History of Science OnlineWeek 3: Science in Ancient Egypt and the Aegean |
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This week's assignments
In our whirlwind tour of the history of science, this week we make our stop in ancient Egypt and among the Greek Pre-Socratic natural philosophers settled in colonies around the Aegean Sea. ("Presocratic" just means they lived before Socrates; see the overview of Important Dates.) Our aim will be to get to know them in terms of their own place and time. We'll not be like tourists in Luxor or Ephesos who seek fast food at McDonald's.
One reading assignment is devoted to natural knowledge in ancient Egypt, and the other to the natural philosophy of the Presocratics. The second assignment, on the Presocratics, is worth more points, in contrast to the usual pattern where the first assignment is longer than the second.
| # | Due Date | Pts | Activity | Time |
| 3.1 | Tuesday 11:59 p.m. |
5 | Starting
Assumptions |
30 min. |
| 3.2 | Wednesday 11:59 p.m. | 10 | Ancient
Egypt + Quiz |
60-90 min |
| 3.3 | Thursday
11:59 p.m. |
15 | Presocratics
+ Quiz |
2 hrs. |
| 3.4 | Friday 11:59 p.m. | 10 | Interpretation
Essay Unless it explains, history is trivial. |
60 min. |
| 3.5 | Sunday 11:59 p.m. | 6 | Creative
Reflection Essay + Peer Responses |
30 min. |
| 3.6 | Monday 11:59 p.m. | 10 | Web
Project |
90 min - 2 hours |
| 3.7 | Monday 11:59 p.m. | 4 | 30-60 min. | |
Total
pts |
60 | Total
time |
7-10 hours | |
Around 2000 B.C. an Egyptian priest counseled his son: “Behold, nothing surpasses books. Would that I might make you love books more than your mother. Would that I might make their beauty enter before your face, for it is greater than any office. You are to set your heart on books.” (translation of a hieroglyphic papyrus). But consider also the words of Qoheleth, the Teacher, from a millennium later: “Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” Ecclesiastes 12.12.
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HSCI 3013. History
of Science to 17th century
Many thanks to Mythology
and Folklore and other online courses developed by Laura Gibbs.
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