Instructor: Jeff Byers (Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry) BiHall 551(office) 552(lab)
OFFICIAL office hours - immediately after class, or by appointment
UNOFFICIAL office hours - Just about any time you find me....And I'm here a lot!
Phone x5207 (office, phone mail) email:byers@middlebury.edu

Course-specific writing tutor: Anne Dewitt x6296, adewitt@middlebury.edu
Meetings by appointment

Catalog Copy-

FS004 Fraud, Foolishness, and Serendipity

While science generally is advanced in small steps, with one researcher building gradually on the results of another, the history of science is peppered with occasional breakthroughs, where a dramatic leap in understanding is achieved. More rarely, a significant advancement is claimed, and perhaps widely accepted for some time, only to be discredited soon thereafter. The causes of this range from innocuous, such as poor interpretation of data, to more sinister, as in deliberate fraud. All involve some degree of breakdown in the scientific method. In order to develop a historical perspective on this phenomenon, we will first study older examples such as Alchemy, and move on to more recent examples such as the deliberate fraud observed in the Piltdown Man hoax, and the "pathological science" exemplified by Cold Fusion. We will also examine non-linear, and in some cases just plain lucky approaches which have led to true breakthroughs, as seen in certain aspects of Watson and Crick's discovery of the structure of DNA. Through examining these often dramatic and highly publicized breakdowns in the scientific method, a better understanding of what the scientific method is and how it works will be developed.

Texts to be purchased in the Bookstore:

"Serendipity - Accidental Discoveries in Science", by Royston M. Roberts
"False Prophets", by Alexander Kohn*
"The Double Helix", by James Watson
"Bad Science- The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion", by Gary Taubes

Other readings to be assigned will be available either on the web, or on reserve in the Armstrong Library (NOT Starr Library)

* = available only in Xerox copy, out of print book.

Web Page Resource: http://f01.middlebury.edu/FS004A/
All course information will be made available on this web page, which will be, by its nature, constantly under construction.

Dropbox for handing in writing assignments electronically:Classes\Vol1\Fall01\fs004a\DROPBOX

What is the Freshman Seminar?

"Freshman Seminars are thematic courses which approach an area of intellectual inquiry from a perspective which attempts to make connections among a number of traditional disciplines"

"The Freshman Seminar will have an intensive writing component"

What is an intensive writing component?

"Because the ability to express oneself clearly and thoughtfully in writing is integral to a liberal arts education, Middlebury is committed to a program of teaching writing across the curriculum"

"...writing is used as a vehicle for learning and sharing knowledge."

(quotes from the Middlebury College Catalog)

What else will we be learning about?

We will be covering material germane to the title of the course, roughly as described in the course description. The material covered will include readings, lectures, discussions, and possibly films covering some of the basic science, as well as societal and moral issues.

What other purpose does this seminar serve?

One of the primary motives in developing the freshman seminar program was to ensure that all freshmen had at least one course which was not a large lecture-format course. The benefits of this should be obvious!
The freshman seminar program was also developed to improve the quality of our freshman advising. I will serve as your faculty advisor until you choose a major, and are assigned an advisor from within that department or program. My primary responsibility will be to help you chose your courses until you commit to a major, at which point you will become the advisee of someone in that particular major or program. In order for me to do this effectively, you'll have to let me know where your interests lie, and what career interests, if any you may have in mind at this point in life. Hopefully, I will also help you with other problems, academic or otherwise.

Rough Syllabus:

Topic 1 Prehistory of Modern Science - The Alchemists, Phlogiston Theory
Readings: Chapters 1-3 in Crucibles: The Story of Chemistry by Bernard Jaffe (handout) and assorted web sites.

Topic 2 Deliberate Hoax
Readings: False Prophets by Alexander Kohn, assorted handouts and web sites

Topic 3 Serendipity and the race to unlock the secrets of DNA
Readings: The Double Helix by James Watson,
Serendipity by Royston Roberts

Topic 4 Cold Fusion Confusion
Readings: "Bad Science- The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion", by Gary Taubes

Grading:

Three short essays (12% each, 36% total)
One term paper (25%)
In-class tests and quizzes (24%)
Class participation (10%)
Informal Writing (5%)

Informtion pertaining to academic honesty

A list of web links to related materials for the course, some of which will be required readings.