Dr. John O. Dimmock, OB 400E, 890-6030X400, Office Hours by appointment.
Class Schedule: Monday and Wednesday 2:20 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. Optics Building Room 400R
Instructors:
Course Goals and Description:
In this class we will be discussing a brief history of mankind's views of the universe. We start with earliest evidences of star observations and time reckoning recorded in the caves of Europe and continue to the present observations and models. The course is team-taught enlisting the support of three scientists from the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as well as UAH faculty from the history, philosophy, biology and physics departments. The course mixes history, mythology, astrology, philosophy, religion, and, of course science and astronomy; and traces mankind's view of the universe and how that has changed from about 30,000 years BCE to the current observations and models. Starting with a brief history of mankind we trace the evolution of ideas including Prehistoric Europe, Babylon, Egypt, Asia, North, Central and South America, Africa, China, Greece, Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Enlightenment, through to the 21st century. Namely, we try to touch on just about every different view from the creation of the universe to puzzles of quantum cosmology, missing mass and the cosmological constant. Students are required to write two term papers and present them to the class.
As indicated above, in addition to several UAH faculty members, several MSFC scientists, with support from the MSFC Educational Outreach program, will play a pivotal role in the course. These individuals are:
Course Schedule: Fall 2000, 2:30 - 3:50 p.m., OB 400R
1. 8/23 Course Overview and Objectives - Dimmock
Astronomy
8/26 Planetarium - Adams
2. 8/28 Celestial Motions - Adams/Dimmock
3. 8/30 Brief History of Mankind - Ice Age to Civilization - Sever
4. 9/6 Monolithic Astronomy - Sever
Mythology
5. 9/11 North America - Sever
6. 9/13 Maya/Aztec - Adams
7. 9/18 Inca - Adams
8. 9/20 Chinese - Adams
9. 9/25 Egyptian - Dimmock
10. 9/27 Mesopotamian - Dimmock
11. 10/2 Greek - Martine
Phenomenology
12. 10/4 Early Greek - Martine
13. 10/9 Late Greek - Nunes
14. 10/11 Middle Ages - Nunes
15. 10/16 Copernican Revolution - Dimmock
16. 10/18 Galileo and Kepler - Dimmock
17. 10/23 Europe - Renaissance to the Enlightenment - Boucher
Science
18. 10/25 The Foundations of Modern Science - Martine
19. 10/30 First Presentation of Student Papers
20. 11/1 Causation and Biology - Gartska
21. 11/6 Newton to Einstein - Dimmock
22. 11/8 Today's Astronomy - Strong
23. 11/13 Einstein - Emslie
24. 11/15 Today's Cosmology - Dimmock
25. 11/20 Today's Puzzles - Dimmock
26. 11/27 Quantum Cosmology - Dimmock
27. 11/29 Life in the Universe - Ng
28. 12/4 It's a wrap - Dimmock
Final Exam Monday, December 8, 2000 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. Room 400R, Optics Building
The text for this course is Cosmology: Historical, Literary, Philosophical, Religious, and Scientific Perspectives, edited by Norriss S. Hetherington, Garland Publishing, Inc., New York 1993. Although this is the best overall text we have found, there is no truly adequate text for the entire course. Depending on the level, and focus of student interest, there are several books that are generally useful. A large number of useful references are listed below. For term papers students are expected to explore these references, and others, to find the material they will need. In our opinion, the best overall book from a cosmological/philosophical perspective is the text Cosmology by Hetherington, the best from an astronomical perspective is The Norton History of Astronomy and Cosmology by John North, the best reference to the original material is Theories of the Universe by Milton Munitz and the best treatment of the Mythology is The World of Myth, by Leeming. Some reading material will be made available before class.
Students will be graded on in-class discussion (25%), two term papers (25% each) and a final exam (25%). Students will be required to present a summary of their papers in class. Papers will be due on October 25th, and December 1st, 2000 and will be on topics of the student's choosing with the instructor's approval. Individual papers should be approximately 2,000 words.
The following is an updated list of useful books that are recommended for the course, annotated as follows:
L - UAH Library holding
H - in HSV public library
D - Dimmock, in CAO Library Room 400L, Optics Building
L - Abetti, Giorgio, The History of Astronomy, Henry Schuman, New York, 1952, QB15.A213
L/D - Aveni, Anthony; Conversing with the Planets: How Science and Myth Invented the Cosmos; Times Books, Random House, New York, 1992, QB981.A99
D - Aveni, Anthony; Empires of Time: Calendars, Clocks and Cultures; Basic Books, Inc., New York, 1989.
