowledge of what sorts; for what reasons; and how successfully? These questions will be addressed by looking at some canonical cases in the history of science, such as Copernicus and Galileo. But we will also move into more recent history, discussing work on the atomic bomb, genetic engineering, and global warming.
HPS 105

Science and Literature

9 units (3-0-6)
This course explores the relationships between the sciences and the humanities, from the point of view of literary-scientific interactions. Issues to be addressed include the "Two Cultures" debate over the years: Huxley vs. Arnold in the late 19th century; Snow vs. Leavis in the mid 20th century; the Science Wars of the late 20th century. Problems of representing scientific content in literary works and the consequences of examining scientific writing from a literary perspective will also be addressed. Readings will be drawn from a variety of genres, including novels, short stories, poetry, essays, and scientific texts.
HPS/Pl 120

Introduction to Philosophy of Science

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
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
HPS/Pl 121

Causation and Explanation

9 units (3-0-6)   |  first term
An examination of theories of causation and explanation in philosophy and neighboring disciplines. Topics discussed may include probabilistic and counterfactual treatments of causation, the role of statistical evidence and experimentation in causal inference, and the deductive-nomological model of explanation. The treatment of these topics by important figures from the history of philosophy such as Aristotle, Descartes, and Hume may also be considered.
HPS/Pl 122

Confirmation and Induction

9 units (3-0-6)   |  Offered by announcement
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.
HPS/Pl 124

Philosophy of Space and Time

9 units (3-0-6)   |  Offered by announcement
This course will focus on questions about the nature of space and time, particularly as they arise in connection with physical theory. Topics may include the nature and existence of space, time, and motion; the relationship between geometry and physical space (or space-time); entropy and the direction of time; the nature of simultaneity; and the possibility of time travel.
HPS/Pl 125

Philosophical Issues in Quantum Physics

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second term
This course will focus on conceptual issues that arise within quantum physics. Topics may include determinism and indeterminism; Einstein's critiques of quantum theory; the interpretation of quantum measurement; and quantum logic.
HPS/Pl 128

Philosophy of Mathematics

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
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.
Instructor: Hitchcock
HPS/Pl 129

Introduction to Philosophy of Biology

9 units (3-0-6)
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.
HPS/Pl 130

Philosophy and Biology

9 units (3-0-6)   |  first, second terms
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.
HPS/Pl 132

Introduction to Philosophy of Mind and Psychology

9 units (3-0-6)   |  offered by announcement
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.
HPS/Pl 133

Philosophy and Neuroscience

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
This course will examine the impact of recent advances in neuroscience on traditional philosophical problems. Topics may include the nature of free will in light of work on the neural basis of decision making; the nature of consciousness, knowledge, or learning; the mind/brain from the perspective of neural computation; and the neural foundations of cognitive science.
Instructor: Quartz
HPS/Pl 134

Current Issues in Philosophical Psychology

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second, third terms
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.
HPS/Pl 136

Ethics in Research

4 units (2-0-2) or 9 units (2-0-7)   |  third term
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.
HPS/Pl 137

Experimental Philosophy

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
A survey of recent work in experimental philosophy: experimental studies aimed at advancing debates in a number of areas of philosophy including metaphysics, semantics, epistemology, philosophy of science, and ethics.
HPS/Pl 138

Human Nature and Society

9 units (3-0-6)
This course will investigate how assumptions about human nature shape political philosophy, social institutions, and social policy. The course will begin with a historical perspective, examining the work of such political philosophers as Plato, Locke, Rousseau, and Marx, along with such psychologists as Freud and Skinner. Against this historical perspective, it will then turn to examine contemporary views on human nature from cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary psychology and explore their potential implications for political philosophy and social policy. Among topics to be discussed will be the nature of human sociality and cooperation; economic systems and assumptions regarding production and consumption; and propaganda, marketing, and manipulation.
HPS/H 156

The History of Modern Science

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
Selected topics in the development of the physical and biological sciences since the 17th century.
Instructor: Heilbron
Pl/HPS 157

Leibniz vs. Newton: Philosophers at War

9 units (3-0-6)
This course takes up a fascinating exchange between Leibniz and Newton, two towering figures at the dawn of modern physical science. It centers on the correspondence between Leibniz and Newton's disciple Samuel Clarke. Their letters (1714-1716) address foundational issues of 17th century dynamics: the existence of space and time; the architecture of matter; God and his agency in the world; miracles and laws of nature; free will and divine choice. A detailed overview of the scientific, philosophical, and religious background to the debate will serve to introduce the debate.
HPS/H 158

