Clockwise from top left is a collage of Kepler, Copernicus, Newton, Galileo, Descartes, and Ptolemy. (Images courtesy of the
Library of Congress and
NASA.)
Course Highlights
An extensive
bibliography of readings is available for this course. In addition, all
assignments may be downloaded.
Course Description
This subject traces the evolution of ideas about nature, and how best to study and explain natural phenomena, beginning in ancient times and continuing through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. A central theme of the subject is the intertwining of conceptual and institutional relations within diverse areas of inquiry: cosmology, natural history, physics, mathematics, and medicine.
*Some translations represent previous versions of courses.