Elemental, Part 2: Water and Air

This course is the second in a series to explore the scientific, historical, and cultural impacts of Aristotle’s classic elements: earth, air, fire, water–and a fifth element added in the Daoist tradition–wood. In this course, we will cover the role that water has played in human history and in the chemistry and biology of life on Earth. Since water and air interact extensively, we will also study the way in which our understanding of the interactions of these “elements” has evolved from folklore to modern science.

Suggested readings will be from articles posted on the course website.

Barbara Snapp received her PhD in biology from Cornell University where her research focused on the ecological adaptiveness of behavior. Her passion is teaching science, and especially teaching broad survey courses where she can interweave science themes with culture and history to build multidimensional understanding.