Mobilizing Science

FYS 068, Fall 2022

Course Web Page

Brooks Thomas

Hugel 020
Physics Department
Lafayette College
730 High St.
Easton, PA 18042

Phone: (610) 330-5207
Email: thomasbd@lafayette.edu

Contact Info

Physics at Lafayette

Other Resources

• My Personal Home Page
• Lafayette Physics Department
• Physics Courses

• List of NSF REU Sites
• APS Resources for Students
• Society of Physics Students (SPS)
• CUWiP
• SACNAS
• National Society of Black Physicists

Central Themes of this Course

Scientific research plays a critical role in the way societies overcome challenges and respond to crises. How do societies mobilize scientific activity in the face of such challenges? Who foots the bill? Who decides the priorities? The reading and writing assignments in this seminar will explore the complex interplay between different social forces that mobilize science toward specific ends and examine the moral and ethical quandaries scientists often face when deciding how and whether to participate in the resulting research effort.

Course Materials and Other Useful Links

• Syllabus
• Course Moodle

Required Texts

• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
• Allen I. Marcus and Amy Sue Bix, The Future Is Now: Science And Technology Policy in America Since 1950.  Amherst, NY, USA: Humanity Books, 2007.
• David M. Oshinsky, Polio: An American Story.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005.
  
• Richard Paul and Steven Moss, We Could Not Fail: The First African-Americans in the Space Program.  Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2015.
  
• Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb.  New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1986.

Office hours

During the times designated as my office hours below, you have the option of meeting with me either in person or virtually. In-person office-hours meetings will be held not in my office, but rather in Hugel 042, which is a larger, better ventilated room equipped with a HEPA filter. Virtual meetings will take place over the office-hours Zoom link posted on the course Moodle. If I am meeting with another student at the time you join the Zoom meeting, I may ask you to wait in the waiting room for a bit. However, if you and other students in the course have the same question, you can certainly meet with me as a group.


• Tues., 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern
• Thurs., 2:00 - 3:00 PM Eastern
• Fri., 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Eastern

Since most office-hours conversations in this course will focus on your writing, it will often be more productive to meet virtually than to meet in person. That said, you shouldn’t feel any hesitation about attending my office hours in person if you believe doing so will be helpful.

Course Schedule

Date	Topic	Reading	Writing	Fourth Hour
Week 1
8/30	Introduction: Science into Action
9/1	Policy, Pandemics, and Public Perception	"How Anthony Fauci Became America's Doctor" (M); "Association of Receiving a Fourth Dose" (M)
Week 2
9/6	Policy, Pandemics, and Public Perception	Oshinsky, Ch. 1-4		Film: "And the Band Played On" (9/8, 7:30 PM in Hugel 100)
9/8	Policy, Pandemics, and Public Perception	Oshinsky, Ch. 5-6
Week 3
9/13	Policy, Pandemics, and Public Perception	Oshinsky, Ch. 7-11		WA Conferences (Individual)
9/15	Policy, Pandemics, and Public Perception	Oshinsky, Ch. 12	Genre Writing (First Draft Due Friday, 9/16 at 5:00 PM)
Week 4
9/20	Policy, Pandemics, and Public Perception	Oshinsky, Ch. 13-16		Conferences with Prof. Thomas (Individual)
9/22	Chain Reactions	Rhodes, Ch. 1	Timeline & Reflections (Due Friday, 9/23 at 5:00 PM)
Week 5
9/27	Chain Reactions	Rhodes, Ch. 9 and Ch. 10 up to the break before the paragraph that begins "Though he was still recovering from jaundice..."		Panel discussion with Keith Dienes (9/30 at 12:00 noon in Hugel 017)
9/29	Chain Reactions	Rhodes, Ch. 10 from the paragraph that begins "Though he was still recovering from jaundice..." through the end of the chapter	Genre Writing (Final Draft Due Friday, 9/30 at 5:00 PM)
Week 6
10/4	Chain Reactions	Rhodes, Ch. 12, Ch. 15 from the paragraph that begins "Despite Pearl Harbor and the subsequent Japanese sweep..." through the end of the chapter, Ch. 18 up to the break before the paragraph that begins "No one doubted that Little Boy would work..."		Film: "The Day After Trinity" (10/6, 7:30 PM in Hugel 017)
10/6	Chain Reactions	Rhodes, Ch. 18 from the paragraph that begins "No one doubted that Little Boy would work..." through the end of the chapter	Research Proposal (First Draft Due Friday, 10/7 at 5:00 PM)
Week 7
10/11	Fall Break (No Class Meeting)			WA Conferences (Individual)
10/13	An Endless Frontier?	Marcus, Introduction and Ch. 1; "Science: The Endless Frontier," p. 1-21 (M)
Week 8
10/18	An Endless Frontier?	Marcus, Ch. 2 up to the heading "The Election of 1968"; "Beyond Sputnik," p. 25-47 (M)		WA Conferences (Individual)
10/20	An Endless Frontier?	Marcus, Ch. 2 from the heading "The Election of 1968" up to the heading "Marking Time: Gerald Ford"
Week 9
10/25	An Endless Frontier?	Marcus, Ch. 2 from the heading "Marking Time: Gerald Ford" through the end of the chapter		Panel discussion with Jeff Kost (10/26 at 12:00 noon in Hugel 017)
10/27	Inconvenient Truths	Carson, Ch. 1-3; "The Desolate Year" (M)	Research Proposal (Submission Due Thursday, 10/27 at 5:00 PM)
Week 10
11/1	Inconvenient Truths	Carson, Ch. 4-6
11/3	Inconvenient Truths	Carson, Jigsaw Readings and Ch. 14-15
Week 11
11/8	Mock Peer-Review Panel	Reading Proposals		Film: "Rachel Carson: The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement" (11/10, 7:30 PM in Hugel)
11/10	Inconvenient Truths	Carson, Ch. 16-17; "Silence, Miss Carson" (M)
Week 12
11/15	What is Sacred	"What Makes a Volcano Sacred?" (M); "The Search for Knowledge" (M); "Beyond Silent Spring" (M)		WA Conferences (Individual)
11/17	What Is Sacred	"The Pandemic Hasn't Stopped" (M); "A Native Hawaiian-Lead Summary" (M); "New Front Emerges" (M)	Research Proposal (Revision Due Tuesday, 11/18 at 5:00 PM)
Week 13
11/22	White Towers	"Public Opinion Polls and Perceptions" (M); "Blacks and Apollo" (M); "Moodoggle" (M)
11/24	Thanksgiving Break (No Class Meeting)
Week 14
11/29	White Towers	Paul, Introduction and Ch. 1-3		Conferences with Prof. Thomas (Individual)
12/1	White Towers	Paul, Ch. 5-6	Persuasive Writing (First Draft Due Friday, 12/2 at 5:00 PM)
Week 14
12/6	White Towers	Paul, Ch. 7-8		WA Conferences (Individual)
12/8	White Towers	Paul, Conclusion	Persuasive Writing (Final Draft Due Friday, 12/9 at 5:00 PM)