Class Research Resources and Assignments

Week 3
 Video of Lectures

The History of Climate Science & The Science of Climate History - William Moomaw
 

The Early Years and Beyond...

Readings:

Spencer Weart
The Discovery of Global Warming (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2003), Capters 1-3, pp. 1-65.

In addition to the text in the book itself, please connect to and explore the relevant online support material located at the American Institute of Physic's website. Note that you may download the full support material in HTML format or in PDF format, or you may oder the material on a CD.

View Presentation by Professor Robert Socolow

In addition, please read:

William R. Moomaw
 1989 "In Search of the Greenhouse Fingerprint," Orion: Nature Quarterly, (Winter, 1989), pp. 4-11.
 


The extended and somewhat convoluted history of the "greenhouse fingerprint" illustrates a great deal about the way science is undertaken in our society.

and

Timothy C. Weiskel
 1983 "Rubbish and Racism: The Problem of Boundary in an Ecosystem," The Yale Review, (Winter, 1983), pp. 225-244.
 


While reading this article, consider the cultural context of the development of climate science in the United States. Ask yourself:

What were the dominant cultural metaphors available to most Americans that served to "filter" their perception of new scientific information?

In what ways is the development of "Science" -- and perhaps in particular, climate science -- constrained or conditioned by the larger cultural context in which it is situated?

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