History 135E
Spring Quarter, 2006
____________

Instructor:    Dr. Barbara J. Becker
  Course meetings:  Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2-3.20 pm, HH143
  Office hours:  3.30-5 pm, and by appointment
  Office:   Krieger 142
  Phone:   during office hours -- 824-3263 (sorry, no voicemail)
all other times -- 824-6521 (History Department Office)
  E-mail:   bjbecker@uci.edu

 

Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed?  It was a bold question, and one which has ever been considered as a mystery....

I paused, examining and analysing all the minutiae of causation, as exemplified in the change from life to death, and death to life, until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me--a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple, that while I became dizzy with the immensity of the prospect which it illustrated, I was surprised that among so many men of genius who had directed their inquiries towards the same science, that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret....

After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.

--Victor Frankenstein, in Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
 
COURSE SCHEDULE:

Week 1  Soul

Apr  4   The Greeks
Apr  6   Aristotle
Reading:  Week 1 Readings

Week 2  Vitality

Apr 11  Alexandrians
Apr 13  Bestiaries
Reading:  Week 2 Readings

Week 3  Generation

Apr 18  Alchemy
Apr 20  Humanism
Reading:  Week 3 Readings
       Essay 1

Week 4  Sensation

Apr 25  Old/New Ideas
Apr 27  Life from Clay

Reading:  Week 4 Readings
               Zimmer

Week 5  Mechanism

May  2   Revolution?
May  4   MID-TERM
Reading:  Week 5 Readings

Week 6  Animation

May  9   New Method
May 11  Machine?
Reading:  Week 6 Readings
               Shelley

Week 7  Growth

May 16  Mechanisms
May 18  Automata
Reading:  Week 7 Readings

Week 8  Behavior

May 23  Galvinism
May 25  Electricity?  
Reading:  Week 8 Readings
               Strick
       Essay 2

Week 9  Intelligence

May 30   Biogenesis
Jun     1   Controversy
Reading:  Week 9 Readings

Week 10  Being

Jun     6   Artificial Man
Jun     8   Spare Parts
Reading:  Week 10 Readings
Final Exam Study Guide
 
 
 
FINAL EXAM:  JUNE 15 (1.30-3.30 pm)
 
 
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
points
Regular attendance
10
Written assignments (TBA)*
40
Mid-term
20
Final
30
Total
100
*Please plan ahead to avoid inevitable last-minute catastrophes
and consequent penalties for lateness (-2 pts per class meeting).

No work that is not a product of your own original effort will be accepted and may result in failure of the course.

 
 

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
James Strick, Sparks of Life
Carl Zimmer, Soul Made Flesh