World History of Science. Winter, 2008
Second Essay Assignment

General:
• Please read carefully all of the following instructions, twice.
• Final papers are due on coursework on or before noon, Monday, March 10th AND in hard copy form as required by your section leader.
• Late papers may be penalized 1/3 of a letter grade for each day of tardiness.

Goals:
This assignment asks students to make use of the theoretical frameworks offered by philosophers and historians of science in a sustained analysis of the primary sources we have grappled with in the quarter thus far.

Course Context:
We have continued, this quarter, to examine how scientists have conceptualized and re-conceptualized the place of humanity on the earth and in the universe.  We started the quarter with the transitions from pre-human to human and from hunter-gatherer to agrarian societies, focusing on various interpretations of evolution and development. In the second half of class we have continued to develop our understanding of the idea of science with examinations of physics, chemistry, and medicine in the ancient Greek, medieval Arabic and ancient Chinese worlds.  Most recently, we have begun to explore the European Renaissance and Scientific Revolution.

Assignment:
Write a 6 to 7-page essay in response to one of the prompts listed below.  Develop a thesis that posits a specific, debatable argument deriving from your analysis of the texts and provoked by one of the prompts.  Be sure not merely to summarize key points from the texts, and avoid generalizations that cannot be supported readily with textual evidence.  Avoid merely reiterating ideas from lecture and/or section; use specific quotations to support your claims; and ensure that all your claims work together to develop a unified argument. Be creative.  Life is too short not to be imaginative.  Your paper will be graded on its focus, depth of thought, and expository competence as per the grading guidelines—not on the number of ideas you present.  As always, all work must be solely your own.

Formatting:
• Double-spaced, 1” margins, no extra space between paragraphs. Note: Word may default to 1.25” margins, so double check to make sure your margins are not too wide.
• Use a 12-pt, proportional-spaced font (i.e. Times).
• Number and staple pages.
• Your paper must have a title, your name, course number, TF’s name, and date.
• For this assignment, you must use footnotes or endnotes.  For basic rules go to http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. (use the format following “n”).  Please note that footnotes do not count against your page total.
• Include a “Works Cited” list at the end of your essay.

Prompts:  Choose one (1) of the three:

1.  One might look at Aristotle's Physics, Ibn Khaldun's Muqadimmah and Galileo's The Sidereal Messenger and see three very different texts reflecting three very different philosophical and cosmological traditions.  And though that is certainly the case, they are also more similar than each might allow.  Imagine a conversation among these three figures on the subject of the relationship between humans and the world they inhabit.  Where would they meet? On what would they agree?  Disagree?  Make sure to use textual support (Please note that your word count here must be in the range of 1800-2100 words).

2.  Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Jonathan Swift, and the author(s) of the Yellow Emperor's Classic all reserve a special place for humanity in the world.  But do they reserve the same place?  Do they all have the same conceptions of the ability humans have to control that world?  Looking closely at these texts, what do you suppose accounts for any differences?  Is it the time and place?  The philosophy?  Or the individual?  Or some combination of all three?

3.  “The Hippocratic Oath,” Ibn Sina’s The Canon of Medicine, and The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine each develop a philosophy of medical science as regards the origin, nature, and treatment of disease and the responsibilities of a physician.  As you explore each of these traditions, consider the following two questions: (1) whether you think they are philosophically distinct, or whether there is something that, despite their differences in time and place, actually unifies them (you need not take a either/or position here).  And (2), whether you believe that these traditions still have something to offer us.  Note: Make sure that your argument on (2) is supported and linked to your analysis of (1).

Happy writing