Title: Science and Modernism
Department Number: CHEM 160 (or CHEM 360)
Professor: David L. Beveridge
Time: Tuesday and Thursday 2:40 pm - 4:00 pm
Location: SCIE109
New developments in art music, theatre and literature ca. 1875-1925 involving discontinuity, multiple perspective, reflexivity and conceptualization of identity are today associated with the origins of modernism. Individuals contributing to this include Cezanne, Seurat, Picasso, Stravinsky, Debussy, Schoenberg, Strindberg, Jarry, Joyce, Wolfe, Proust and Whitman. In the same time frame, new developments in natural science and mathematics due to Planck, Cantor, Boltzmann, Pierre and Marie Curie, de Broglie, Bohr, Schrodinger, Einstein, de Vries and de Cayals created what we know today as modern science. Some fundamental ideas in the origins of modern science, such as the treatment of time and space in Einstein’s theory of relativity, are remarkably similar to those of modernism. This course considers the chronological sequences of works and events in these “two cultures,” identifies the common characteristics, and explores the parallelisms, interconnections, cultural influences and the possibility of cause and effect relationships and what these imply. Plausible interpretations will be generated in a discussion-based format and possible hypotheses will be subjected to critical examination and collective validation by the class. Ideas about the creation of new knowledge at the general and individual (i.e. college education) level will be considered. Finally, implications and parallels of the ideas central to this course in a contemporary setting, 1975-2025, will be explored.
Click here to see the description in WesMaps
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Title: Science and Modernism |
|
Department Number: CHEM 160 (or CHEM 360) |
| Professor: David L. Beveridge |
|
Time: Tuesday and Thursday 2:40 pm - 4:00 pm |
|
Location: SCIE109 |
This past summer I had a quite unique experience – two weeks in the Alps, part of which was spent hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) in the Alps. The TMB is a system of hiking trails that circumnavigates the range of mountains "massif du Mont Blanc" of which Mont Blanc per se is the highest peak, . The TMB is a challenging hike – rated "3 boots" – and goes through all the high cols – Tricot, Bonhomme, Miage, Ferret and up and across a devilish escalade called the Fenetre d’Arpette. We started west out of Chamonix and, going counter clockwise, passed from France to Italy to Switzerland, and ended up coming in from the east at La Flege above Chamonix, with beautiful views of the famous Mer du Glace glacier across the river valley. From the TMB one sees Mont Blanc and the other peaks such as the Grand Jorrase, from all sides. We hiked with a French group of fourteen led by Francoise, our certified Guide de Haute Montagne and had a week of unusually fine weather. Typically we spent early AM on a long ascent, followed by a picnic lunch in one of the high alpine meadows surrounded by vast field of wild flowers and torrents of water tumbling off the glaciers. We made our descent later in the day, staying over at night in either an auberge, a refuge or gite d'etape.
What does all this have to do with our course, Science and Modernism? In thinking about and planning the course, I find myself thinking of my hiking experience of last summer as a central metaphor. What I mean is, I suggest you approach this course as a sort of academic or intellectual hike through the high peaks of the origins of modern science and modernism. In our process we may not go to the top, but will negotiate a sequence of fairly high cols from which the views are nonetheless spectacular, pass by torrents of water cascading down from the heights, and stroll some meadows of pretty wild intellectual flowers. We will pass through the disciplines of art, music, theatre, and literature and science ca. 1875-1925, mindful of some aspects of the political and social history of the time. The main trail we will follow is blazed by our text, "The First Moderns" by William Everdell. At the same time this is just one way through a rich, variegated and complex landscape of ideas and creative accomplishments, and ultimately you must find your own meaningful way to go. Feel free to stop and look around, and try out some of the variations if you wish: paths are made by walking. The goal, as with hiking the TMB, is first of all to finish, and secondly to have the experience, i.e. personally bear witness to what it is like to be in the high mountains at least on vacation, even if you don't choose to live there, and finally to consider various ways of making sense out of things and distinguishing synchronicities, the effects of a zeitgeist or field of influence, and cause and effect relationships. Just like hiking, what happens will depend on what shape you are in to begin with, how much effort you expend in the process, your hiking companions, and your mindset as you make the journey as well as the path you take and the help you get from the trail guide. Taken seriously, this is bound to change ("educate") you in some significant way or other, the nature of which will be highly individual and different for each of you.
Your basic mindset coming into this and expectations you have about the class are worth special consideration. You will get the most out of your journey if you see as much as possible and keep your mind open, i.e. to what there is to see. As we proceed, I suggest in particular you make a serious effort to not be too judgmental – not treat everything in terms of whether you "like it" or not, whether or not the view is better from one col or another. That will only serve unnecessarily to narrow your perspectives and options, whereas the point of this course is to broaden your perspective and increase your options!! Practically everything has an interesting aspect or challenge to it, given the right axis of vision, and what you will get out of this course as well as an "education" in general is an enhanced ability to locate this vantage point for yourself. However, some aspects have more "pull" or numinous quality than others, and that’s a good indication of what subject you might want to take up as a term project. But just let this happen in as wide a frame as possible - don’t force it.
And don't forget to have fun. Enjoy the trip.
DLB 9/4/01
| Professor: |
D Chemistry Department
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| Office and Contact: | Room 37 Hall-Atwater Laboratories
Phone: 685-2575 (office); 346-6768 (home) E-mail: dbeveridge@wesleyan.edu
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| Office Hours: |
Fridays, 2:30-3:30 PM; Room 37 HAL or by appointment. Note: These are my official office hours
but in effect my door is always open. welcome visits from students or
groups of students to discuss the class,
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| Course: |
New developments in art, music, theatre and literature ca. 1875-1925 and conceptualization of identity are today associated with the origins of modernism. Individuals contributing to this include Cezanne, Seurat, Picasso, Stravinsky, Debussy, Schoenberg, Strindberg, Jarry, Joyce, Wolfe, Proust and Whitman. In the same time frame, new developments in natural science and mathematics due to Planck, Cantor, Boltzmann, Pierre and Marie Curie, de Broglie, Bohr, Schrodinger, Einstein, de Vries and de Cayals created what we know today as modern science. Some fundamental ideas in the origins of modern science, such as the treatment of time and space in Einstein’s theory of relativity, are remarkably similar to those of modernism. This course considers the chronological sequences of works and events in these “two cultures,” identifies the common characteristics, and explores the parallelisms, interconnections, cultural influences and the possibility of cause and effect relationships and what these imply. Plausible interpretations will be generated in a discussion-based format and possible hypotheses will be subjected to critical examination and collective validation by the class. Ideas about the creation of new knowledge at the general and individual (i.e. college education) level will be considered. Finally, implications and parallels of the ideas central to this course in a contemporary setting, 1975-2025, will be explored.
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| Course Objectives: |
Become
knowledgeable about the chronological development of ideas, sequence
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| Course Goals: |
To acquire, by the end of the semester,
an enhanced knowledge and appreciation To gain a deeper appreciation of the nature of knowledge-making in the arts, humanities and sciences, via comparisons and contrasts among objectives and agendas in the various disciplines. To arrive at a deeper understanding of your personal epistemology – i.e., how you know what you know, how to critically validate your prospective knowledge, you ways of knowing and the underpinnings of your beliefs.
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| Teaching Methods: |
This course is a mixture of lecture and
discussion. Lecture material is aimed
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| Attendance: |
The classroom activities (lectures,
questions and discussion) are designed to
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Any true discussion involves personal
exposure on the part of the participants
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W. Everdell, The First Moderns,
University of Chicago Press (1977). R. Shattuck, The Banquet Years: The
Origins of the Avant Garde in France, 1881 |
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The First Moderns by William EverdellClick here to go to The University of Chicago Press book review
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The Banquet Years by Roger Shattuck
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| Optional Texts: | A. I. Miller, Einstein, Picasso: Space Time and the Beauty
that Causes Havoc Basic Books (2001). S. Quinn, Marie Curie: A Life, Perseus
Press (1996). D. E. Mook and T. Vargish, Inside Relativity, Princeton University Press |
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Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time, and the Beauty That Causes Havoc by Arthur MillerClick here for the May 6, 2001 New York Times Book Review written by William Everdell |
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Marie Curie, A Life by Susan Quinn |
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Inside Relativity by Delo E. Mook & Thomas Vargish |
| Web Resources: |
A considerable amount of additional resource material for this course is available on the web at http://dbeveridge.web.wesleyan.edu/wescourses/2001f/chem160/01/. Our class Webboard is located at (note this address may change) http://webboard.Wesleyan.edu:5000/~chem1602001f
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| Supplements: |
There will be a number of handouts, primarily of original source materials, provided over the course of the term. Please assemble these into a notebook.
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| Grading: |
Requirements: a) Reading of text materials on the
schedule indicated in the syllabus. b) Class response: Students are asked to
respond to each class via our class Web-board with a list of: a) the three
most important points of the class as far as you are concerned, one
paragraph of elaboration, and b) three good questions about the subject
material that might form a basis for further discussion. Each of your
responses will be available to all others in the class and can form the
basis for a threaded discussion on our Webboard as well as for
individualized feedback from the TA’s and Instructor. c) Completion of Assignments and Final Exam |
| Assignments: |
1. Introducing yourself and Response to Class #1: “ The Two Cultures” 2. Elaboration of an –ism or a bio
Sketch: Due Sept. 20 3. Three ideas for a term paper, (Title
and one paragraph on each): Due Oct. 9 4. First draft of term paper: Due Nov. 20 5. Final draft of term paper: Due Dec. 6
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| Teaching Assistants: |
Mary Peacock mpeacock@wesleyan.edu x6079 Mariah Klaneski (Course Webmeister) mklaneski@wesleyan.edu x4237 |