本課程乃講述人類開始對大自然好奇從而產生「準科學」，之後發展到科學革命的一些故事。本課亦會講述歐洲發生的科學革命前，東方與阿拉伯世界對科學的貢獻。科學的發展有某些規律，其中之一當然是其邏輯性，故本人會在課程中段略述科學的方法論（科學哲學），如歸納法、演譯法與逆推法，亦會提及「常態科學」與「證偽原則」。影響科學發展第二個因素乃「人性」，故在課程前半部會講述阻礙科學革命的種種人性因素。課程亦會提及科學的發現與發明往往是意料之外。本人從事生物醫學研究與教學多年，故課程後半部講述近代的生物醫學發現，讓同學們可從許多故事中，理解到科學發展的邏輯性與人性交錯的奧妙。
This course describes how ancient humans became curious about the nature and developed quasi-science. This course also discusses scientific activities in the Orient and the Islamic World, and tells key events from Renaissance to Scientific Revolution. Scientific advances were affected by two main elements: logical elements and human nature. For the logical aspects, I will discuss about methodology (philosophy of science): induction, deduction and retrodiction, “normal science/paradigm shift” and Principle of Falsifiability. For the human nature part, I will discuss major human factors that resisted the Scientific Revolution. The second half of the course I will focus on modern discoveries in biology and medicine, in which I will tell stories about the intertwinement of logical necessity and human factors playing roles in paradigm shifts.
先修科目Prerequisites
教學方式Teaching Methods
講課
Lecturing
學生上台報告、角色演練
Oral presentation, Role playing
評量方式Assessment
期中報告
Midterm report
期末報告
Final report
小組上台報告
Group oral report
參考書目Reference
Iwan Morus. 2017. The Oxford Illustrated History of Science. Oxford University Press
Karl Popper. 1959 (English translation) The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Julius Springer
Thomas Kuhn. 1962. The Structure of Scientific Revolution. University of Chicago Press
Jared Diamond. 1999. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton and Company.
牟宗三 1993 中國哲學十九講. 台灣學生書局
G.W.F. Hegel. 2010. The Science of Logic. Translated by G. Di Giovanni. Cambridge University Press.
Hille B. 2001. Ion channels of excitable membranes. Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer,
參考紀錄片：
BBC Science and Islam 1 - The Language of Science
Copernicus and Galileo: A Scientific Revolution
Men of Rock episodes 1-3
Albert Einstein Documentary
Evolution - Darwin's Dangerous Idea
Rosalind Franklin Biography DNA: Secret of Photo 51
教學進度Course Schedule
2022/02/25 引言、古希臘、中世紀與回教黃金時期的科學
Introduction - Science in Ancient Greece, Medieval Times and the Gold Era of Islam
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/03/04 東方的科學貢獻
Scientific contribution from the Orient
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/03/11 文藝復興時期之風起雲湧：藝術、航海與宗教改革
The achievements in Arts, navigation and religious reformation in the first half of 16th century.
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/03/18 哥白尼與其不能說的秘密
Copernicus and his untold secrets
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/03/25 歷盡滄桑而確立的《日心說》：從伽利略、卡普拉到牛頓
Heliocentrism finally established: thanks to further efforts of Galileo, Kepler and Newton
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/04/01 科學革命時期的動、植物學、解剖學和生理學
Zoology, botany, anatomy and physiology during Scientific Revolution
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/04/08 從培根的方法論說起：歸納法、演繹法與逆推法
Induction, deduction and retrodiction
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/04/15 孔恩的常態科學VS 波普爾的證偽原則
Kuhn’s Normal Science versus Popper’s Principle of Falsifiability
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/04/22 期中考
Midterm exam
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/04/29 是刻意，還是意外? 談發明與發現
Intentional or accidental: Invention and Discovery
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/05/06 從感性、知性到理性：談科學以外的哲學層次
From senses, Understanding to Reason: Philosophical realm beyond science
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/05/13 偷得浮生半日閒：科學幻想的空間（笛卡兒、凱庫勒與愛恩斯坦的白日夢）
Scientific imagination: stories about day dreaming of Descartes, Kekule and Einstein.
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/05/20 演化論與遺傳學的突破：從達爾文、孟德爾到沃特森與克里克
Breakthroughs in evolution and genetics: from Darwin, Mendel to Watson and Crick
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/05/27 離子通道：三代科學家的“洞”見
Ion channels: the insights of three generations of electrophysiologists
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/06/03 I.氣態訊號：向NO（一氧化氮）說YES
II.普里昂蛋白：一個“瘋狂”的發現
神經新生：一個科學家前途之死與一個新理論之誕生
I. A gaseous signal：Say YES to NO (nitric oxide)
II. Prions: a “crazy” finding!
Neurogenesis: Death of a scientist’s career and birth of a new theory.
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/06/10 紀錄片欣賞
Documentary appreciation
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/06/17 學生報告
Oral presentations by students
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man) 2022/06/24 學生報告
Oral presentations by students
梁育民(Leung, Yuk-Man)