This is the Home Page for
Bill Lynch
CONTENTS
Link
back to the Interdisciplinary Studies Program home page...
Courses
***New Course for Fall, 2003: Empire, Then and Now
Atoms and Stars (GST 2420)
Atmospheric Pressure Slides
Essay 1 Assignment
Selected Outside Web Page:
Alternative Astronomical Systems
Science and Religion (GST 1990)
Online computer conference: Science and Religion
Online User's Guide for CLL Computer Conferencing
Online reading:
Olson
Brooke
Marx and
Engels
Freud
Weber
Descombes
Durkheim
Johnson
Optional reading:
Pope on Evolution
Response
by Dawkins (anti-Gould)
Pellegrino
response
Ruse response
Scott response
The Car and the City
Selected Student Papers:
Kiki Herfert, The
Growth and Development of Grosse Pointe
Linda Lawera, The
Effect of the Car on a City
The Future
of Cities (GIS 3991: Interdisciplinary Core Seminar)
Selected Student Paper:
Lu Jennings, Deterioration
and Revitalization: Detroit’s Demise and Rebirth
Written Communication Skills (GIS 1510)
[Return to Top]
Location
Science and Technology Division
Interdisciplinary Studies Program
5700 Cass Avenue, 2313 A/AB
Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan 48202
e-mail: William.Lynch@wayne.edu
Web site: http//www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/blynch
Phone: 313-577-4614
Fax: 313-577-8585
[Return to Top]
Education and Experience
- B.S., Physics, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute (1987)
- M.S., Science and Technology
Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1989)
- M.A.., Science and Technology
Studies, Cornell University (1993)
- Ph.D., Science and Technology
Studies, Cornell University (1996)
- Curriculum Vitae
[Return to Top]
Interests
- History of the Early Royal
Society of London and the Scientific Revolution
- The early
Royal Society of London is the subject of my book, Solomon's Child:
Forms of Baconian Method in the Early Royal Society of London (Stanford
University Press, Writing Science series). See my abstract .
- Science and Technology Studies
Science and Technology Studies is an interdisciplinary
field that examines science and technology from historical, philosophical,
sociological, cultural, and political perspectives. For more information,
see the web site for the most interdisciplinary scholarly organization
in the field, the Society for
Social Studies of Science (4S) . For a variety of web resources
related to Science and Technology Studies, including information on academic
programs in the field, see the
Worldwide Guide to Science Studies Programs .
- History and Philosophy of
Science
An excellent guide for students studying the history
of science can be found at Horus Gets in Gear
. For a guide to resources, see the WWW
Virtual Library: History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
. The international scholarly organization for historians of science
is the History of Science
Society .
- Normative Approaches to Science
Science, like any other human activity, can be criticized
for failing to live up to its own ideals or for its social consequences.
Work in Science and Technology Studies has shown that science is not
immune from error, including systematic error of an ideological character.
While science has often been associated with social progress, at times
it has also reinforced cultural stereotypes and structures of power. Science
should not rely upon claims that it possesses a privileged method guaranteeing
truth but should engage its past and present in a self-critical manner.
Moreover, the relationship between science and society needs examination
by both scientists and non-scientists alike to ensure that the practices
and products of science tend to promote democratic and emancipatory
interests. For an interdisciplinary journal promoting dialogue on normative
approaches to science, see
Social Epistemology . For a more practically-oriented
approach to science, technology, and democracy, visit the Loka Institute or any of the activist
links at the STS Links
.
- Social Theory
- Science and Engineering Pedagogy
- Consequences of Urban and
Suburban Sprawl
- Revitalizing Democracy and
Public Life
[Return to Top]