Syllabus for "Scientific Revolution and Evolution"
Didier de Fontaine (D) & Yan Linhart (Y)
The cosmology of Galileo and the physics of Newton ushered in the Scientific Revolution — one of the greatest revolutions in human history. In the 19th century, Darwin completed the view of humanity's place in the cosmos with his theory of evolution. Today, our perspectives on these topics continue to evolve.
1/26 Lecture 1 Introduction: Who we are and why we are teaching this course.
D = Cosmology: The traditional paradigm of "the Earth below and Heaven above" is no longer tenable. The earth is definitely not at the center of the universe, indeed the constant discovery of new planets outside the solar system hints at other habitable worlds, perhaps even other universes perpetually being created and destroyed.
2/2 Lecture 2
D = Cosmology, Conclusions . The modern view of the Cosmos actually upsets many ancient beliefs, still held by large segments of the population today. In particular, it is now known that our universe is approximately 14 billion years old, and that 95% of its mass-energy is still a mystery to us, but must exist.
Y= Life in an evolutionary framework. Biology involves the search for the processes and concepts that shape the living world, including the diversity of species. We trace life from its possible origins on earth to its current complexity. The interplay between the environment and genetic mechanisms help shape this diversity.
2/9 Lecture 3
Y= Evolution, how it works. Evolution is a simple set of processes with complicated consequences. Once we understand the processes, we can explore these consequences. We will also learn that evolutionary changes can occur very rapidly in all species including our own.
2/ 16 Lecture 4
D = Human Evolution. A brief look at how humans arose from common apelike ancestors to produce archaic humans such as Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens, which, according to recent DNA analyses, are known to have interbred. Even more recent (Nov. 2015) genetic analysis suggests that Denisovans possessed genes belonging to other long-extinct protohumans, so that, in the words of one geneticist, our planet at one time was like "Tolkien's 'Middle Earth', populated with Dwarves, Elves, Orcs and Hobbits".
2/23 Lecture 5. Expanding evolutionary perspectives
D = Evolution of thought. How can we obtain some idea of how thought evolved in archaic societies that left us no writing? We may try to interpret artistic vestiges of early humans, such as cave art from the upper Paleolithic. Some examples will be shown.
Y= Today, many of our societal challenges have biological connections. For example, there are currently too few resources to adequately feed the large and exploding human population on the planet. In addition, both our public health and our agriculture are challenged by increasing numbers of problematic disease organisms, parasites, and weeds, which have evolved resistance to the chemicals we use to try and control them.
3/1 Lecture 6 Conclusions: Audience participation will be especially useful
D = In this scientific and reductionist view of the world, what is the role of the human psyche, of the spirit? Are they emanations of the physicist's matter and energy, or are some mysterious influences at play as well? Can religious dogmas be reconciled with such plurality of life?
Y= New developments with evolutionary and revolutionary implications such as CRISPR technology and other genetic modifications of plants and animals (e.g. GMOs) will be discussed, as will continuing political rejections of evolution as fact.