Science in Context 330: The Idea of Evolution


Fall 1997

Mott T. Greene
Honors/History Departments
OFFICE: Howarth 105, PHONE: 756-3782, E-MAIL: greene@ups.edu
Office Hours TBA and by appointment.


Michael Valentine
Geology Department
OFFICE Thompson 148, PHONE: 756-3129 and 756-8324, E-MAIL: mvalentine@ups.edu
Office Hours TBA and by appointment.

Course Meets TuTh 10-11:30.

Books to Purchase
1. George Basalla The Evolution of Technology (1988).
2. G. Brent Dalrymple The Age of the Earth (1991).
3. Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species (1859). [Note: This Facsimile of the 1st Edition is essential - don't buy or check out some other version].
4. John Imbrie and Katherine Palmer Imbrie Ice Ages: Solving the Mystery (1979).
5. Ronald L. Numbers The Creationists. The Evolution of Scientific Creationism (1993).
6. Kurt Vonnegut Galępagos (1985).

Reading
This course contains about 1300 pages of reading over 15 weeks. That is a mean value of about 85 pages a week, or 42-43 pages per class meeting. Of this total, about 300 pages are an easy-to-read modern novel. Of the remainder, about 500 pages are made up of historical works written for university students and the educated public beyond the university, about 200 pages are semi-technical popular science written for a non-specialist audience, and 300 pages are selected from the moderately challenging prose of Charles Darwin. The reading is substantial, but manageable. Be assured that the instructors have paced the course and the assignments to give you time to do the work.

Aim of the Course
To study the idea of evolution. It would be silly to try to define it in the syllabus, since we are devoting a course to understanding it. This is not a course in "information delivery" - there is an information delivery course in the Biology Department called "Evolution"; this is something else. The aim here is to see how the idea of evolution has pervaded our understanding of the world in the last 150 years. We will examine the proposition that not just organisms, but ideas, stars and planets, technological objects, religious beliefs, and scientific theories may all be said to "evolve" or "be subject to evolution."

Class Format
We meet for 90 minutes twice a week to study the idea of evolution.
We begin promptly at 10:00 AM.
Announcements 10:00 - 10:05
Discussion of Readings 10:05 - 10:55.
Break 10:55- 11:00
Lecture on Next Assignment 11:00- 11:30, distribution of study questions.

Course Work and Assignments
There is a specific reading assigned for each class meeting. Assignments given on Thursday for the following Tuesday will often be larger than those given on Tuesday for the immediately following Thursday, so plan accordingly. We will distribute or dictate, at the end of each lecture, study questions to motivate your reading for the next session. You will write a report on your reading for each class meeting and bring it to class on the day it is due top be collected at the discretion of the instructors. Each report consists of 3 parts:
1. A summary or abstract of the argument presented in the reading (one to one and a half pages.)
2. Your response to the reading - not more summary, but your evaluation of the argument. You may agree or disagree, like or not like etc. but the point is to specify an argument of your own, for or against. (one to one and a half pages)
3. A question (or 2 or 3) raised by the reading. Not definitions of words (consult your dictionary for that), but questions of substance. (leave space on the page to write in the answers during class time as discussion proceeds

Required Format for Written Work- follow this exactly!
Each page must contain as a "running head" at the top your name, the date, the title and author of the reading, the pages under consideration.
Work must be typed, double spaced, on white paper with 1" margins top, bottom and left, and a 2 inch margin on the right; font size no larger than 12 nor smaller than 10 (except Times Roman, where 14 is equivalent to 12 in most other fonts - this syllabus is in Times Roman 14) -- type on one side only, staple the pages (no clips or bent edges).
There are no other assignments in the course - No "exams", no "papers."

Rules and Agreements
These will simplify and smooth our working relationship enormously.
1. Attendance is Mandatory. More than 2 unexcused absences will result in the lowering of your course grade (1 grade: example: from B+ to B). No excuses or exceptions other than documented medical emergency, or out of town travel with an intercollegiate athletic team, or arts group (chorus, etc.). Make arrangements (in writing) with the instructors before the end of add-drop for excused travel.
2. We do not accept late work for any reason whatever, including illness or absence from the university. Work is due at class time on the day assigned. There are no exceptions to this rule. Since there is an assignment due each class day (see below) there are many opportunities to succeed; a few pieces of missing work would not rule out a high grade in the course, including an A
3. Grades are not negotiable. You may and should ask our help in improving your performance in the course, but we do not change grades on work already evaluated. No exceptions to this rule.
Your continued registration in this course after the add/drop date implies your understanding of, and agreement to these rules.

Grading
Regular Prepared Attendance, Participation in Class Discussion: 20%.
Written Work: 80%.

