Instructor: S. Prashant Kumar
Duration of the course:
29th Aug 2024 to 18th Oct 2024
Days: Thursday / Friday
Credits: 2
Course Outline:
Course outline:
Over eight weeks, we'll cover topics ranging from Darwinian evolution to molecular biology. Key questions include: how is biological knowledge shaped by social and political factors? Who gets to ask the questions that define the agenda of a field? What is the changing role of technology and mathematics in biology? And where's the money coming from? The goal of the course is to get you thinking about science not in terms of discoveries and heroic figures, but as a complicated, contingent, and essentially human endeavour. The hope is that the historical method will offer some fresh perspective on your own research work today.

Course Outcomes:

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

●     Understand the development of modern biology, from Darwinian evolution to postgenomics.

● Outline how social, economic, and political factors shape scientific knowledge in both historical and contemporary contexts.

● Appreciate the purpose of an archive for the history of science, as well as be able to formulate, and begin to answer, historical questions using archival collections.

 

 

Course Term: Aug Term - 2024
Course Year: 2024/2025