Third Semester

History of Science Total marks : 75 Contact hrs: 50 Unit 1: Introduction Definition. Scientific methods (hypothesis, theory, law, experiments, empirical evidence). Philosophy of science (Occams Razor). Scientific literature and publication. Science policy. National and International Prizes (Nobel Prizes ) for recognition of contributions in science. Unit 2: History of Biology Prehistoric records. Contribution of ancient India (ayurveda). Greco-Roman world. Emergence of biological sciences in 19th centuary. Discovery of noble organism.Germ theory of diseases. The rise of systematics (from Linnaeus to Buffon). Evolutionary ideas (Lamarck , Darwin and Wallace). Discovery of cell and Development of cell theory (Hooke, Leuenhock, Schleiden and Schwann). Origin of life (Lois Pasteur, Miller-Urey experiments). The birth of genetics (Geoger Mendal). Discovery of DNA ( Watson, crick and Wilkins) to genome projects. Cloning and bioethics. Unit 3: History of Physics Early history: Aristotle, Galileo Galilei and Nicholas Copernicus, the rise of physicomathematics, Newtonian motion versus Cartesian motion, Rational mechanics in the 18th century (Leonhard Euler), Physical experimentation in the 18th and early 19th centuries Thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and electromagnetic theory). The emergence of a new physics era 1900 (Marie and Pierre Curie, J. J. Thomson, Wilhelm Rntgen, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Max Planck, Ernest Rutherford,Thomas AlvaEdison), general relativity and quantum mechanics(Louis de Broglie, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrdinger, Satyendra Nath Bose, J.C. Bose), a new fundamental physics era (Richard Feynman, Paul Dirac, Hideki Yukawa, Enrico Fermi, Murray Gell-Mann, John Bardeen, William Cooper, Schrieffer) Unit 4: History of Chemistry Civilization through Alchemy (Stone-age, bronze-age, ion-age). Discovery of laws of thermodynamics; Avogadros-hypothesis, Daltons atomic theory, development of inorganic chemistry through the discovery of elements and metallurgy. Development of periodic table, development of chemical kinetics, catalysis and chemical equilibrium. Radioactivity, modern atomic theory, and the emergence of quantum mechanics. Development of molecular orbital theory and spectroscopy. Development of organic chemistry through the discovery of dyes, drugs and polymers. Pollution. Advent of impact disciplinary fields (biochemistry, semi conductor, composites and nano materials) Unit 5: History of Mathematics Mathematics in ancient near east: contributions of Mesopotamian civilization, Babylonians and Egypt. Greek and Hellenistic Mathematics, Chinese Mathematics, Indian Mathematics, Islamic Mathematics, Roman and medieval European mathematics, Renaissance mathematics: Renaissance of the 12th century, Italian Renaissance. Scientific revolution: 17th century, 18th century. Modern mathematics: 19th century, 20th century, 21st century.

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Suggested Readings: 1. Agassi, J. (2008). Science and its History: A Reassessment of the Historiography of Science. Springer 2. Williams, H. S. (2002-2007). A History of Science (Vol I-V). University of Michigan Press, USA. 3. Paul S. Agutter & Denys N. Wheatley (2008). Thinking about Life: The History and Philosophy of Biology and Other Sciences. Springer. 4. Heilbron, John L. (2005), The Oxford Guide to the History of Physics and Astronomy, Oxford University Press. 5. Gamow, George (1988), The Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein, Dover Publications. 6. Katz V. J. (1998). History of Mathematics: An Introduction, Addison-Wesley. 7.John Dalton". Chemical Achievers: The Human Face of Chemical Sciences. Chemical Heritage Foundation. 2005. 8.http://www.chemheritage.org/classroom/chemach/periodic/dalton.html. Retrieved 200702-22. 9. "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_physics" 10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of _mathematics 11. "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Chemistry" 12. "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Biology" Further Readings:

1. McClellan III, J. E. and and Dorn, H. (2006). Science and Technology in World History. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA. 2. MacLachlan, J. (2002). Children of Prometheus: A History of Science and Technology (2nd edition). Wall & Emerson, Inc., Ohio, USA. 3Bowler, P. J. and Morus, I. R. (2005). Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA. 4. Sadava, D., Hillis, D. M., Heller, H. C. and Berenbaum, M. (2009). Life: the Science of Biology (Vol I-III). W. H. Freeman. 5.The Cambridge History of Science (Vol I-VII). Cambridge University Press, UK. 6. Cropper, William H. (2004), Great Physicists: The Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to Hawking, Oxford University Press. 7. Eves Howard (1990). An Introduction to the History of Mathematics, Saunders, 8. Rudman, Peter Strom (2007). How Mathematics Happened: The First 50,000 Years. Prometheus Books.

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