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Lecture and Seminar Programme


Questions and readings for each seminar will be posted two weeks in advance of the seminar. Lecture slides will be available for download before the lectures - see each seminar webpage for the slides for that week.

Term

Section

Week

Lecture and Seminar Topic

Autumn Term Introduction 1 What is science and why should we study its history?
2
The idea of the scientific revolution
Ancient and Medieval origins
3
Science in ancient Greece and Rome
4
Science in classical Islam
5 Science in Medieval Europe
  6 ~ Reading Week: No Seminar ~
Sixteenth-century stimuli
7 Humanism
8 Artists and artisans
9 Trade, travel and plunder
10

Reformation and counter-reformation

~ Christmas Vacation ~
Spring Term Seventeenth-century changes 1 The Copernican revolution
2 The ascent of mathematics
3 The mechanical philosophy
4 The experimental philosophy
5 The classification of the world
  6 ~ Reading Week: No Seminar ~
Eighteenth-century outcomes 7 Science in the public sphere
8 Science and democracy
9 Science and empire
10 Science and the industrial revolution
~ Easter Vacation ~
Summer Term Conclusion 1 The second scientific revolution
2 Revision