History & Philosophy of Science

University of Utah, Department of Philosophy, Fall 2011

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Reading Guides

• Week 1: Demarcation Problem
• Week 2: Aristotelian Dynamics I
• Week 3: Aristotelian Dynamics II
• Week 4: Ptolemy on the Structure of the Universe
• Week 5: Ptolemaic Astronomy and Challenges
• Week 7: Copernicus
• Week 9: Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler
• Week 10: Galileo
• Weeks 11 and 12: Newton

Study Aids

• Brownian motion videos: here, here, here, and here
• Purve's Lab: Do we observe empirical facts?
• The "textbook model of scientific method"
• "The epicycle rolls and changes its place completely"?
• Images of 2004 Lunar Eclipse
• The Universe of Aristotle and Ptolemy
• Graphic from the Illustrated London News (November 22, 1919) explaining Eddington's 1919 eclipse observations and their confirmation of Einstein's general theory of relativity
• The Golden Chain Argument
• Retrograde Motion Explanations: Ptolemy vs. Copernicus
• Alternative Solar Systems (Ptolemy, Copernicus, Brahe)
• An Experiment on the Moon: Will the hammer and feather hit the ground at the same time?

Study Guides

• Exam 1 Study Guide
• Exam 2 Study Guide
• FINAL Exam Study Guide