review

Review

Takehome final: Write an essay of 3-4 double spaced pages on the following topic. You must cite your sources and quote and paraphrase correctly but you can use informal references in the text; example: (Hughes, ch. 8). Make sure to organize your argument into paragraphs with topic sentences and use specific evidence.

Takehome final exam question:
How and why have changes in society since the early modern era changed the questions scientists ask? Use an example from each book to support your argument (the examples need not be related). Note that this question is one aspect of the impact of society on science, not the other way around. You probably want to pick examples of scientific questions that are more shaped by society, not the ones that are very narrow.

Answers to questions about the exam:

Can we use more than one specific example from each book?

yes, but generally an example discussed in some detail is better than several just mentioned.

Does science include social science or just natural science?

whichever way you prefer to do it

Are we supposed to pick a specific scientific question and how science has changed its views on said question throughout time? or are we supposed to pick an example from each book and compare and contrast it to other examples from each book?

pick an example from each book of a question asked by scientists that was affected by society. You don't have to compare and contrast, but come to some overall conclusion

The only question I have is how specific does each example need to be? I was thinking about dividing my paper into an introduction, a conclusion, and a paragraph dedicated to this question as an overlying theme from each book we read. Would it be better to try to look at more specific ideas, or just use each book in its general entirety?

please use a more specific example for each book, not just the overlying theme

Will this assignment require the half from the book half from extra research format?

No, you are required to use all four books, no outside sources are expected

For the take home exam do you recommend us pulling from all three books or can we just emphasis on the two recent ones?

you must have an example from each of the four books

Do the examples have to connect or can they be separate examples from each book?

either way is fine

The only question I have is should we take into account the historical context of these topics since that is a factor in reasoning for scientific studies.

you need to look at changes in society and the questions scientists ask, minimize how much background you give

Would it be okay to talk about how politics within society has changed the questions we ask scientists? Or is that too narrow?

your example for each book could be about politics, but make sure to focus on the questions scientists ask (not the questions we ask scientists)

Ideas for the questions scientists ask:

once you begin to understand genetics, can it be applied to improve the human race?
Once you understand atomic energy/radiation..., how can it be applied to military use?

see how this is society affecting the questions scientists ask and what research they do?

How has religion impacted science and the way it works from the early modern era to today?
how can we reconcile new discoveries in science with religion?

Religious leaders asked this question, and that wouldn't fit this topic, but sometimes scientists did too

How do the already-present prejudices of society (in America) result in bias in scientific research?

Give an example of how bias affected the questions scientists asked (hypotheses)

As scientific knowledge is sought after, how do the goals of society influence the means of doing so?

impact of military need
has the focus of science changed from knowledge for its own sake to science that will lead to new technologies to make money
freedom a goal of US society but not USSR

how and why do the views and wishes of the government and the political ideas of the time affect the questions scientists ask and lead to new theories?

today--because the government puts up a lot of the money
scientific revolution had a similar pattern with patronage
because scientists are people and ideas that fit their society feel comfortable to them

Kinds of knowledge;

science works towards being objective, data-driven, testible, the culture of science is to check each other's results (peer reviews) and therefore self-corrects, science is more progressive than other kinds of knowledge

is technology/engineering a different kind of knowledge?

yes in that a good solution depends on economics, not just understanding the laws of nature enough to know what is possible

but the line between science and technology gets harder to draw

basic science is knowledge for its own sake, (applied science is knowledge expected to lead to something practical), technology is a way of modifying the environment

astrology, alchemy are human wishes without data to support them, eugenics is trying to make social prejudices appear scientific

religion is a different kind of knowledge based on faith and intuition and tradition, not on systematic experiment

art is a different kind of knowledge, based on what feels right

how do lawyers and judges create knowledge? mostly precedent, the constitution and logic