D - Bauer, Brian S. and Dearborn, David S., Astronomy and Empire in the Ancient Andes, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1995.
D - Black, Jeremy and Green, Anthony, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1992.
L - Butterfield, Herbert, The Origins of Modern Science:
1300-1800, Free Press, New York, 1965, Q125.B97.
H - Calvin, William H., How the Shaman Stole the Moon: In Search
of Ancient Prophet-Scientists from Stonehenge to the Grand Canyon,
Bantam Books, New York, 1991.
D - Coe, Michael D., The Maya, Sixth Edition, Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1999
H - Cornell, James, The First Stargazers: An Introduction to the Origns of Astronomy, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1981.
L/H - Cronin, Vincent, The View from Planet Earth, William Morrow & Co., Inc., 1981.
L - Crowe, Michael J., Theories of the World from Antiquity to the Copernican Revolution, Dover 1990, QB981.C86
D - Davidson, H. R. Ellis, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, Penguin Books, 1964
H - De la Cotardiere, Philippe, editor, Larousse Astronomy, Facts on File Publications, New York, 1986.
L - Dreyer, J. L. E., A history of astronomy from Thales to Kepler, 2nd edition, Dover 1953, QB15.D77
L/D - Freidel, David, Schele, Linda, and Parker, Joy; Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path; William Morrow & Co., Inc., New York 1993.
H - Friedman, Herbert, The Amazing Universe, National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C. 1975.
L - Grant, Edward, In Defense of the Earth's Centrality and Immobility: Scholastic Reaction to Copernicanism in the Seventeenth Century, American Physical Society, Philadelphia, 1984, QB839.G7
L - Grant, Edward, editor, A Source Book in Medieval Science, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass. 1974, Q153.G7
L - Grant, Edward, Physical Science in the Middle Ages, Wiley, New York, 1971, Q125.G76
L/D - Hadingham, Evan, Early Man and the Cosmos, Walker and Co., New York, 1948, QB16.H3
L - Hadingham, Evan, Circles and Standing Stones, Walker & Co., New York, 1975, GN805.H33
L - Heath, Thomas Little, Sir., Greek Astronomy, London (1932), QB21.H42
L - Hemming, John, Machu Picchu, Newsweek, Wonders of Man, New York, 1981, F3429.1.M3.H45
L - Hetherington, Norriss S., Science and Objectivity: Episodes in the History of Astronomy, Iowa State University Press, Ames, 1988
L/D - Hetherington, Norriss S., Cosmology: Historical, Literary, Philosophical, Religious, and Scientific Perspectives, Garland Publishing, Inc., New York, 1993. QB981.C822
D - Holden, James Herschel., A History of Horoscopic Astronomy,
American Federation of Astrologers, Inc. Tempe, Arizona, 1996.
L/H - Hoyle, Fred, From Stonehenge to Modern Cosmology,
W. H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco, 1972, QB981.H755
L/D - Kaufmann, William J., Jr., Universe, W. H. Freeman & Co., New York, 1985, QB43.2.K38
L/D - Kaufmann, William J., III, Universe, Fourth Edition, W. H. Freeman & Co., New York, 1994, QB43.2K78
L/H/D - Krupp, E. C., Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations, Harper & Row, New York, 1983, QB16.K78
H/D - Krupp, E. C., Beyond the Blue Horizon: Myths and Legends of the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Planets, Harper Collins, New York, 1991.
L/H/D - Krupp, E. C., Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1997, QB16.K78
L - Kuhn, Thomas S., The Copernican Revolution: planetary astronomy in the development of Western thought, Random House, New York, 1959, QB41.C815 K8
L - Kuhn, Thomas S., The Essential Tension: Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1977, Q175.K9
L - Kuhn, Thomas S., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1970, Q175.K95
D - Leeming, David Adams, The World of Myth, Oxford University Press, New York, 1990.
