HISTORY OF SCIENCE
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- MARCO BRESADOLA
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- M-STO/05
Training objectives
- - To learn the fundamental dynamics which produced the emergence of modern scientific thought;
-To understand the historical nature of scientific thought and its connections with cultural, social, economical, and political contexts; (I Dublin descriptor);
-To develop critical tools of textual understanding and analysis;
- To develop the ability to apply analytical methods to the understanding of contemporary scientific thought (II Dublin descriptor);
- To acquire the ability to communicate arguments about the historical concepts treated in the course, as well as to develop them autonomously (III, IV, and V Dublin descriptors) Prerequisites
- None
Course programme
- The birth of modern science in Europe, XV-XVII centuries, with special attention to the relationship between science and technique; the distinction between magic and scientific cultures, the astronomic revolution, the debate between mechanism and vitalism in life sciences and medicine, the role of instruments and scientific academies. Reading and analysis of the works of some of the main characters of the scientific revolutions, like Copernicus, Vesalius, Kepler, Galileo, Harvey, and Newton.
THE PROGRAMME IS VALID UNTIL FEBRUARY 2023. Didactic methods
- Lectures; reading of primary sources; discussion of iconographic material
Learning assessment procedures
- Oral examination on the authors and texts discussed in the course. The grade depends on the student's level of learning of the course's contents and his/her ability to make connections between the different topics treated by the teacher.
Reference texts
- P. Rossi, La nascita della scienza moderna in Europa, Bari-Roma, Laterza, 1997(premessa + chapts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17); collection of primary sources prepared by the teacher and available on the course website
