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"Lavoisier: A Scientific Revolution"
by B. Bensaude-Vincent
and
"The Evolution of the Periodic System"
by E.R. Scerri. |
- Describe the connections between science and politics at the end of the ancien regime.
- Describe the first complete attempt to organize all known chemicals.
- Did the Academie des Sciences significantly change the way in which science was practiced?
- How did Lavoisier's use of the balance revolutionize chemistry?
- The French Revolution killed Antoine Lavoisier. Are science and politics related or is this a unique example?
- What properties define periodicity in different periodic tables?
- What was Lavoisier's "day job" and how was it related to his "hobby"?
- What were Lavoisier's significant accomplichments in chemistry?
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"How James Watt Invented the Separate Condenser"
by R. L. Hills. |
- Discuss the statement: "...there is no doubt that the experience Watt gained through experimenting... changed him from a mechanician into a scientist..."
- Formal scientific training hinders innovation. Do you agree or disagree? Support your answer based on the reading.
- What form of production did Watt realize could be more profitable?
- What is the distinction between science and technology that is presented by the example of James Watt? Is scientific knowledge necessary for technical innovation?
- What kind of experience helped James Watt to tackle the model Newcomen engine?
- What was James Watt planning to do with his life when he left Greenock, Scotland? Where did he go, what did he do, and how did it lead him to inventing the steam engine?
- Why did a mechanic improve the steam engine and not the professor? (also name the mechanic, the professor, and where they worked)
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selections from Early Engineering Education at Toronto,
1851-1919
by C.R. Young. |
- Discuss the role of the Upper Canada (Ontario) government in the creation of the chair of Civil Engineering at University College in 1851.
- What did the Baldwin Act (1849) do for engineering?
- What factors in the development and expansion of Canada caused a need for technical education and how were they met?
- Which other countries develope technical education before Britain (and Canada) and why?
- Who established the first formal school of engineering education and why? (and what did it teach?)
- Who were the leading contenders for the U.C. chair in Civil Enghineering and what was the controversy surrounding their nominations?
- Why did efforts to establish a Civil Engineering course at University College fail?
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"War Should Mean Research"
by D.J. Kevles. |
- Explore the conflict between theory and practice using the Naval Consulting Board and the National Research Council as examples.
- How and why did the status of theoretical scientific research change during WWI?
- How did the methods and goals of the Naval Consulting Board and National Research Council differ?
- How does the article illustrate the difference between engineering as a profession and science as a profession?
- How was the approach of achieving greater national security taken by Edison's Naval Consulting Board different from that of Hale's National Research Council?
- How was the First World War beneficial to the advancement of science in America?
- What prompted the government the government to fund scientists in the military and what was the first military application of interest?
- What was the scientists' general view of using science for war? How did they justify their actions?
- Who was responsible for the establishment of NACA and why was it established?
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