Great Works of Science
Some important notes regarding the great works of science requirement:
- A wide variety of activities may qualify for a Great Works experience in Science and Technology. Students may read a book from the approved lists, study a principle in class, attend a seminar, or visit a scientific venue (such as a museum or zoo).
- As with literature, any work by a listed author may count. Students may count works marked with an asterisk if they read a significant portion of them.
- The list of class principles is exhaustive. Students may only count principles from the list. The classes listed are only likely to review the listed principle. If students study the principle thoroughly in another class, they may log it (however, the experience should be more than cursory, i.e., a PHY S 100 discussion is not enough). If students take a listed class but do not review the listed principle, they should not log it.
- The list of seminars is only a short collection of resources at BYU. Students may count any legitimate science seminar or lecture.
- The list of venues is neither exhaustive nor comprehensive. Students are encouraged to seek out venues similar to the ones listed.
Life Sciences
| Principle | Course | Evolution: Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection | HONRS 260 |
|---|---|
| Genetics: Mendelian | HONRS 260; BIO 346 |
| The Central Dogma: DNA to Protein, Watson, Crick, and Franklind and the structure of DNA | BIO 240 |
| Cell Theory, Lister, Pasteur, Koch, germ theory of disease | MMBIO 221, 361 |
| The History of Medicine | MMBIO 221, 361 |
| Ecology | MMBIO 221, 361 |
| Development and Embryology, Animals, Plants, and Fungi | BIO 230 |
| Paleontology | GEO 480 |
Physical Sciences
| Principle | Course |
|---|---|
| History of Science | HONRS 259, 260; HIST 291 |
| Scientific Dishonesty | HONRS 260 |
| Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle | CHEM 105, 111 |
| Astronomy | HIST 291; PHSCS 127 |
| Laws of Motion and Gravity | PHSCS 105, 121 |
| Thomson's experiments on the charge and mass-ratio of electrons | CHEM 105, 111 |
| The three laws of thermodynamics | CHEM 105, 106, 111 |
| Planck's black-body radiation law | CHEM 111 |
| Millikan's oil-drop experiment | CHEM 106, 111; HONRS 260 |
| Rutherford's discovery of the nucleus | CHEM 106, 111; HONRS 260 |
| Young's double-slit experiment applied to the interference of single electrons | CHEM 111 |
| Geology | GEOL 101, 103, 112 |
| The development of quantum mechanics | CHEM 105, 106, 111 |
| Microprocessors and digital technology | EC EN 124, 224, 320, 324, 425, 427 |
| Semiconductor electronics; transistors | C S 100; EC EN 313, 450 |
| Computer Science | C S 100 |
Scientific Seminars
Physics Department Weekly Colloquium
Math Department Seminars
Computer Science Seminars
Statistics Seminars
Plant and Wildlife Seminars
Scientific Venues
BYU Planetarium
Thanksgiving Point Botanical Gardens
Hogle Zoo
Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum
BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures
The Smithsonian
NASA
Great Works of Science Readings
| Author | Science Type | Work Title |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott, Edwin A. | Physical | Flatland |
| Alhazen | Physical | Optics |
| Angier, Natalie | Life | The Canon |
| Apollonius of Perga | Physical | On Conic Sections |
| Archimedes | Physical | Works |
| Bacon, Roger | Life | Philosophy of Nature |
| Bauman, Zygmunt | Social | Modernity and the Holocaust |
| Beccari, Orlando | Life | Wanderings in the Great Forest of Borneo |
| Bell, Madison Smartt | Physical | Lavoisier in the Year One |
| Bellah, Robert, et. al. | Social | Habits of the Heart |
| Bellman, Richard | Physical | Eye of the Hurricane: An Autobiography |
| Berger, Peter and Luckmann, Thomas | Social | The Social Construction of Reality |
| Boorstin, Daniel | Physical | The Discoverers |
| Bourdieu, Pierre | Social | Distinction |
| Bronowski, Jacob | Social | Ascent of Man |
| Carroll, Sean B. | Life, Physical | Into the Jungle |
| Copernicus | Physical | On the Revolutions |
| Corner, John | Social | The Life of Plants |
| Crosby, Alfred | Life | The Columbian Exchange |
| Darwin, Charles | Life | The Origin of Species |
| Descartes, Rene | Life, Physical | Discourse on Method |
| Du Bois, W.E.B. | Social | The Souls of Black Folk |
| Dunham, William | Physical | Journey through Genius |
| Durkheim, Emile | Social | The Elementary Forms of Religious Life |
| Dyson, Freeman | Physical | Disturbing the Universe |
| Dyson, Freeman | Physical | Infinite in All Directions |
| Einstein, Albert | Physical | Relativity: The Special and General Theory |
| Erdos, Paul | Physical | The Art of Counting |
| Euclid | Physical | Elements |
| Euler, Leonard | Physical | Introduction to the Analysis of the Infinite |
| Feynman, Richard | Physical | QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter |
| Foucault, Michel | Social | Discipline and Punishment |
| Galileo | Physical | Assayer |
| Galileo | Physical | Dialogue |
| Galileo | Physical | Letter to the Grad Duchess Christina |
| Geertz, Clifford | Social | The Interpretation of Cultures |
| Gleick, James | Physical | Chaos - Making a New Science |
| Goffman, Erving | Social | The Preservation of Self in Everyday Life |
| Greene, Brian | Physical | The Fabric of the Cosmos |
| Gribbin, John | Life, Physical | The Scientists: A History of Science |
| Hardy, G.H. | Physical | A Mathematician's Apology |
| Harvey, William | Life, Physical | Circulation of the Blood |
| Hawking, Stephen | Physical | A Brief History of Time |
| Hayek, Friedrich | Social | Constitution of Liberty |
| Hayek, Friedrich | Social | Road to Serfdom |
| Heisenberg, Werner | Physical | Physics and Philosophy |
| Hicks, Sir John Richard | Social | Value and Capital |
| Hoffman, Paul | Physical | The Man Who Loved Only Numbers |
| Hofstadter, Douglas | Physical | Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid |
| Huygens, Christian | Physical | Treatise on Light |