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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Social and Political Science : Science Studies Unit

Undergraduate Course: History of Science 1 (SCSU08002)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Social and Political Science CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryIntroductory survey of the development of scientific thought from Ancient Civilizations into the Twenty First Century. Paying attention to developments in astronomy, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, space and computer science, the course discusses major shifts in thinking, e.g. Greek philosophy, the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, and the role of science in the wars of the Twentieth Century. The course aims to show how non-scientific factors, like religion and politics, have had a profound effect on the development of science and its methods, as well as considering the impact of science on society in modern times. The course is appropriately combined with History of Medicine 1h.
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 33, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 163 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Assessed by a short assessment approx. midway through the course (for up to 30% of the overall mark); and a long 2,000 word essay, submitted via WebCT to a deadline date, for the remaining possible 70% of the overall mark. In order to pass the course, the long essay must be passed.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Describe the main stages in the changing nature and organisation of Western science, from Ancient Civilizations into the early Twenty First Century
  2. Discuss the dominant idea about the nature of the physical world in different historical periods, and appreciate how these ideas change over time
  3. Discuss how ideas about the natural world and practices associated with those ideas relate to the wider social and cultural context in which they are articulated
  4. Critically evaluate the use of historical evidence in historical argument
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Niki Vermeulen
Tel: (0131 6)51 7112
Email: Niki.Vermeulen@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Alexander Dysart
Tel: (0131 6)51 5197
Email: v1adysar@exseed.ed.ac.uk
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