HIST 205 - Heavenly Histories: The Making of Western Cosmology from Antiquity to the Trial of Galileo

FC SSCI

4 credits
This class examines the history of western cosmology or the study of the origin and development of the universe. We move from the ancient world of Plato and Ptolemy to Renaissance Europe while studying the historical interplay between science, philosophy, and religion. We will consider how human understanding of the universe and our place within it has changed over time and ask how society informs science and vice versa. Students will build expertise in primary source analysis, critical thinking, and writing while reading major texts by Aristotle, St. Augustine, Dante, Kepler, and Galileo among others.