History of Science Online - Course Info - Time tips - Semester at a glance - Weekly assignments at a glance - Timeline - Week 8: 14th-century Science

Starting Assumptions

#	Due Date	Pts	Activity	Time
1	Tuesday 11:59 p.m.	10	Starting Assumptions Think about what you know already about the culture and period, share your knowledge and experience with other students in the class	30 min.

Questions

1. Last week's Starting Assumptions introduced the Middle Ages as a whole. This week our focus is on the final century of the Middle Ages, the 1300's or 14th century (some important dates). What most interests you about the 14th-century historical context?
2. What do you appreciate most about late medieval art?
   • The Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry: This famous example of a Book of Hours was created by two brothers named Limbourg before 1416. Half of the 200 pages are full page illustrations. It is now located in France at the Chateau de Chantilly. The lower portion of a full page illustration may depict a memorable activity for that time of year; the upper portion presents an astronomical calendar (detail). Examine the month of January. The lower portion of the page for the month of January depicts the exchange of gifts (not at Christmas, but on Epiphany, January 6th). What do you see in the upper region?
3. What do you most appreciate about Dante, Chaucer, or any other work of late medieval literature? (Dante was proficient in astronomy; Chaucer wrote an impressive treatise on the astrolabe.)
4. To inspire your Starting Assumptions this week, feel free to revisit one or two of last week's Starting Assumptions suggestions that you didn't respond to last week.
5. ** What are some similarities between late medieval culture and culture today? How might these similarities help us to understand late medieval culture? What are some differences between late medieval culture and culture today? How might these differences pose an obstacle to our understanding of late medieval culture? This week we will meet (among others) three major 14th-century scientists: Nicole Oresme, Jean Buridan, and William Ockham. Do you remember the Shape of the Earth assignment from the first week of the semester? What did you think of Nicole Oresme, the main narrator of that dialogue? (The icon for this week shows Oresme at the University of Paris.) What do you already know about Buridan, and Ockham?**

Instructions for Starting Assumptions assignment: Look over the questions and links below; then watch the Starting Assumptions video prompt for this unit at Janux. PART ONE: Write a paragraph, 150 words minimum, in response to any questions that interest you. Post your completed paragraph in the Starting Assumptions discussion stream for this week at Janux. PART TWO: Read the Starting Assumptions posts of at least two other students at Janux. Make another post in the discussion stream at Janux replying to their posts. (If you are the first or second person to post, you will have to check back later to complete this part of the assignment.) IMPORTANT: When you respond, please begin by greeting the persons by name you are replying to, so that they will be more likely to notice that you are replying to them. And over the next several hours, check back and see if anyone comments on your post as well. If you provide interesting comments in response to others, they will be more likely to look for your posts both now and in the future. As you post your paragraph and respond to two other students, complete the Gradebook Declaration in Desire2Learn. Your Gradebook Declaration is subject to the Honor Code. Check all that apply: if you have completed the assignment, you will check all five statements. If you work on the assignment at different times, you may make the Gradebook Declaration incrementally as you complete each part. You may redo the Gradebook Declaration as often as you like up until the due date, if any part is incomplete the first time. Here is the text of the Desire2Learn Gradebook Declaration: (2 points) I have posted my Starting Assumptions (at least 50 words) at Confluence, including a response to the required question(s). (2 points) I have posted my Starting Assumptions (at least 100 words) at Confluence, including a response to the required question(s). (2 points) I have posted my Starting Assumptions (at least 150 words) at Confluence, including a response to the required question(s). (2 points) I have replied to the post of at least one other student. (2 points) I have replied to the post of at least two other students.

	HSCI 3013. History of Science to 17th century Kerry Magruder, Instructor, 2004-14 Brent Purkaple, TA Report typos or broken links	Go to this course at Janux spellcheck.net | wordcounter.net Many thanks to the pedagogical model developed in Mythology and Folklore and other online courses by Laura Gibbs, which have been an inspiration for this course.	Academic Calendar
	This course is currently undergoing major reconstruction to bring it into alignment with the new version of the course at Janux