You will be asked to write a 5 page term paper in the form of a
dialogue along
the lines of Galileo's famous Dialogue
Concerning the Two New Sciences (which we will read as part of
the course). You will pick a scientific controversy, either past or
present, and write a dialogue in which the characters argue the
different sides of the issue. The characters may be historical, or from
the present day. A little humor to enliven the dialogue is welcome, but
not required. The important thing is that your dialogue illustrate
scientific reasoning and the resolution of scientific
controversy. The topic and outline of your dialogue must be approved by
me in advance.
With the permission of the authors, I will share some of the best
exerpts of the dialogues with the rest of the class, and they may be
used as a basis for discussion.