The Scientific Revolution

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second term
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.
HPS/H 159

The Cold War and American Science

9 units (3-0-6)
This course examines the growth of science in America after World War II, and its relation to Cold War geopolitics. Topics will include the growth of the American research university; the establishment and role of the national laboratory system; the role of federal funding agencies including ONR, NSF, NIH, and DARPA; and the impact of geopolitical considerations and priorities on scientific research and knowledge.
HPS/H 160 ab

Einstein and His Generation: The History of Modern Physical Sciences

9 units (3-0-6)   |  first, third terms
An exploration of the most significant scientific developments in the physical sciences, structured around the life and work of Albert Einstein (1879-1955), with particular emphasis on the new theories of radiation, the structure of matter, relativity, and quantum mechanics. While using original Einstein manuscripts, notebooks, scientific papers, and personal correspondence, we shall also study how experimental and theoretical work in the sciences was carried out; scientific education and career patterns; personal, political, cultural, and sociological dimensions of science.
HPS/H 162

Social Studies of Science

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
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.
HPS/H 166

Historical Perspectives on the Relations between Science and Religion

9 units (3-0-6)   |  first term
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: Hubner
HPS/H 167

Experimenting with History/Historic Experiment

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
This course uses a combination of lectures with hands-on laboratory work to bring out the methods, techniques, and knowledge that were involved in building and conducting historical experiments. We will connect our laboratory work with the debates and claims made by the original discoverers, asking such questions as how experimental facts have been connected to theories, how anomalies arise and are handled, and what sorts of conditions make historically for good data. Typical experiments might include investigations of refraction, laws of electric force, interference of polarized light, electromagnetic induction, or resonating circuits and electric waves. We will reconstruct instrumentation and experimental apparatus based on a close reading of original sources.
Instructor: J. Buchwald
HPS/H 168

History of Electromagnetism and Heat Science

9 units (3-0-6)   |  offered by announcement
This course covers the development 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.
HPS/H 169

Selected Topics in the History of Science and Technology

9 units (3-0-6)   |  offered by announcement
Instructors: D. Buchwald, visiting lecturers
HPS/Pl 169

Selected Topics in Philosophy of Science

9 units (3-0-6)   |  offered by announcement
Instructors: Staff, visiting lecturers
HPS/H 170

History of Light from Antiquity to the 20th Century

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second term
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: J
HPS/H 171

History of Mechanics from Galileo through Euler

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second term
Prerequisites: basic Caltech physics course.
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.
HPS/H 172

History of Mathematics: A Global View with Close-ups

9 units (3-0-6)   |  offered by announcement
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.
HPS/H/Pl 173

History of Chemistry

9 units (3-0-6)   |  first term
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.
HPS/H 174

Early Greek Astronomy

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
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.
HPS/H 175

Matter, Motion, and Force: Physical Astronomy from Ptolemy to Newton

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second term
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.
HPS/H 178

Galileo's Astronomy and Conflicts with the Church

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second term
. Galileo's discoveries with the telescope and arguments for the heliocentric theory radically transformed the System of the World, as it was called, and resulted in his being brought before the Inquisition, the most famous single event in the history of science. The readings will be Galileo's Sidereal Messenger, Letters on Sunspots, The Assayer, Dialogue on the Two Great Systems of the World, and documents concerned with Galileo's conflicts with the Church in 1616 and 1633.
HPS/H 179

Cambridge Scientific Minds: How We See Them; How They See Themselves

9 units (3-0-6)
Cambridge University has long been a world center for science. Using biography, autobiography, novel, and historical studies, this course will examine and analyze the thought of Newton, Darwin, Maxwell, Watson, Crick, and Hawking.
HPS/H 180

Physics and Philosophy from the Scientific Revolution to the 20th Century

9 units (3-0-6)
This course will examine the interplay between the theoretical understanding of physical nature and the philosophical definition of reliable knowledge. It will investigate this intellectual interplay in the work of Galileo, Descartes, Newton, Hume, Maxwell, and Einstein.
HPS/H 181

