2016/17 Undergraduate Module Catalogue
HPSC1050 Darwin, Germs and the Bomb
10 creditsClass Size: 150
Module manager: Dr. Jonathan Topham
Email: j.r.topham@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2016/17
This module is approved as a discovery module
Module summary
Controversies rage over science in our modern world. Devout Christians and Muslims battle biologists over the truth of the Darwinian theory of human origins from the animals. Parents desperate to do the right thing try to decide whether their child should or should not receive the MMR vaccine. Britain and the United States invade Iraq, with consequences still unfolding, in order to make sure that a rogue state does not obtain a "weapon of mass destruction."Objectives
To introduce selected major topics in the historical development of European Science from 1750 to the present.Syllabus
- How did the world come to be like this?
- How did science extend itself so deeply into our lives, challenging our beliefs about God, changing the way we fight disease and giving us weapons of war so terrible that their use could annihilate our species?
In this module, we turn to history for answers, and with them a new perspective on our conflicted present. Looking in particular at the rise of the Darwinian theory, the rise of the germ theory of disease, and the invention of the atomic bomb, we will discover how science became modern and how it transformed the world in its wake.
Whatever your main degree, this module is for you. There are no prerequisites except a willingness to think for yourself.
Teaching methods
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
| Lecture | 11 | 1.00 | 11.00 |
| Tutorial | 5 | 1.00 | 5.00 |
| Private study hours | 84.00 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 16.00 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 100.00 | ||
Private study
Reading and PreparationMethods of assessment
Coursework
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
| Essay | 1,500 words | 50.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 50.00 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Exams
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 1 hr 00 mins | 50.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 50.00 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Reading list
The reading list is available from the Library websiteLast updated: 07/09/2016
Browse Other Catalogues
- Undergraduate module catalogue
- Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
- Undergraduate programme catalogue
- Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team.PROD