world history

HIST/ENGR 108, SUM22

Study Guide for the Final Exam

1. Essay MUST be based on the assigned readings. 2. Answer ALL sub-questions in the prompt. 3. Your essay must be >900 - 1000> words.

Questions:

1. Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Technology a) How do Skolimowski and Bunge define technology? b) What are their criteria in differentiating between science and technology? c) Explain the main points of both authors when they try to find the relationship between science and technology. d) What is the epistemological status of technological knowledge according Skolimowski?

2. Neolithic Revolution: Rise of Agriculture + Herding and Pastoral Nomadism a) What caused these two paths of food production? b) What were the social, technological, scientific and cultural results of the first path, which was based on agriculture? c) What kind of technologies developed during the Neolithic Revolution?

3. Hellenic and Hellenistic Periods What are the "Hellenic" and “Hellenistic periods”? a) Explain the characteristic features and importance of Hellenistic Period in the history of science and technology. b) How did educational institutes evolve in the Hellenistic era? What was an important difference between Hellenic and Hellenistic educational institutes?

4. Egyptian Pyramids: Read the posted articles by Brier, and Müller-Römer and answer the following questions: a) What are the current mostly accepted theories of pyramid construction? b) Explain the main questions/problems in both theories. c) How does each theory address the main question(s) in pyramid construction?

5. The Greco-Roman Period: a) What were the possible causes of the decline of science and natural philosophy at the end of

the Greco-Roman era? b) Describe the process of decline of science and natural philosophy from the beginning of the

Roman period to the fall of the Roman Empire. c) How was this decline in western and eastern divisions of the Roman Empire?

6. Geocentric System of the Universe Explain:

a) The philosophical foundations of geocentric astronomy b) Aristarchus’s model, and the reason that ancient and medieval scholars

rejected Aristarchus’s model c) The foundation and elements of Ptolemy’s geocentric model. To answer what

questions Ptolemy introduced those elements in his geocentric model? d) The problem of a point called equant

7. Outcomes of the Condemnation of 1277 McClellan discusses the questions concerning continuities versus discontinuities in late medieval and early modern history and the history of science. He says that: “for the present we can refer to a middle-ground interpretation of the condemnation of 1277 which sees its effect neither as wholly squelching scientific inquiry nor as launching the Scientific Revolution outright.”

According to this interpretation, what were the most important outcomings of the condemnation of 1277 in a) physics and b) astronomy Summarize his explanations and arguments.

8. The art and science of navigation from the 15th to the 18th century McClellan in his article “Plows, Stirrups, Guns, and Plagues” and Gregory in “Technology and the Natural Sciences” discuss the developments in sailing ships and navigation from the 15th to the 17th centuries.

a) Describe the main developments in nautical science (everything related to navigation, spherical geometry, cartography….) and technology (everything related to ship building, marine instrumentation, etc.) from the 1450s to the 1550.

b) Explain the political, social, and economic results of this nautical revolution.

9. The first androids In her article “The First Androids,” Jessica Reskin talks about the history of the coinage of this word (Android). a) How did this term enter our literature? What was the role of Albert the Great in this story? b) What was the first actual android? c) What were the specifications of the first android? (Explain in detail) d) How did the contemporary scientific community treat its designer and his memoir on this android? e) How did this android impact the technology and design of following androids?

10. Automata A line of developments connects the experimental automata to industrial automata and programmable machines.

a) Describe major developments in history of automata in the 17th and 18th

centuries. b) Describe the connection between automata and textile industry. c) Describe developments in automata which led to programmable machines using punch

cards. 11. The Newtonian mechanical culture Read articles by Betty Jo Teeter (posted under Week 10 module) and “The Cultural Origins of the Frist Industrial Revolution,” (by Margaret Jacobs – in the reading pack) and: a) Describe Newtonian mechanical culture and the role of Newtonian explicators. b) How did Newtonianism couple British entrepreneurs and engineers and facilitate more innovations in different technologies? c) describe the connection between Newtonianism and the Industrial Revolution.

12. The Gunpowder Revolution In the article “Plows, Stirrups, Guns…,” McClellan and Dorn explain the “Gunpowder Revolution” and “Military Revolution” in Europe during the 15 and 16th centuries. - What advancements in military technology – in terms of:

- weapons, - army size, - training, - fortifications,… occurred in Military Revolution? - What were the social and political results of European Military Revolution on the Continent and

in the world?

13. Oral Culture Read Lindberg’s chapter “Science before the Greeks” and explain the specifications of the oral cultures: their interpretation of natural phenomena, their cosmology and cosmogony, causality, and history. Explain the role of writing in development of analytical studies, philosophy, and science.