< Previous page ^ Table of Contents Next page >

Natural Sciences Tripos, Part II, History and Philosophy of Science

The regulation for the subject History and Philosophy of Science in Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos has been amended as set out below. The purpose of the amendment is to reduce the number of written papers to be offered from four to three, and to replace the fourth paper by a requirement for candidates to submit two essays on prescribed sources. The regulations for the Natural Sciences Tripos (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 358) have been amended, with effect from 1 October 1998, as follows:

Regulation 32.

By amending the paragraph relating to History and Philosophy of Science so as to read:

History and Philosophy of Science.  The scheme of examination shall be as follows:

(a) Each candidate shall offer three written papers of three hours each, to be chosen by the candidate from a list of not more than seven papers.

(b) Each candidate shall submit to the Examiners, not later than the last day of Full Lent Term, two essays, each of not more than 3,000 words in length, and each on a source chosen from a list of prescribed sources which shall be published by the Board of History and Philosophy of Science not later than the end of Full Easter Term in the year next preceding the examination. A candidate shall, not later than the last day of Full Michaelmas Term, obtain the approval of the Board for the subjects proposed for the essays.

(c) Each candidate shall submit to the Examiners, not later than the first day of Full Easter Term, a dissertation of between 5,000 and 15,000 words (inclusive of notes) on a topic proposed by the candidate and approved by the Board of History and Philosophy of Science. A candidate shall, not later than the division of the Lent Term, obtain the approval of the Board for the subject proposed. A dissertation shall show evidence of reading, judgement, criticism, and power of exposition, and shall give full references to sources used.

The Examiners shall have power

(i) if they consider that a dissertation is not sufficiently legible, to require that it be resubmitted in typescript;
(ii) at their discretion to examine a candidate viva voce on the subject of his or her dissertation and on the general field of knowledge within which the subject falls.

The supplementary regulations for the subject History and Philosophy of Science in Part II (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 374) have also been amended, with effect from the same date, so as to read:

History and Philosophy of Science

The following papers will be set. No candidate shall offer Paper 6 or Paper 7 having previously offered the Special Subject History of Medicine in Part II (General) of the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos.

Paper 1.  Classical traditions in the sciences

Questions will be set on some of the following topics:

Ancient, medieval, and early modern history of natural philosophy, natural history, mathematics, and technology. Scientific instrumentation and technical change. Disciplines, institutions, cultural roles, philosophies, and methods of inquiry in the ancient, medieval, and early modern periods.

Paper 2.  Natural and moral philosophies

Questions will be set on some of the following topics:

For the late sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries: the development of natural philosophy, chemistry, natural history, and the mathematical sciences; histories of the earth, geography and exploration, enquiries into the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and philosophies of human nature and human knowledge; scientific instrumentation and technical change; disciplines, institutions, cultural roles, philosophies, and methods of enquiry.

Paper 3.  Science, industry, and Empire

Questions will be set on some of the following topics:

Disciplinary, institutional, and cultural development of the sciences since 1800. Mathematics, physical sciences, life sciences, earth sciences, and human sciences. Technology, scientific instrumentation, and methods of scientific inquiry.

Paper 4.  Metaphysics, epistemology, and the sciences

Questions will be set on some of the following topics:

The ways in which scientific inquiry proceeds and what it can be taken to achieve; causation, laws, truth, explanation, understanding, observation, experiment, inference, and conceptual change.

Paper 5.  Science and technology studies

Questions will be set on some of the following topics:

Social variables of scientific knowledge and technology (including social variables of their production and dissemination). The co-production of science, technology, and society. Gender and race in relation to science and technology. Science policy issues. Science, technology, and development. Ethical issues in relation to science and technology. History and philosophy of science and technology studies. Historiography of the sciences and technology.

Paper 6.  History and philosophy of mind

Questions will be set on some of the following topics:

Philosophy and history of psychology and the cognitive sciences. Historical and philosophical aspects of psychoanalytic and psychiatric theory and practice. Philosophical psychology and its history. The history and philosophy of the neurosciences and artificial intelligence.

Paper 7.  Making modern medicine

Questions will be set on some of the following topics:

The history of medical institutions and the societies in which they existed. Historical aspects of medical theory and practice. Doctor-patient relationships at different periods. The history of the relationship between medicine and other systems of thought and practice.


< Previous page ^ Table of Contents Next page >

Cambridge University Reporter, 11th March 1998
Copyright © 1998 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.