We grade on a scale with the following values:
A = superior. 4.0. Unusually fine work with some proportion of original thought in addition to outstanding critical judgment and understanding.
A- = excellent. 3.67. Outstanding critical judgment and understanding, but not as high a degree of independent, original thought as a straight A.
B+ = very good. 3.33. Above-average understanding and critical judgment, but generally without the expectation of original thought.
B = good. 3.0. Solid, dependable work showing a serious attempt to grasp the material and understand it.
B- = better than average. 2.67. This grade reflects work that is more than merely adequate, but does not have the clarity and consistency which are the hallmarks of a straight B.
C+ = average. 2.33. Most UPS students are capable of this grade, which may represent a serious effort by a beginner, or a perfunctory, incomplete or hurried performance by an experienced student.
C = 2.0. adequate to pass the course, but undistinguished in content and quality.
C- = below the norm, inferior work. 1.67. Lowest grade to pass the course P/F. This grade is grounds for a visit to one or both of our offices . Whenever you receive a grade of C- or below it is your responsibility to come to an office hour to discuss the work, or make an appointment for another hour.
D+ = poor work. 1.33. Well below a college standard, indicating merely that something was turned in, but reflecting neither understanding nor serious effort to understand.
D/D- We don't bother with these. After D+, next stop is
F = Missed assignment. 0.00.
There are approximately 25 written assignments, and we will either take the mean of grades on these, or, if your work shows sustained improvement, award you the letter grade reflecting your highest sustained level of achievement We insist that grading is inherently subjective, but since we grade in a way that rewards improvement we refuse to be held to strict numerical averages. Your continued registration in this course after the add/drop date implies your understanding of and agreement to this policy.

Syllabus of Assigned Readings and Lectures
Readings are Listed on the Day they Are Due
Lecture titles reflect that day's lecture in preparation for the following session.

Tu. Sept. 2. Introduction to Evolution. Lecture: Triumph of the Glacial Theory.
Th. Sept. 4. Imbrie 19-46. Lecture: The Ice Age World: Why are there Ice Ages?
Tu. Sept. 9. Imbrie 47-88. Lecture: Evolution of the Astronomical Theory.
Th. Sept. 11. Imbrie 89-122. Lecture: The Deep and the Past.
Tu. Sept. 16. Imbrie 123-140. Lecture: Does the Earth have a Pulse?
Th. Sept. 18. Imbrie 141-202, Lecture: Introduction to Darwin: The Question of Species
Tu. Sept. 23. On the Origin of Species Darwin Chapters 1, 2. Lecture: Struggle for Existence.
Th. Sept. 26. On the Origin of Species Darwin Chapter 3. Lecture: Natural Selection and the Laws of Variation.
Tu. Sept. 30. On the Origin of Species Darwin Chapters 4,5. Lecture: Why Making Trouble for your Own Theory is a Good Idea
Th. Oct. 2. On the Origin of Species Darwin Chapter 6 Lecture: What we Know of the History of Life and What we do Not.
Tu. Oct. 7. On the Origin of Species Darwin Chapters 9,10, 14 Lecture: Evolution of Technology
Th. Oct. 9. Basalla.Preface, Chapters 1,2. Lecture: Novelty and Selection
Tu. Oct. 14. Basalla Ch. 4-5. Cultural Selection and the Idea of Progress
Th. Oct. 16. Basalla Ch 6-7 Lecture: Scientific Creationism. in the Age of Darwin.
Tu. Oct. 21. Numbers Chs.Intro, Ch. 1,3, 4. Lecture: Evangelicals and Evolutionism, The Genesis Flood.
Th. Oct. 23. Numbers Chs. 8-10 Lecture: Creation Science and the Creation Research Society.
Tu. Oct. 28. Numbers Chs. 11-12. Lecture: Is Creation Science Science?
Th. Oct. 30. Numbers Chs 13, 14. Lecture: The Current Scene.
Tu. Nov. 4: Numbers Chs 15-16. Lecture: The Age of the Earth.
Th. Nov. 6. Dalrymple 1-27. Lecture: Early Attempts at Dating the Earth.
Tu. Nov. 11 Dalrymple 27-78. Lecture: How does Radiometric Dating Work?
Th. Nov. 13. Dalrymple, Chapter 3. Lecture: Earth's Oldest Rocks.
Tu. Nov. 18. Dalrymple pp. 145-149, 190-192. Why Lead is an Important Element
Th. Nov. 20. Dalrymple Ch 7. Does the Universe as a Whole Evolve?
Tu. Nov. 25. Dalrymple Chs. 8-9. Lecture: Radical Contingency: Life's Little Joke?
Th. Nov. 27 No Class Thanksgiving Day
Tu. Dec. 2 Vonnegut 1-107
Th. Dec. 4 Vonnegut 108-201
Tu. Dec. 9 Last Class. Vonnegut 202-295.



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Mike Valentine
Contact: mvalentine@ups.edu