Instructor: Dr. Mark V. Barrow, Jr.
Office: 415 Major Williams; Phone: 231-4099 (O), 552-5876 (H)
Office Hours: M, W 12:00-1 p.m., Tues. 9:00-10:00 a.m., and by appointment
Class homepage: http://www.majbill.vt.edu/history/barrow/hist3706/
E-mail: barrow@vt.edu

This course provides an overview of the development of modern science and its impact on society. Through primary and secondary readings, lectures, films, discussions, and writing assignments, students will gain insight into some of the major ideas, institutions, and personalities that have created western science in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At the same time, the course explores the myriad ways that scientific knowledge has been shaped and has, in turn, profoundly shaped the intellectual, social, cultural, and physical world we inhabit. Some of the specific topics to be covered include: the Darwinian Revolution, scientific constructions of race and gender, the eugenics movement, the relationship between science and religion, Einstein and the New Physics, nuclear weapons development, the origins of the environmental movement, and the discovery of DNA.

This is the second of a two-semester introductory sequence in the history of science. The first course in this sequence, HIST/HST 3705, is not a prerequisite for this course, and the two can be taken in any order desired. No special technical background is needed to succeed in the course.

REQUIRED READING:

• Duncan M. Porter and Peter W. Graham, eds., The Portable Darwin
• Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man
• Diane B. Paul, Controlling Human Heredity
• Lawrence Badash, Scientists and the Development of Nuclear Weapons
• John Hersey, Hiroshima
• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
• James Watson, The Double Helix (ed. by Gunther Stent)

ATTENDANCE POLICY:
I expect students to attend class each day and to prepare themselves by carefully reading the material assigned for that day.

GRADES:
The final grade for the course will be based on the following:
 

EXAMINATIONS:
Tests will be based on all the material covered during the course, including lectures, discussions, films, and readings. They can be made up only if the absence is due to serious illness, death in the immediate family, or participation in an approved university activity. Arrangements for make-up exams should be made before (if possible) or (if not) immediately following the scheduled exam. The specific format for each test will be announced in class before the scheduled exam date.

ESSAYS:
Each student will be required to write two essays (each ca. 3-4 pages typed, double-spaced) on topics assigned by the instructor. Essay assignments will be based on material covered in the course and will generally not require additional research (though students are always welcome to delve more deeply into topics that especially interest them). Completed essays should be stapled in the upper left-hand corner and should include a cover page with the student's name, date of completion, course number, and title of paper. Essays will be graded on content and presentation (including correct grammar, punctuation, syntax, etc.) Students who have special difficulty with their writing skills should contact me or consult the Writing Center (205 Williams Hall, 231-5436) before turning in their papers.

ATTENDANCE, HOMEWORK, QUIZZES, AND PARTICIPATION:
To encourage and reward class attendance, preparation, and participation, I will occasionally give unscheduled quizzes or short homework assignments. As a general rule, these will not be individually graded, but their successful completion will count toward the attendance, homework, quiz, and participation component of the final grade. Unscheduled quizzes cannot be made up, and homework assignments must be turned in during the class on which they are due to receive credit.

HONOR CODE:
Students are expected to follow the Virginia Tech Honor Code for all assignments.

A PERSONAL NOTE:
I am here to help you learn. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or difficulties related to this course (or even if you just want to talk about the issues it raises). I know that approaching a professor can be intimidating, but I want to assure you that I enjoy meeting with students and I do everything possible to make myself accessible to them.

COURSE SCHEDULE:(subject to revision):

Date	Topic	Reading          OR=Online Reading
8/25	Introduction
8/27	The Scientific Revolution	OR-Merchant
8/29	The Scientific Revolution	OR-Merchant
9/1	Science and the Enlightenment
9/3	Natural History before Darwin	Darwin, vii-xiv, xvii-xxii, 86-88, 105-36
9/5	Darwin and the Origin of Species	Darwin 136-159
9/8	Darwin and the Origin of Species	Darwin 159-194
9/10	Darwin and the Origin of Species	Darwin 194-215
9/12	Responding to Darwin	TBA
9/15	Responding to Darwin	Darwin 321-322, 347-360, Paul 23-39
9/17	TBA	Gould 19-72
9/19	Science, Race, and Gender	Gould 73-112
9/22	Science, Race, and Gender	Gould 113-145
9/24	Examination 1
9/26	TBA
9/29	I.Q. Testing	Gould 146-233
10/1	Mendelian Genetics	Paul 1-21, 40-49
10/3	Eugenics	Paul 50-96; OR-Gould       Name=Doctor / Password = medicine       (note: both are case sensitive)
10/6	Eugenics	Paul 97-135
10/8	The Evolutionary Synthesis
10/10	The Scopes Trial	OR-Larson
10/13	Scientific Creationism	OR-Chronology; OR-Numbers
10/15	TBA
10/17	Einstein and the New Physics	OR-Friedman and Donleavy
10/20	Einstein and the New Physics	OR-TBA; Einstein Video Transcript
10/22	Einstein and the New Physics
10/24	The Discovery of Radiation	Badash 1-26
10/27	The Making of the Atomic Bomb	Badash 27-62
10/29	Responding to the Bomb	Hersey 1-41
10/31	Hiroshima	Hersey 42-90
11/3	Science and the Cold War	Badash 63-79
11/5	Science and the Cold War	Badash 80-114
11/7	Examination 2
11/10	TBA	Carson 1-37
11/12	Nuclear Fallout	Carson 154-198
11/14	Rachel Carson and Silent Spring	Carson 219-243, OR-Lear
11/17	Rachel Carson and Silent Spring	Carson 245-275
11/19	Rachel Carson and Silent Spring	Carson, 277-297
11/21	TBA
11/24-28	Thanksgiving Break	Watson xi-xxv, 1-48
12/1	The Origins of Molecular Biology	Watson 48-99
12/3	The Race to the Double Helix	Watson 100-133, OR-Hubbard
12/5	The Race to the Double Helix	Watson TBA
12/8	The Human Genome Project	OR-TBA
12/10	Concluding Session
12/18	Final Exam, 1:05-3:05 p.m.