Time Schedule:
Steven W. Collins
BIS 250
Bothell Campus
Introduces basic scientific concepts needed to understand technologies encountered in everyday life. Themes may include the physics of motion and thermodynamics, and the applications in heating/coming and transportation. Readings focus on the history of science and invention.
Class description
This course introduces students in the liberal arts to basic scientific concepts needed to understand natural and physical processes and technologies encountered in everyday life. In this, the first of a two-course sequence, we focus on the physics of motion and heat, and the machines that use them to do useful work, such as lifting heavy objects, heating and cooling, and transporting people and things. The course stresses not only scientific concepts and problem solving but also the historical context in which the concepts emerged and the ways in which they impact, and are impacted by, culture and society. It builds progressively toward a comprehensive exploration of the physics, history, and cultural study of the automobile, which has unleashed social, cultural, and environmental forces still reverberating through human societies.
Student learning goals
Understand basic physics of processes and machines encountered in daily life, and be able to explain them clearly in writing and orally.
Develop the ability to solve problems using basic scientific concepts and mathematics.
Understand the historical origins of commonly encountered scientific ideas and inventions.
Gain insight into ways in which social, cultural, and political forces influence scientific discovery, invention, and innovation.
General method of instruction
Lecture and discussion.
Recommended preparation
No prerequisites.
Class assignments and grading
These will vary depending on the quarter. Typical requirements would be the following: 1. Problem sets 2. Essay of about 1000 words explaining in clear, simple prose how an everyday natural or physical process, or technology works. 3. Essay of about 1000 words on the origin of a scientific idea or technology, or on the social, cultural, and environmental impacts of a particular technology. 4. At least one in-class exam.
Final grade based on performance on individual assignments and in-class participation.
