This course is offered within the framework of liberals arts electives given by the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology for students in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. It concentrates on significant technological and engineering changes from the Greco-Roman era to the early 1700s. It emphasizes the manner in which such changes have come about and the effects of these changes on society at large. The course is not meant as a technical course, but as one way to increase awareness of the role of technology in the contemporary world.
Shana Worthen
Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
Room 315, Victoria College
Telephone: 416-978-6973 (Main Office: 416-978-5047) Fax: 416-978-3003
Office Hours: Tuesday 1:30 - 3:30
Other times by appointment (call or email first)
Lectures are held twice weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:00 AM in Victoria College 206. See schedule below for dates and topics.
Mid-Term. 50 minutes. In class. Short-answer, no aids permitted. Value: 15% of total course grade. Covers material through lecture 11. Date: 16 October.
Final. 2.5 hours. Essay and short-answer, no aids permitted. Some degree of choice permitted. Value of exam: 40% of total grade. Date to be announced by faculty office in November. Plan for exam in mid-December.
Value: 5% of total course grade.
Five short-answer or multiple-choice quizzes. 10 minutes each. These will focus primarily upon the required readings, with some questions from lectures. Since there is no tutorial as part of this course, these are given instead of a discussion of the course readings. Dates of Quizzes: 25 Sept; 9 Oct; 30 Oct; 13 Nov; and 27 Nov, Value of each quiz: 2% of total course grade; thus all five together are worth a total of 10% of course grade.
Paper on medieval inventions, as they are discussed in Chiara Frugoni's book on the subject. Required reading is Frugoni's book, Books, Banks, Buttons, and Other Inventions from the Middle Ages. Further instructions will be distributed. Value: 30% of total course grade. Due date: 4 Dec. (Penalties for late submission: 1% per working day. Note: this late submission date means extensions cannot be granted.)
No one textbook does justice to the material in this type of course. The required general work for this course is Frances and Joseph Gies, Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages (New York: Harper-Collins, 1994).
As well, you are to read for your special report (see above) Chiara Frugoni, Books, Banks, Buttons, and Other Inventions from the Middle Ages. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003).
In addition, several articles or chapters of books are required as indicated on the schedule below. These are available at the circulation desk at Pratt Library, under this course number. The law allows each of you to make a copy of each item for personal use only.
| Lecture | Date | Topic and Reading/Assignment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tu 9 Sept | Introduction and Orientation |
| 2 | Th 11 Sept | Concepts of Technology |
| 3 | Tu 16 Sept | Greco-Roman Hydraulics and Water Supply Gies & Gies Ch. 2. "The Triumphs and Failures of Ancient Technology"; Landels, Ch. 2 "Water Supplies" and Ch. 3, "Water Pumps". |
| 4 | Th 18 Sept | Classical Architecture and Construction |
| 5 | Tu 23 Sept | Greco-Roman Weaponry K.D. White. Ch. 10, "Land Transport" and Ch. 11, "Ships and Water Transport.". |
| 6 | Th 25 Sept | Greco-Roman Transportation. Quiz |
| 7 | Tu 30 Sept | Greco-Roman Attitudes toward Technology Gies & Gies. Ch. 3, "The Not So Dark Ages." |
| 8 | Th 2 Oct | Medieval Feudalism: Agriculture |
| 9 | Tu 7 Oct | Medieval Feudalism: Aristocracies Gies & Gies, Ch. 6, "The High Middle Ages." |
| 10 | Th 9 Oct | Cathedrals and Construction. Quiz |
| 11 | Tu 14 Oct | Machinery in the Middle Ages Gies & Gies. Ch. 5. "The Technology of the Commercial Revolution." |
| 12 | Th 16 Oct | Mid-Term Exam |
| 13 | Tu 21 Oct | Clocks and Timekeepers Gies & Gies, Ch. 4, "The Asian Connection." |
| 14 | Th 23 Oct | Renaissance Artist-engineers |
| 15 | Tu 28 Oct | Leonardo da Vinci and Technology Gies & Gies, Ch. 7, "Leonardo and Columbus." |
| 16 | Th 30 Oct | Printing: Origins and Technique. Quiz |
| 17 | Tu 4 Nov | Printing: Spread and Effects Mokyr, Ch. 9, "China and Europe." |
| 18 | Th 6 Nov | Foods and Textiles |
| 19 | Tu 11 Nov | Gunpowder Mokyr, Ch. 4, "The Renaissance and Beyond." |
| 20 | Th 13 Nov | Nautical Technology and Exploration. Quiz. |
| 21 | Tu 18 Nov | Exploration and Colonization L. White, "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis". |
| 22 | Th 20 Nov | News Worlds, Markets, and Foods |
| 23 | Tu 25 Nov | Science and Technology in the 17th Century A.R. Hall, "What did the Industrial Revolution in Britain owe to Science?" |
| 24 | Th 27 Nov | Shifting Attitudes towards Technology. Quiz |
| 25 | Tu 2 Dec | Beginnings of Industrialization |
| 26 | Th 4 Dec | Review for Final; Submit Term Papers |