CENTRAL TO THE HISTORY and identity of Western Civilization has been an ongoing attempt to grasp the secrets of nature. The long history of science and technology has most often been understood as the history of changing attitudes and ideas, closely tied to the history of philosophy. This intellectual history is certainly an important and exciting one. But the history of scientific thought is not the only way to understand the history of Western science: Just as important as what scientists have thought is what scientists have done.

For the next three weeks, we will examine the ways in which people in the West have attempted to understand and make use of the natural world. Our readings and discussions will focus not only on what Europeans thought about nature, but also on the technical skills, tools, and organizations they used to harness its power. Because we will be looking at scientists' practical as well as their intellectual activities, our primary evidence for these units will come not only from books and manuscripts, but also from scientific instruments, museum collections, maps, buildings, and machines.

Our first unit in this series will look at the period historians refer to as the Renaissance and Scientific Revolution, an era of unmatched intellectual, scientific, and technological activity. Keeping in mind the two ways of thinking about the history of science -- the intellectual and the practical -- you should begin by reading Chapters 11, 12, and 13 of your textbook and watching videos number five and six, "The Renaissance" and "The Reformations." These will give you a background in the changing ideas of the period. Next you should spend 30 minutes to an hour exploring The Measurers, an online exhbition at the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford University. This will give you an introdcution to the ways people used science and mathematics in this period. (Pay special attention to the "Introduction" and "Mathematics" sections.)

Please also read this selection from Sir Isaac Newton's famous Principia, then click here for your online exercise.