L - Lewin, Roger, In the Age of Mankind, Smithsonian Books, Washington, D. C., 1988, GN281.L52
L - Ley, Willy, Watchers of the Sky: An Informal History of Astronomy from Babylon to the Space Age, Viking Press, New York, 1963, QB15.L4
L - Lockyer, J. Norman, The Dawn of Astronomy: A Study of the Temple Worship and Mythology of the Ancient Egyptians, The M. I. T. Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1964, QB20.L8
D - Lurker, Manfried, The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1980
L - Maringer, Johannes, The Gods of Prehistoric Man,
Alfred A. Kopf, New York, 1960, GN799.R4
L - Moore, Patrick, The Story of Man and the Stars, W.
W. Norton & Co., New York, 1954, QB44.M56
L - Moore, Patrick, Suns, Myths and Men, W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1968, QB44.M56
L - Moore, Patrick, Watchers of the Stars: The Scientific Revolution, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1974, QB29.M58
L/D - Munitz, Milton K., editor, Theories of the Universe: From Babylonian Myth to Modern Science, The Free Press of Glencoe, New York, 1957, QB981.M9
L - Neugebauer, O. and Parker, Richard A., Egyptian astronomical texts, L. Humphries, London, 1960-1969, QB20.N4
L - Neugebauer, O., The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1952, QA22.N36
L/D - North, John, The Norton History of Astronomy and Cosmology, W. W. Norton & Co., New York, 1995, QB15.N67
L - Pannekoek, A., A History of Astronomy, Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York 1961, QB15.P283
L - Ptolemy, Cladius, Tetrabiblos, PA3612.P88 1998.
L - Sarton, George, A History of Science, Volumes I and II, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1960, Q125.S246
D - Sharer, Robert J., The Ancient Maya, Fifth Edition, Stanford University Press, Stanford California, 1994
L - Smith, Alan; Science and Society in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Thames and Hudson, London 1972
H/D - Staal, Julius D. W., The New Patterns in the Sky, Myths and Legends of the Stars, McDonald and Woodward Publishing Co, Blacksburg Virginia, 1996.
D - Stadelmann, Luis I. J., The Hebrew Conception of the World, Rome Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1970.
L - Swerdlow, N. M. and Neugebauer, O., Mathematical Astronomy in Copernicus's De Revolutionibus, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1984, QB47.S974
H - Tauber, Gerald E., Man's View of the Universe, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1979.
L, D - Tester, Jim, A History of Western Astrology, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 1987
L - Toulmin, Stephen; The Return to Cosmology: Postmodern Science and the Theology of Nature; University of California Press, Berkely, 1982, BD511.T68
L - The Place of Astronomy in the Ancient World, A Joint Symposium of The Royal Society and The British Academy, Oxford University Press, London, 1974, QB16.P55
L - West, J. F.; The Great Intellectual Revolution, Citadel Press, N. Y. 1966
H - Wilson, Colin, Starseekers, Doubleday & Co., Garden City, New York, 1980.
In addition there are copies of the following articles in the Center for Applied Optics Reading Room 400L of the Optics Building
1. Mars etc.
2. Causation in Biology
| Class: | Reading: |
| 2. | Notes |
| 3. | Notes |
| 4. | Notes |
| 5. | Hetherington, pgs. 3 - 23 |
| 6. | Notes |
| 7. | Notes |
| 8. | Hetherington, pgs. 25 - 35 |
| 9. | Notes |
| 10. | Hetherington, pgs. 37 - 52 |
| 11. | Hetherington, pgs. 53 - 66 |
| 12. | Hetherington, pgs. 69 - 93 |
| 13. | Notes, (Hetherington, pgs. 95 - 145) |
| 14. | Notes, (Hetherington, pgs. 177 - 199) |
| 15. | Notes, (Hetherington, pgs. 147 - 173) |
| 16. | Notes, (Hetherington, pgs. 227 - 262, Chs. 30 & 31.) |
| 17. | West, pp. 13 - 43 & Smith, pp. 29 - 64 |
| 18. | none |
| 19. | none |
| 20. | Causation in Biology, see above |
| 21. | (Hetherington, pgs. 263 - 280) |
| 22. | Notes |
| 23. | Notes |
| 24. | Notes |
| 25. | Notes |
| 26. | Notes |
| 27. | Mars etc., see above |
| 28. | Discussion |
Notes to be read will be distributed at the end of the previous class. (Readings in parenthesis are recommended, not required.)
I expect one to two hours outside for each class in addition
to your work on your term papers. In addition to Hetherington,
North is a good reference. Munitz contains much of the original
literature. The rest are supplemental but will be useful for your
papers.