This course is
offered as a Science and Math in Context (SMC) course (Connections
II) with two
specific goals:1) to provide an overview of modern physical science
and technology, and 2) to illustrate the interrelationship between
technological and societal development.To accomplish these goals,
the course intersperses lectures on science and technology with
film segments from James Burke’s “Connections” series.The films
take some bit of modern technology, for example the computer, and
then trace the diverse technological and societal influences
leading to its creation. The lectures cover a broad range of
physical science and technology from electricity and simple
electrical circuits to nuclear power and relativity, and provide
the technical background necessary to critically examine and debate
the society/technology relationships presented in the
videos.