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Syllabus
HPSC X100 Sec. 2560
Invention and Discovery
www.indiana.edu/~ ctwardy/x100
MWF 10:10-11:00, Wylie 101

Contacting the instructor: Charles R. Twardy

Electronic mail: ctwardy

This is by far the best way to reach me, and a convenient way to ask quick questions and such. Please feel free to send email! I appreciate questions, comments, and feedback, either about the course materials or my teaching. I usually check email twice a day during the week, randomly on weekends. You may even email text versions of your papers and projects if you can't bring them by office hours for comments.

Office Hours

Office Hours in Goodbody Hall 010:  Monday 11:00-12:00 


Tuesday 10:00-11:00 

and by appointment or chance!

These hours are set aside especially for you to stop by, and I will gladly meet you at other mutually agreeable hours as well. I strongly recommend that you show me your drafts, especially early on. General Hint: showing your instructor even the roughest outline of your paper or project almost always helps.

Website: www.indiana.edu/~ ctwardy/x100

If all goes well, the course website will be a source of current information, news, and tips about readings, assignments, and related websites. This week it may be outdated, as it still has the syllabus from last semester.

The course

This is a topical introduction to the history of science and the philosophy of science. The class mixes general overviews with case studies and some hands-on work. There is a lot of group work, which is designed to make the learning easier and more interactive.

This course should give you a deeper understanding of how scientific and technological innovation actually occurs and how it is related to more everyday experiences of puzzle-solving. We will study several historical examples as well as some psychological and philosophical accounts of invention, discovery, and creativity.

We will also have some hands on experience. Students will work in groups to invent a simple telephone of their own design. No prior experience is required. In addition, groups will contribute their scholarship to the Alexander Graham Bell Notebooks web site.

Grading and assignments

Assignment	Percent
Group Telephone Project	25
Group Website Project	15
Five Page Paper # 1 (Group)	15
Five Page Paper # 2 (Individual)	25
Micro-assignments (drop 1)	20

Extra credit

The two papers can be rewritten, as can the group website project. Students also have the option of doing short extra-credit assignments to boost their grade. These involve about a day's research and a 2-page writeup. Each will replace one micro-assignment grade.

Attendance & Participation

Attendance is its own reward. Absence entails two direct risks: missing a graded assignment or activity, and displeasing your group members (who will evaluate your participation in group projects). Otherwise, my feeling are this: for only four years you are in a place rich in intellectual and cultural opporunities. Take the best advantage of them that you can!

Textbooks

• Koestler, Arthur. The Act of Creation. ($15.00)
• Reading packet at Collegiate Copy, on 3rd and Jordan. You will need to tell them the course number (X100) and the professor (Twardy). You choose the binding. ($30.00)
• Later we will probably use Boden, The Creative Mind. Wait on this for now.
• Your group can spend up to $15.00 for telephone materials.

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