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Unit of study_
HPSC2100: The Birth of Modern Science
2025 unit information
Modern culture is a culture of science and modern science is the outcome of a historical process of 2,500 years. In this course we investigate how traditional knowledge gradually acquired the characteristics of 'science': the social structure, contents, values and procedures we are familiar with. We will look at some primary chapters of this process, from antiquity to the end of the seventeenth century, and try to understand their implications to understanding contemporary science in its culture.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Science
| Study level | Undergraduate |
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| Academic unit | History and Philosophy of Science Academic Operations |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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12 credit points from (1000-level units or 2000-level units) |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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HPSC2900 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Identify and discuss some major chapters in the history of science from antiquity through the scientific revolution
- LO2. Read and try to interpret primary historical material from these periods (in English translation)
- LO3. Appreciate and discuss some of the particular philosophical and methodological challenges involved in the historiography of science.
Unit availability
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