Why did modern scientific thought emerge when it did and not thousands of years earlier? What can the history of inquiry into the natural world tell us about why we think the way we do today? Does the history of science matter for scientific practice today? 

To answer these questions, this course will trace through Western intellectual history from the Renaissance into the modern age and finish in the early 20^th century. 

Often, scientific revolutions have been characterized by questioning and altering fundamental assumptions about self and world understanding. By seeing the developments that led to the modern world, we can bring to light our own assumptions and better understand the philosophical assumptions implicit in scientific theories. Knowing where the boundaries of thought are and why they are there can be critical in overcoming them. By participating in an ongoing dialog about the worldview changes that shaped philosophical thought from the Renaissance to the 20^th century, students will see how modern thought emerged, why it emerged when it did and what implications this has for creative scientific thought today.