History 180: Western Science and Technology I

Prof. Brian W. Ogilvie - UMass/Amherst - Fall 2006

Course Home Page

Announcements

12/12: The study guide for the final examination is now available online (PDF). It will be handed out in tomorrow's lecture.

Reading questions to help you as you study (last updated 11/26 with questions for the week of 11/27 and for 12/4)

Response paper topics (last updated 11/27/06)

Formal paper assignment and resources

• Paper assignment (PDF)
• History Department Style Sheet for papers (PDF; also available in HTML)
• Patrick Rael, “Reading, Writing, and Researching for History”
• TurnItIn.com (for turning in your paper electronically) - due date Mon. 11/20, 11:59 p.m. You should click on the link for "new users" in the upper right-hand corner of the web page and follow the instructions for creating a new student account and adding a class (the class ID is 1697002 and the password is science).
• More writing resources via the History Department website

Lecture slides (PDF files)

September: 9/11/06 • 9/13/06 • 9/18/06 • 9/20/06 • 9/25/06 • 9/27/06
October: 10/2/06 • 10/4/06 • 10/16/06 • 10/18/06 • 10/23/06 • 10/25/06 • 10/30/06
November: 11/1/06 • 11/8/06 • 11/13/06 • 11/15/06 • 11/20/06 • 11/22/06 • 11/27/06 • 11/29/06
December: 12/4/06 • 12/6/06 • 12/11/06

Please keep in mind that the lecture slides are not outlines. They provide a few key points and unfamiliar words and names that I develop in the lectures. You need to take good notes in class to make sense of them.

Handouts

• 10/4: Study guide for midterm (PDF file)
• 9/6: Course syllabus (PDF file)
• 9/6: John McPhee, "How Geologists Think" (PDF file, reading for 9/8)

Online required readings

• 9/20: G. E. R. Lloyd, “Methods and Problems in the History of Ancient Science: The Greek Case,” Isis 83, no. 4 (Dec. 1992): 564-77. (PDF file from JSTOR: off-campus access requires UMass ID and password)
• 10/4: M. I. Finley, “Technical Innovation and Economic Progress in the Ancient World,” Economic History Review, n.s. 18, no. 1 (1965): 29-45. (PDF file from JSTOR: off-campus access requires UMass ID and password)
• 10/16: John Sloan, “The Stirrup Controversy,” Internet Medieval Sourcebook, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/sloan.html.
• 11/20: Brian W. Ogilvie, “The Many Books of Nature,” Journal of the History of Ideas 64, no. 1 (2003): 29-40. (Project MUSE: off-campus access requires UMass ID and password; also available as a PDF file for printing)

Online lecture (replacement for 11/6 lecture)

• Webcast on "Islamic Science and the Making of Renaissance Europe" by Dr. George Saliba, delivered at the Library of Congress on April 27, 2006

Additional online readings (background or more details)

• Denise Schmandt-Besserat, "Accounting with Tokens in the Ancient Near East." (more detail for lecture of 9/18/06)

Instructors

Professor Brian Ogilvie and teaching assistant Paul Gard. Contact information:

• Professor Ogilvie—Office: Herter 624, (413) 545-1599; Home: (413) 549-9189 (before 10 p.m. please); Email: ogilvie@history.umass.edu; Office hours: Wed. 2-3:30, F 11-11:45, and by appointment.
• Mr. Gard—Office: Herter 716, (413) 545-6787; Home: (413) 386-8066 (before 7 p.m. please); Email: pgard@history.umass.edu; Office hours: Mon. 11:10-12:10, Wed. 12-1:30, and by appointment

Course description

Science and technology are important aspects of the modern world. Where did they start? How did they develop? This course approaches the history of science and technology in the Western world by focusing on four developments:

1. the agricultural revolution in the Neolithic Era and its consequences, including the rise of urban societies in the ancient Near East;
2. the origins and development of Greek natural philosophy, seen as a part of Greek culture and society;
3. the technological revolution of the High Middle Ages in Europe, including the development of more efficient agriculture and the exploitation of animal, water, and wind power; and
4. the so- called “Scientific Revolution” of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Though our emphasis is on the Western tradition, we will also compare developments in Europe with those in other world civilizations.

Lecture and discussion. Evaluation will be based on quizzes, participation, exams, and a written report. History majors are encouraged to sign up for discussion section 4, which will be led by Professor Ogilvie.