10/20/23
Before this course, my understanding of the history of science was almost nonexistent. Previous history classes included topics we’ve studied here; the expansion of the Roman Empire and Greek philosophy. I knew aspects of the Medieval Era, of alchemy and astronomy. My favorite topic the class discussed was alchemy, despite not spending too much time with it. I believe it was because of the mix of science and magic, an early version of fantasy being researched in real life when no one truly understood our world or how it worked. Now, though, I can understand the progression of topics such as these, why the Dark Ages are so unknown and that much of our knowledge about that time comes from more practical areas, like materials they used or art they made, and not just written evidence. The only difference between those classes and this one is that this course connected those subjects together as science in history.
There is some difficulty in determining where in my present day life this content relates. Maybe in answering Jeopardy questions, or by giving me a better understanding of technology and academics through European history so I can make my fantasy novels more realistic? In which is probably the most cliched answer ever, this course might have just helped me see how far we’ve come in our modern age. Apps that help us see and map the stars, philosophical concepts that have been edited and rethought and edited again all the way here to change my life or someone else’s; even the way we consume knowledge, where it was once all handwritten and now I can look up everything regarding this course online. Nearly everything we use now began as a concept, as an idea to someone thousands of years ago. We are only improving them.
