Course Identification

Evolution of the Scientific Method
2025012

Lecturers and Teaching Assistants

Dr. Sam Freed
N/A

Course Schedule and Location

2025
Second Semester
Monday, 14:15 - 16:00, WSoS, Rm B
24/03/2025
30/06/2025

Field of Study, Course Type and Credit Points

Obligatory instruction courses or enrichment courses: 2.00 points
Life Sciences: 2.00 points

Comments

N/A

Prerequisites

No

Restrictions

40

Language of Instruction

English

Attendance and participation

Obligatory

Grade Type

Numerical (out of 100)

Grade Breakdown (in %)

100%

Evaluation Type

Final assignment

Scheduled date 1

N/A
N/A
-
N/A

Estimated Weekly Independent Workload (in hours)

1

Syllabus

Lectures’ plan:

 

  1. Aristotle

  2. Pythagoras and the Ideal of Deductive systematization

  3. Atomism and Underlying Mechanisms

  4. The Middle-ages and the development of Aristotle’s view

  5. Saving the Appearances: Copernicus & Kepler

  6. Rationalism and Empiricism

  7. Dismantling Aristotle – Galileo, Farncis Bacon, Descartes.

  8. Newton’s Axiomatic method

  9. Induction vs Hypothetico-deductive views of Science

  10. Probabilities 1

  11. Probabilities 2

  12. Mathematical Positivism & Conventionalism

  13. Logical reconstrutivism

  14. Positivism & Logical positivism

Learning Outcomes

The students will be able to recognize in their own scientific work and other's the historical routes of their methodology

Reading List

Gower, B. (1996). Scientific Method: A Historical and Philosophical Introduction (1 edition). Routledge.

Kuhn, T. S. (1957). The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought. Harvard University Press.

Losee, J. (2001). A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, 4th Edition (4th edition). Oxford University Press.

Shapin, S. (2018). The Scientific Revolution. University of Chicago Press.

Watson, P. (2006). Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud. Harper Perennial.

 

Website

N/A