Evidence, Measurement, and the Uses of Data in the Early Modern Period

9 units (3-0-6)
From treatises about geography and astronomy to the history of plants and animals, early modern Natural philosophy provided an astonishingly broad background of research agendas. The course will examine the manner in which observations were carried out and evidence weighed, both in university settings and in the field. Topics to be addressed include the changing perceptions regarding the reliability of the senses; the contribution of instruments to accumulation of reliable knowledge; the standardization of data and its presentation; and the emergence of new argumentative strategies.
HPS/H 182

Show and Tell: 3-D Models for the Visualization of Complex Concepts in the 16th and 17th Centuries

9 units (3-0-6)
Early modern artists and scholars of all disciplines routinely built three-dimensional objects in order to represent complex concepts and appearances. Some rendered visible abstract formulas in geometrical forms like the movement of the stars; others schematized complex work-flows like drainage systems, or the geographical conditions on Earth; still others proposed costly projects, such as the cupola of St. Peter in Rome, on the basis of a model. These models-many of which still survive-were constructed according to precise rules and regulations, as well as personal taste. The course will offer an introduction to the significance of three-dimensional models in the early modern period, and the manner in which they were crafted and used by artists, physicians, and natural philosophers.
Pl/HPS 183

Bioethics

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
A survey of issues in bioethics. Topics may include reproduction and cloning, stem-cell research, organ transplantation and sale, informed consent, killing vs. letting die, cure vs. enhancement, and research ethics.
Instructor: Cowie
Pl/HPS 184

Science, Ethics, and Public Policy

9 units (3-0-6)   |  offered by announcement
This course discusses some moral and social issues concerning research in the sciences (chiefly, biomedicine, with special attention to stem-cell research.) We will begin by discussing attempts to find a framework within which the issues can be addressed, and then we will discuss some specific topics. In most cases we will not so much seek answers to moral questions as attempt to identify helpful questions, clarify the issues involved, and analyze the moral status of the protagonists. We will also pay special attention to issues of public policy, and ask how scientific research should be organized and funded in a democracy.
H/HPS 184

Medicine and Disease from Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second term
This course takes as its subject the intellectual, social, and institutional developments in medicine from the time of Hippocrates to modern disease theory. The specific historical periods covered will vary depending on the decision of the instructor, but topics may include early and late Greek medicine; medicine in the Mediterranean; healing and disease in the Middle Ages; the role of religion in medicine; medical professionalization; anatomy and surgery; botany, apothecaries, and merchants; illness and healing in the New World; medicine in the scientific revolution; modern Western medicine and the emergence of alternative medicine.
Instructor: Archambeau
H/HPS 185

Angels and Monsters

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
We read Cervantes's masterpiece, Don Quixote, with a view to some of the great upheavals that shaped the early modern world-from Europe's discovery of the Americas, to the demise of the feudal system and proliferation of indigent masses, to the rise of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, to the wars against heretics and infidels, and to the disastrous decline of the Hapsburg dynasty. Students are asked to consider the dynamics between truth and falsehood, history and fiction, that intervene in Cervantes's novelization of the moral and material dilemmas of his time.
Instructor: Gomez
HPS/H 186

The Sciences in the Romantic Era

9 units (3-0-6)   |  second term
This course aims at introducing students to problems, methods, and resources in European science during the era of Romanticism (c. 1780-1830). The Romantic movement embraced the sciences as well as literature, theology, and the arts, and sought to unite them into a comprehensive program of understanding nature based on experimentation and speculative philosophy. Scientists of the Romantic era have addressed fundemental concerns about scientific manipulations of nature that have, in a different form, resurfaced in the later part of the 20th century. Romanticism addresses major themes in the self-awareness of scientists and their perception in society, and it contributed to the emergence of new research fields and scientific institutions to accommodate nationalistic claims.
Instructor: Hubner
HPS/Pl 188

The Evolution of Cognition

9 units (3-0-6)   |  third term
By many measures, Homo sapiens is the most cognitively sophisticated animal on the planet. Not only does it live in a huge variety of habitats, and not only has it transformed its environment in unprecedented ways, but it is also responsible for such cultural artifacts as language, science, religion, and art. These are achievements that other species, however successful they may be in other respects, have not accomplished. This course investigates the cognitive, behavioral, and environmental bases for humans' surprising cultural dominance of our planet. Possible topics include the evolution of language, the evolution of morality, the evolution of religion, the evolution of cooperation, and the advent of technology, math, science, and the Internet. Contact the instructor to find out what the topic in any given term is.
Instructor: Cowie
Published Date: July 28, 2022