Final Exam Questions

Here are the long awaited final exam questions. You must turn in a typed copy of your answers by 12 pm (noon) on Thursday, May 7th. Late exams will be docked one letter grade for every hour they are late; no exam will be accepted past 5 pm. Please bring the exams to me personally (Crawford 625) or place in my mailbox opposite the elevators on the 6th floor of Crawford. Do not submit online!

The length of your answers may vary, depending on how well you decided to answer the questions. Any quotations need to be properly cited. Do not copy the answer from the book(s). These questions are usually part think piece, part historical. If you any questions, please send me an email.

YOU MUST ANSWER ONE QUESTION FROM EACH SECTION!

1.) Medicine and Modernity

A. Discuss the rise of tropical medicine as a speciality in the 19th and 20th centuries. What were some of the problems these new specialists had to face? How did exploration and travel in various parts of the world create new challenges for western medicine, not only a 100 years ago, but today as well?

B. By the end of the 20th century, medicine had become a "proverbial Leviathan" according to Roy Porter, comparable in size to that of the military as far as government intervention was concerned, and in many cases no less business- and money oriented than today's large corporation. How and why did medicine transform itself into a proverbial "industrial-medical" complex during the 20th century? Is this a good thing for western society?

2) Scientific Questions Big and Small

C. John Gribbin calls the "last hurrah of classical science" the transformation of geology into geophysics. Discuss this transformation in the 19th century and 20th centuries, not only briefly explaining the transformative process, but also what was being discussed by these new scientists. How do discussions by scientists seeking to explain the ice ages give us insight into the current debate about global warming?

D. Discuss briefly the developments in biology, from Mendel to the Human Genome Project. How do these discoveries shape how we see ourselves? How might current research into DNA, RNA and genetic material effect Darwin's ideas about natural selection?

3) Global Technology

E. How do the Internet, McDonald's and Hollywood lead to the creation of a "Global Culture" based in part on technology and the benefits of science? What is this supposed global culture argued about by pundits from all sides of the political spectrum? Is there really a global technology and culture for the 21st century? Explain.