Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Selected topics in Biology, aimed at students who might not have a background in biology. Science students may take this course as an elective, but may not apply this course toward their upper division program requirements. Breadth-Science.

COURSE DETAILS:

Course Title: Biology Before the Beagle

No journey is more famous or has had more profound impacts than the voyage of HMS Beagle. From 1831 – 1836, while charting the coastline of South America, Beagle carried along a young naturalist named Charles Darwin. His experiences formed the basis for a lifetime of writing and thought about life on our planet, the most famous result of which was The Origin of Species, published in 1859.

This course aims to enhance students’ understanding of evolutionary theory and to enlarge appreciation of how profoundly Darwin’s discoveries have altered our worldview. It will examine Darwin’s experience during the voyage, providing context by asking what biology (and geology) was like before HMS Beagle sailed. What did biology and the other sciences understand about our planet and the lifeforms inhabiting it? What did Darwin learn at University during his undergraduate days? What happened on the voyage, and how did this combine with Darwin’s background to launch such a change in thought about the nature of life?

WRITING
The course is intended as a breadth course for upper level undergraduates, majors and non-majors alike. No advanced biological training is required. Grading will be based mostly on writing; you will use writing as a method of exploring complex concepts, to understand them and their development. The focus will be on writing for a generalist audience, rather than a technical one. The list of course readings is given below.

There will be three related writing assignments. The basic idea is to work toward an essay examining an historical figure and her or his scientific work, explaining it in the manner of the books we have read. The first writing assignment (due June 9) will gather and organize material about the scientific topic. The second writing assignment (due July 7) will gather and organize material about the person. The third and final writing assignment (due August 8) will combine this material into a major essay aimed at a popular audience (think New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly or Harper’s, rather than Scientific American). Feedback will be given on each, as well as on a draft of the final essay.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

RECOMMENDED READING: