1.Course description:
<br>The main goal of this course is to provide the students with the basic knowledge of
<br>the history of science in pre-modern era, that is, in the period prior to the Scientific
<br>Revolution that took place in Western Europe in the 16th and 17th century.
<br>The course will include the following topics:
<br>- the beginnings of science in ancient Babylon, Egypt, and pre-imperial China;
<br>- first organized systems of knowledge: Greece, India, China:
<br>(a) Greek science and its philosophical foundations (Plato, Aristotle, Stoics,
<br>Euclid, Ptolemy);
<br>(b) Chinese work on mathematics, medicine, astronomy;
<br>- Medieval European, Islamic, Chinese, and Indian Science;
<br>Elements of philosophy and sociology of science (T. Kunh and his theory of scientific
<br>revolutions; changing paradigms of science; social organization of science) will also
<br>be introduced and illustrated with the examples taken from the above-mentioned
<br>topics.
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<br>2.Evaluation: 
<br>The students will have one midterm test (multiple choice, open book, 2
<br>hours, 20% of the final mark) and will be asked to prepare a summary of one book
<br>or several articles from the reading list (no more than 8 double-spaced pages, in
<br>English, 25% of the final mark). Each lecture will include a 10 minutes quiz (closed
<br>book, usually one multiple-choice question), the total result of the quizzes will
<br>amount to 15% of the final mark. Final examination (closed book, 3 hours, 40%)
<br>will consist of two essays, in English, each worth 20% of the total grade, selected from
<br>a list of alternative questions.
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