Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description
Reading the Cosmos
Instructor(s): Margaret Greaves, English
鈥淲e are a way for the cosmos to know itself,鈥� says astronomer Carl Sagan. In this seminar, we will consider works from literature, history, astronomy, and philosophy that offer various ways of 鈥渒nowing鈥� the universe. We will begin in the year 1609, when Shakespeare鈥檚 sonnets appeared in print and Galileo turned his telescope to the stars and planets. From there, we will consider moments in intellectual history including the scientific revolution, William and Caroline Herschel鈥檚 observations of distant celestial bodies, Einstein鈥檚 theory of relativity, Hubble鈥檚 discovery of the expanding universe, and Hawking鈥檚 popularization of theories of space-time. Although we will consider many discoveries in astronomy, we will pay particular attention to cosmology, the study of the origin, development, and fate of the universe. Through these investigations, we will chart a cultural history of the cosmos.
Course Offered: