SS = Steven Shapin, The Scientific Revolution
LP = Lawrence Principe, The Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction
Weekly Schedule:
Week One: Preliminaries
Aug 21: NO MEETING, Office Hours on Zoom
Aug 23: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- Other Activities
- Join the class Slack instance and post an introduction that includes your preferred name, pronouns, and why you signed up for this course (“I need it to graduate” is a valid reason!)
- OPTIONAL: sign up for a free password manager, e.g. LastPass, Keeper Security, 1Password
Week Two:
Aug 28: Class in Horizon 1008
Aug 30: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- LP, Introduction & Chapter One
- Sarah Werner, “A practical look at the Practical Science of Printing“
- OPTIONAL: Sarah Werner, “Finding women in the printing shop“
- OPTIONAL: Caroline Duroselle Melish “A red proof sheet used as printer’s waste“
- Other Activities:
- Stephanine Grimm, et al, Adventures in Illuminating (did in class)
- OPTIONAL: Folger Shakespeare Library’s Virtual Printing House (7 online exercises)
Week Three:
Sept. 4: NO MEETING, Labor Day Holiday
Sept. 6: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- Roy Rosenzweig, “Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past,” The Journal of American History 93, no. 1 (2006), 117-146.
- Videos
- Week Three Recorded Lecture
Week Four:
Sept. 11: Class in Horizon 1008
Sept. 13: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- Jessica Otis, “‘Set Them to the Cyphering Schoole’: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetical Education, circa 1540-1700,” Journal of British Studies 56, no 3 (July 2017), doi: 10.1017/jbr.2017.59 (if you are off campus, this can be accessed via the GMU Libraries)
- Ray Schrire, “The Mystery of Humphrey Walcot’s grocery bill and early-modern popular numeracy“
Week Five:
Sept. 18: NO MEETING, Office Hours on Zoom
Sept. 20: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- SS, Introduction & Chapter One
- John Dee’s Mathematical Preface to the English translation of Euclid
- OPTIONAL: Jacqueline Stedall, The History of Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction
- Videos
- Week Five Recorded Lecture
Week Six:
Sept. 25: Class in Horizon 1008
Sept. 27: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- LP, Chapter Two
- Abbie Weinberg, “Whose least part crackt, the whole does fly”: early views on Prince’s Rupert’s Drops” (also the brief video at the end)
- Other Activities:
- Folger Shakespeare Library Before Farm to Table: Foodways exhibits (British Manuscript Recipe Books; Globalization and the Spice Trade; Colonization, Sugar, and Enslavement)
- skim some of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s culinary and medical Recipe Books
- explore modernized versions of early mdoern food recipes (Linked via Webpage) or (PDF)
Week Seven:
Oct. 2: NO MEETING, Office Hours on Zoom
Oct. 4: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- SS, Chapter Two
- Kristin Heitman, “Of Counts and Causes: The Emergence of the London Bills of Mortality“
- OPTIONAL: William H. Brock, The History of Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction
- Videos
- Week Seven Recorded Lecture
- Other Activities
- Jessica Otis, et al, Death by Numbers and Gaming the Great Plague
Week Eight:
Oct. 9: NO MEETING, Fall Break
Oct. 11: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- SS, Chapter Three
- Mauricio Onetto, “The habitability of our planet“
- OPTIONAL: John A. Matthews, David T. Herbert, Geography: A Very Short Introduction
- Videos
- Week Eight Recorded Lecture
- Other Activities
- check out the Map of Early Modern London project
Week Nine:
Oct. 16: NO MEETING, Office Hours on Zoom
Oct. 18: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- LP, Chapter Three
- Katherine Walker, “Almanacs as Underdogs“
- skim Hopton 1607. An Almanack and Prognostication [EEBO, sorry about the print quality]
- Videos
- Week Nine Recorded Lecture
Week Ten:
Oct. 23: Class in Horizon 1008
Oct. 25: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- Begin reading Thomas F. Mayer, ed. The Trial of Galileo, 1612-1633
- Abbie Weinberg, “From comet tales to bear tails“
- Galileo, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina
- Other Activities
- work on those final projects!
Week Eleven:
Oct. 30: NO MEETING, Office Hours on Zoom
Nov. 1: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- Finish reading Thomas F. Mayer, ed. The Trial of Galileo, 1612-1633
- OPTIONAL: Michael Hoskin, The History of Astronomy: A Very Short Introduction
- Videos
- Week Eleven Recorded Lecture
- Other Activities
- try to spot the four moons of Jupiter
- work on those final projects!
NOTE: The class debate on The Trial of Galileo is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 1st or 6th.
Week Twelve:
Nov. 6: Class in Horizon 1008
Nov. 8: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- LP, Chapter Four & Five
- skim 3 entries from Edward Topsell, A Historie of Foure-Footed Beastes [EEBO]
- Other Activities
- work on those final projects!
Week Thirteen:
Nov. 13: NO MEETING, Office Hours on Zoom
Nov. 15: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- LP, Chapter Six & Epilogue
- Videos
- Week Thirteen Recorded Lecture
- Other Activities
- work on those final projects!
Week Fourteen:
Nov. 20: Class in Horizon 1008
Nov. 22: NO MEETING, Thanksgiving Break
- Videos
- Week Fourteen Recorded Lecture
- Other Activities
- explore the Making and Knowing Project – https://www.makingandknowing.org
- work on those final projects!
Week Fifteen:
Nov. 27: NO MEETING, Office Hours on Zoom
Nov. 29: Class on Zoom
- Readings
- Pamela H. Smith, “Science on the Move: Recent Trends in the History of Early Modern Science“
- Videos
- Week Fifteen Recorded Lecture
- Other Activities
- work on those final projects!
Final exam: Weds, December 6th, 4:15pm