Courses

What was the connection between geometric proof and court rhetoric in Ancient Greece? Who were the most active users of mathematics in the Middle Ages? Why was mathematics viewed as a spiritual exercise during the Scientific Revolution? Why did leading experimentalists believe that mathematical language was exclusive and restrictive? Which mathematical theory best expressed the rational spirit of the Enlightenment? Where did the romantic image of a lone genius come from? Did computers change the way mathematicians work in the late twentieth century? Do mathematicians think differently if they live in different cultures?
Combining lectures and discussions, this class will explore how mathematics was practiced in various historical contexts: Greek antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Scientific Revolution, the Age of Enlightenment, the Romantic era, Victorian culture, and the tumultuous twentieth century. The students will read and discuss short articles by professional historians. The readings link mathematical innovations with contemporary developments in politics, literature, philosophy, and theology. This class presents an opportunity to gain deep cultural understanding of influential mathematical concepts and methods of reasoning. 

This course explores the social relevance of neuroscience, considering how emerging areas of brain research at once reflect and reshape social attitudes and agendas. Topics include brain imaging and popular media; neuroscience of empathy, trust, and moral reasoning; new fields of neuroeconomics and neuromarketing; ethical implications of neurotechnologies such as cognitive enhancement pharmaceuticals; neuroscience in the courtroom; and neuroscientific recasting of social problems such as addiction and violence. Guest lectures by neuroscientists, class discussion, and weekly readings in neuroscience, popular media, and science studies.

Is mathematics a purely intellectual exercise isolated from social influences? Does the development of mathematics follow its inner logic, or is it subject to the pressures and biases of the time? Do mathematicians think differently if they live in different cultures? This discussion-based seminar will address these questions while exploring patterns of mathematical practice in different historical contexts: Greek antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Scientific Revolution, the Age of Enlightenment, the Romantic era, Victorian culture, and the tumultuous twentieth century. The students in the class will read and discuss short articles by professional historians. The readings link mathematical innovations with contemporary developments in politics, literature, philosophy, and theology. This seminar presents an opportunity to gain deep cultural understanding of some basic mathematical concepts and methods of reasoning.

This course studies the development of modern science from the seventeenth century to the present, focusing on Europe and the United States. Key questions include: What is science, and how is it done? How are discoveries made and accepted? What is the nature of scientific progress? What is the impact of science on society? What is the impact of society on science? Topics will be drawn from the histories of physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, and medicine.

The balance between health and disease is a central feature of human life and society. Over the past 500 years there have been major changes in the prevalence and experience of diseases, from epidemics of smallpox and tuberculosis, to the chronic afflictions of obesity, heart disease, and mental illness. At the same time there has been enormous growth in the role of medicine in culture, economics, and politics. This course will use a historical approach to explore the changing interactions between disease and society in America, examining: the reasons for the changing patterns of disease, the evolution of medical theory and practice, the development of hospitals and the medical profession, the rise of biotechnology research and the pharmaceutical industry, and the politics of health care in America. 

This course focuses on one particular aspect of the history of computing: the use of the computer as a scientific instrument. The electronic digital computer was invented to do science, and its applications range from physics to mathematics to biology to the humanities. What has been the impact of computing on the practice of science? Is the computer different from other scientific instruments? Is computer simulation a valid form of scientific experiment? Can computer models be viewed as surrogate theories? How does the computer change the way scientists approach the notions of proof, expertise, and discovery? No comprehensive history of scientific computing has yet been written. This seminar examines scientific articles, participants’ memoirs, and works by historians, sociologists, and anthropologists of science to provide multiple perspectives on the use of computers in diverse fields of physical, biological, and social sciences and the humanities. We explore how the computer transformed scientific practice, and how the culture of computing was influenced, in turn, by scientific applications.