OUTLINE

FIRST TERM

Section One: Finding Our Place in the Universe

‘From the closed world to the infinite universe’; ‘the birth of the new physics.’

Key figures: Aristotle, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Hubble, Penzias & Wilson

SECOND TERM

The creation of evolution theory and the ‘great synthesis’ with modern genetics.

Key figures: Aristotle, the philosophes, Lamarck, Darwin, Mendel, Watson & Crick, Dawkins, Gould

Section Three: Science & Society: Reciprocal Influences

Molecular Genetics and Gene Therapy

• Genes and fixed essences, biological determinism
• Biogenetics & genetic engineering
• Eugenics, or better living through better genes?

Evolution versus Creation (Intelligent Design Theory)

• What makes a theory or explanation scientific?
• Is Evolution (Science) a Religion?

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