Course meets T Th 11:30-12:50 in Merrill 403.
Professor Nicholas Darnton
Office: Merrill 118, ph. 542-2593
Office hours: MF 10-11.
Texts
- Peter J. Bowler and Iwan Rhys Morus , Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey, U. Chicago Press, 2005, ISBN: 0226068617
- John Grant, Corrupted Science, Facts, Figures & Fun, 2007, ISBN: 1904332730
- Robert Park, Voodoo Science, Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN: 0195147103
- Eugenie Samuel Reich, Plastic Fantastic, Palgrave Macmillan 2009, ISBN 0230224679
All texts are available from Amherst Books.
Topics / course outline
- “The” scientific method
- How do we define “proper” science?
- Obsolete science
- Scientific theories that were once true but are now false.
- Statistics, probability and proof
- The limits of scientific proof in the real, messy world.
- Bad medicine
- Quackery through the ages.
- Gray areas and pseudoscience
- Disciplines that may or may not qualify as science.
- Fraud in science
- The slippery slope from slipshod science to falsification.
- Politics and ideology in science
- Unscientific forces driving science.
- Ethics in science
- Should some science be rejected for moral reasons?
- Popularization, experts and common sense
- Credentials and expertise versus common sense and the wisdom of crowds.
Grading
| 3 or 4 short essays (3-4 pages) | 3-4 pages | 30% | ||
| Midterm paper | 8-10 pages | 20% | ||
| Final paper | 12-15 pages | 30% | ||
| Participation | 20% |
To encourage development of good writing skills, I will grade with equal weight allocated to content and expression. I encourage you to edit and resubmit essays for possible improvement in your grade.
I hope that we will have healthy disagreements over the course of the semester, ideally with strong feelings on opposite sides. Though I will expect you to defend your opinions, I will not punish you for disagreeing with me or anyone else. I do expect politeness and courtesy during class discussions.
Intellectual Responsibility
Course grading depends principally on your written work. You may freely discuss what you plan to write with anyone, including your peers in the class, but every word submitted must be your own. Plagiarism, whether from a peer or a published source, is extremely serious. To avoid inadvertent plagiarism, once you start writing you should stop discussing the assignment with others in the class; in particular, do not exchange drafts with fellow students. You may seek third-party advice on grammar and editing, but this should be limited to revision of a draft written, originally, entirely by you.