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Scientific Disciplines and Specialization
From the very beginning, children in the US receive science education structured according to disciplines such as biology, chemistry, and physics, though the disciplines occasionally overlap and create sub-disciplines. This pattern is repeated through the education system. In college, students are encouraged to specialize early so that they do not... Continue reading
Posted Nov 30, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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Civilization, Masculinity, and Race
In 1906, Robert Park wrote that the "[African-American] is, so to speak, the lady among races." (Holloway and Keppel, 15) By this he meant, like Robert Bennett Bean, that African-Americans were more emotional, preferred art to science, and had an attachment to physical things as opposed to the self-controlled, introspective,... Continue reading
Posted Nov 9, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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Science Education
https://youtu.be/kPFgfmwDUKg Croce describes a situation in which volcanologists were asked to predict when Mount Pinatubo might erupt so that the community and military could plan accordingly. The community wanted definitive and exact answers that the scientists could not give. Other volcanologists had been sued previously by communities when their predictions... Continue reading
Posted Nov 2, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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Scientific Management and Identity
In his chapter about scientific management, Taylor seeks to mechanize and commodify labor. He comes up with formulas to determine how hard he can work employees without damaging the business. By using formulas to reduce each employee to abilities and types, he figures out where people fit in his machine... Continue reading
Posted Oct 26, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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Picturing Prehistory
In her article about visually representing the missing link, Stephanie Moser describes how archaeologists always make important decisions about how they depict early humans. Showing them with weapons and tools, hunting, in family groups, or as a victim of a big cat was an influential way of arguing whether these... Continue reading
Posted Oct 20, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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Marine Biology, Aquariums, and Scientists
Stott explains that during the time Darwin was becoming a scientist, biologists believed that understanding marine life was critical to understanding all life and its origins. A few of the scientists in Harrington's book also studied sea life, ranging from experimenting on sea urchin eggs to studying marine animal communication.... Continue reading
Posted Oct 12, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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Women in Other Scientific Disciplines
In Maria Mitchell and the Sexing of Science, Bergland explains that women were encouraged to do science because it did not encourage rebellion. There was nothing wrong with a woman doing science during Mitchell's early life. Several of Mitchell's students went on to specialize in other scientific disciplines such as... Continue reading
Posted Sep 28, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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European Museums outside of Europe
By using the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle as an example, Outram explains that museums in France were ambiguous and contested spaces intended to foster the moral development of the French citizens by making nature visible and accessible. But what about the French museums in their colonized countries? Imperial European countries,... Continue reading
Posted Sep 21, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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Darwin's Influence on How Scientists Did Science
Bowler focuses heavily on the cultural dogmas that produced Darwin, how scientists and society adopted and interpreted his theories, and how that corresponded with how Darwin actually wanted everyone to interpret his theories. He also introduces how biologists after Darwin spent a lot of their time supporting, disagreeing with, or... Continue reading
Posted Sep 14, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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Women's Collections and Science
Towards the end of Nature’s Body, Schiebinger gives examples of women scientists, such as Maria Merian, and their contributions to science. She says that their contributions were primarily in collecting and cultivating specimens, but that this had little relevance or influence on professional science. However, scientists around this time seem... Continue reading
Posted Sep 7, 2016 at fall 2016 | hsci 5533 graduate seminar
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