By visiting the actual locations at which the fundamental advances in these fields were made, students will learn not only the technical nature of those developments, but also the environmental and historical context in which they occurred.

 

The Life Science thread will begin with the geological evidence for the ancient Earth at Siccar Point, Scotland, and will follow the development of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution at Down House, the discovery of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick at Cavendish Lab in Cambridge and Rosalind Franklin at King’s College in London, and will end with the cloning of Dolly the sheep in Edinburgh.

 

The Telecommunications thread will begin with Michael Faraday’s work at the Royal Institution in London and will follow the development of electromagnetic theory by James Clerk Maxwell in Cambridge, the development of radar by Robert Watson-Watt at Bawdsey Manor in East Anglia, the first transmission of radio waves across the Atlantic by Guglielmo Marconi, and will culminate at the world’s largest satellite Earth station in Cornwall.

 

Course Goals: Students will learn

1) The fundamental concepts of evolution, the structure of DNA, and cloning

2) The fundamental concepts of electromagnetic waves, radar, and telecommunications

3) The historical context in which these scientific fields were developed

4) The environmental influences on the scientists who pioneered these fields

 

Additionally, through the generous support of Wittenberg University, students will learn to use a variety of digital hardware and software tools to enhance their understanding and to share their knowledge with others.