What is Matter?

     I have been in a variety of classes over my academic career. From AP History classes, to Finite Mathematics, to my favorite, gym classes. None however, have been as interesting as one that I have enrolled in during my Spring 2023 Semester. It is called, "What is Matter?". Reading the name of the course, I knew that it was a little different from the start. The true reason that I took the class was due to the fact it knocked my science credits out of the way without having to do any labs. It was a very enticing to say the least.

    Me and my roommate decided to take the course together so we could both see what it was like. The course description reads this, "Western ideas of matter proceed from the Pre-Socratics through Aristotle, medieval scholastic-Aristotelianism and alchemy before being reshaped by the views enunciated by Bacon, which herald new practices and ideas (mathematization, experimentation, and mechanism). Through texts, experiments and observations developed from ancient to modern times, we see a shift in fundamental questions, particularly regarding the nature of matter. Through historical accounts of the transition, we come to distinguish between the ancient project to understand the world and the modern project to predict and control it." I really had zero clue what this meant and just went in blind to the first class.

    I walk into the classroom, and its just one table. 12 chairs. In a circle. It was very interesting and I knew what this was going to be like. Every class we talk about a reading that we did before class, regarding the history of science. In addition to this, we also have to write a 250 word reading journal about the reading. It is a very demanding class where you constantly have to read. I thought I would breeze through this, but it is my most difficult class this semester. And not to help, all our readings are primary sources, from the 1st to 18th century. This is a class I would recommend only to those who have a deep interest in the history of science and how it has advanced. But remember, no labs.