UGFN1000 In Dialogue with Nature (2010-11 Term 2)

UGFN1000 Course outlineselected from influential classics. Emphasis will be placed on students’ capacity torespond critically to these texts in written as well as oral presentations. Class size willbe kept small to maximize discussions and to facilitate intensive guidance onacademic writing, in Chinese and/or English as specified by the instructor.Course book: All core readings listed below are reserved in the University Library.One must observe the guidelines for compliance with the Copyright Laws whenmaking photocopies. To prevent breaking the law, you should buy a course book thatcontains all the core readings. The course book could be purchased from the areaoutside the office of Leadership Development Programme [G/F, Hui Yeung ShingBuilding, 10:00-14:30, Jan 11-14 (T-F) and Jan 17-19 (M-W)] at HK$160.Course content and core readings:The course is composed of 3 parts, each of which consists of several issues.Students have to read the core readings related to the issue before attending thediscussion session. All readings are reserved at the University Library.Part 1. Human Exploration of the Physical UniverseCore questions/issues Texts Core readingsWhat is truth?Plato, Republic / translated from the newstandard Greek text, with introduction byC.D.C. Reeve (Indianapolis: HackettPublishing, 2004).Book VII (Verses514-521c)How to find andexpress scientific truth?(Physical science fromAristotle to Galileo)How to find andexpress scientific truth?(Physical science sinceNewton)What truth about theuniverse do we know?(Expansion of theuniverse)Page 2/4Grant, Physical Science in the Middle Ages(New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1971).Roy Porter (ed), The Cambridge History ofScience, Vol. 4 (Eighteenth-Century Science)(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,2003)ANDStephen Hawking (ed), On the Shoulders ofGiants (London: Penguin, 2003).Steven Weinberg, The First Three Minutes: AModern View of the Origin of the Universe(New York: Basic Books, 1993).Chapter 4Chapter 15 of TheCambridge History ofScienceANDDefinitions I-VIII ofNewton’s TheMathematicalPrinciples of NaturalPhilosophyChapter 2 (Paragraphs1-40)Part 2. Human Exploration of the World of LifeCore questions/issues Texts Core readingsWhat are the laws oflife? (Natural selection)Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species. Chapter 4 (Paragraphs1-23, 45-86)What is the code oflife? (The discovery ofDNA)James D. Watson, DNA: The Secret of Life(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003).Chapter 1 (Paragraphs1-36), Chapter 2.What impacts doesmanipulation of lifebring?Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1962).Chapter 6