Course Title:  Science 101, Introduction to Science

Prerequisite:  None

Credits:  4

Introduction to Science 101 is a course designed to introduce to the student the world of science through the reading of classic and contemporary literature.

Chosen reading material includes Stephen W. Hawking's, "A Brief Histry of Time," Simon Winchester's "The Map That Changed the World," David Bodanis' "E=MC2," and Carl Zimmer's "Soul Made Flesh."

"A Brief History of Time," written in 1988, and now in its 10th edition, continues to be classic in the sense that Mr. Hawkings was able to reduce a quite complex field, physics, into a easily understood 200 page book. He explains black holes, the big bang theory, Newton, and Einstein. This book will undoubtedly lead the reader into considering the nature of the universe and our very existance like never before.

In many ways, "E=MC2" is a companion book to "A Brief History of Time." But where as Mr. Hawkins explores the cosmos, and the big picture, David Bodanis is more concerned with the micro ramifications of Einstein's work. Don't let the subject matter scare you away from this book, rather the subject of this book may scare you into an awesome appreciation of how much energy surrounds everyone of us.

"The Map that Changed the World" is a telling of the story of the birth of modern Geology, and its founder William Smith. Its the story of a man who dug ditches, landed himself in debtor's prison, was homeless, was wealthy, walked the island of England, had an inmeasurable influence on the coal, rail, and highway systems, and who made the first real map of what lay underneath England. In reading this book, the student will come across many names and places in history, such as "the Gallows" and Charles Darwin. This book is really more than the title suggest.

"Soul Made Flesh", written in 2004, is again set in England, but whose focus is the discovery of the brain, and what it meant to society. The book chronicles the various medical beliefs of where the soul and thoughts derive from inside the body, how autopsy evolved, and the founder of modern neurolgy, Thomas Willis. A great read.