STV 100 / Scott Campbell / Week 1 Reading Guide

Week 1 Reading Guide

Before you start, review the "How to Read a Textbook" document on LEARN.
The reading guide is not meant to replace the textbook, but to link ideas in the book with those covered in
lectures, provide some useful summary, and suggest a few more resources. The structure will indicate key
ideas from the textbook, page by page. Additional ideas and questions from the writer of the guide will be
found in brackets.
The reading for the first week reviews some of what was discussed in class, and gets you started on the
textbook. Take a look at Dizikes' re-evaluation of C.P. Snow's contribution to Western thought, then read the
Preface in the textbook.
• Peter Dizikes, “Our Two Cultures,” The New York Times, March 19, 2009, BR23,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/books/review/Dizikes-t.html.
– Who did Snow blame for the "gulf of mutual incomprehension"? In your experience, is Snow
blaming the right group?
– Do you think educational programs are too specialized? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of specialization? Similarly, what might be the advantages and disadvantages of a
broad, general education that covers arts, humantities, math and science?
– Why is it that many people, Snow included, feel that scientist (and engineers) "have `the future in
their bones'"? Is this appropriate? Are they, morally speaking, the "`soundest group of
intellectuals'" to make decisions about the future? Why or why not?
– Dizikes suggests that science may have begun to address the human condition in recent years;
has technology been able to do the same? What about the humanities and the arts? Which fields
address ``the human condition'' best?
– Why did Snow think that the two cultures was a problem? What are some of the problems with
this prescription that Dizikes identifies?
– What does Snow apparently say about progress? In your own words, what is scientific or
technological progress? How can these things change the world? Can progress be ``stymied'' by
indifference, or it is an unstoppable force? Can anyone control progress? Ought they? (Most of
these issues will be discussed in the second half of the course)
• David E. Nye, Technology Matters: Questions to Live with (MIT Press, 2006), Preface (p. ix-xi).
– Notes
• xi: Technology shapes our imaginations and how we create in the world
• x-xi: Nye's initial questions relate to our relationship with technology and how we
understand it–we need to learn to live with the questions
– Study Questions:
• What does the preface tell you about the title of the book?
• Which chapter looks most/least intriguing?
• Who do you think the audience is for the book?