A little (alchemy and) chemistry and related sciences for humanities students, part 2

elective courses

(in Polish) Zakres wiedzy/umiejętności/innych kompetencji, jakie powinien posiadać student przed rozpoczęciem nauki przedmiotu obejmuje wiedzę wyniesioną z okresu edukacji licealnej oraz posiadanie ciekawości świata.

The lectures will introduce humanities students to chemistry (including general, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry) and give them an idea of other, related sciences (physics, mathematics, geology, biology, especially the physical chemistry of elementary particles, nuclear chemistry, geochemistry, biochemistry). The aim of the course is to show how chemistry evolved compared to the exact and natural sciences and how it overlaps with the humanities (history, cultural anthropology, religious studies, psychology, sociology etc.) and what people can use it for. The lectures present chemistry in the broader perspective of our cognition (at the border of rationality and metaphysics) and of the whole world and its history of 13.8 billion years.

Expanded syllabus:

http://www.chem.uw.edu.pl/people/WGrochala/AL_syllabus.pdf

The history of civilization as the history of the development of materials chemistry and military science. The stone, copper, bronze, iron, gunpowder, coal and water, and silicon ages. Chemistry’s culture-building role.

Alchemy as the art of transformation. Holism. “Elements”, planets, stones, symbols, numbers. Alchemy as a “column of the heavens”. Magical numbers in the past and in contemporary chemistry.

Chemistry of the brain. Endorphins – happy hormones. Neurotransmitters. Melatonin – sleep hormone. Oxytocin.

Chemistry of love. Proteins in kisses. Molecular signalling and identification. When did the sexes emerge? Body revolution – sex hormones. Cholesterol and pheromones. “Chemistry’s sex-mission”.

Alcoholic fermentation and delirium tremens. Water, methanol, ethanol. Alkaloids and dosed poisons. Narcotics and antidepressants.

Chemistry and the Polish cause. Polish chemistry and chemistry in Poland. Einstein’s grandchildren. Chemistry as a “fulfilled science”. Nobel Prizes for Great Theories. The explosion of synthetic chemistry. (14) The world 13.798 ± 0.037 billion years after the Big Bang (and shortly before the Big Collapse?). Science as a language. Antinomies. Ockham’s razor. Demythologization and desacralization of matter and life. The terror of science and “loss of ties with the masses”. The crisis of the human psyche in the 20th century. The sinusoid of history and New Romanticism.

The estimated total number of hours students will have to devote to achieve the learning outcomes planned for the course: 45 h (including 30 organized hours, 1 exam hour, 14 hours of individual work).

[1] Theodore Gray "Wielka księga pierwiastków, z których zbudowany jest Wszechświat", wyd. Bellona, Warszawa 2011.

[2] Bill Bryson "Krótka historia prawie wszystkiego", wyd. Zysk i S-ka, Poznań 2009.

[3] Mircea Eliade "Kowale i alchemicy", wyd. Aletheia, Warszawa 2007.

[4] Richard Holmes "Wiek cudów: jak odkrywano piękno i grozę nauki ", wyd. Prószyński i S-ka, Warszawa 2010.

- knowing the relationships between humanities disciplines and the exact and natural sciences in a philosophical and social context

- basic knowledge on the latest achievements of interdisciplinary research methods in the humanities and the social, exact and natural sciences

- selecting and interpreting information from different textual, iconographic and electronic sources

- producing written papers: essays, short dissertations, reviews, scientific reports in Polish and in one of the “congress” languages

- understanding the dynamics of scientific, cultural and social development and keeping up with new research methods and paradigms

Continuous assessment (preparation for classes and activity), term (about one selected for elemental chemical in any literary form), oral exam. Examination Requirements: knowledge of the history of discoveries, characteristics and practical applications one selected chemical element