JPH 441S: Physical Science in Contemporary Society

“Physical Science in Contemporary Society”

This course is about science in society –we will discuss the real-life, ethical, and philosophical issues behind how science gets done. This will include questions ranging from how we as scientists strive to determine the truth; how one (who?) determines what science to do; how we as a community manage science and make decisions about education, authorship, publication, hiring, et cetera; and how we as a society fund science and apply its discoveries.These are complex topics neither I nor any textbook will provide you with pat answers to. In this class, I ask you to apply the same intellectual rigour to thinking about and debating these problems as you would to physics questions. You will be asked to read assigned material, but also to actively seek additional materials about the topics under discussion. You will be expected to participate in discussions during class periods, and to write essays and make an oral presentation in class.

The course has several principal objectives:
(1)To educate you about the process of science, both in terms of “the” scientific method & how you will apply it in your future career as a scientist or any field which builds on your scientific education, and in terms of the many practical (non-scientific) issues that play important roles in a scientific career;
(2)To make you look at science from “outside,” and develop a perspective on the roles science can play in society, how it is communicated, and what the “big stories” in science really are from this point of view;
(3)To give you the opportunity to practice applying your rational and critical skills to thinking about the many difficult issues (more sociological than scientific) which you are likely to have to address in your working life;
(4)To discuss ethical issues which arise in the practice and the application of science, and learn from one another in order to develop broad-minded, mature ways of approaching dilemmas when they arise (as they inevitably will in all of our lives); and of course
(5)to gain experience working with other people on open-ended, human-centric projects, and communicating your conclusions (in both written and oral form).