4

Page Four

F.HE. COLLEGE NEWS

nei

Wednesday, October 7, 1959



Students Evaluate Sciences

.

Tony Ellis

Philosophy
Of her future education, Tony.
Ellis said: “If I go on wth philos-
ophy ll obviously meed more
science.” At Bryn Mawr, she
feels she should have taken more
science than she has—one year of
chemistry—but although she real-
ized this need at the time of deei-
sion, it didn’t seem worth the sac-
rifice it would have entailed in
liberal arts study. “I took chem-
istry because it seems the most

Helen Ullrich
Sociology-
Anthropology
Helen Ullrich, a sociology-an-
thropology major, and a one time
possible chemistry major, feels that
she has had a sufficient anount of

science. But she nevertheless feels
that Geology, the only 101 science

course that she missed, would also
have been of great value to her.

“¥ feel, therefore, that a fifth
science course should ibe offered to

disciplined, the most scientific of
the sciences offered at Bryn Mawr,
and at that time I was sure I’d
only take one year of any science.”

Tony stressed the desirability
of exposure to science on the lev-
el of the secondary schools “in
order to provide a foundation and
start interest; so that you can see
the value of science and apply it
She suggested a
high-school program of at. least
three years of math and four of
Tony herself took two

as you go on.”

science,



years of math and one each of
biology and chemistry in high
school—this of her own accord.
Although she considers that in
a single year of scientific expos-
ure some broadly inclusive course
might be the most generally app- |
plicable for the liberal arts major,
she twas generally very much op-
posed to the survey approach, in
science as in any other subject.
Tony’s extra-curricular experi-|

ence with science is probably more,
extensive than that of most lib-
eral arts majors. “I played with
math with my grandfather during
my school years, and experiment-
ed in the first. three years of col-
lege with physiology and anatomy
labs, Most of my scientific knowl-
edge has fbeen absorbed outside of
the regular curriculum, and, while
not sufficient in quantity, seems
adequate in kind. I make a point
of reading Time magazine on the
latest advances in medicine, al-
though in this I regret my lack of
scientific background of ‘knowl-
edge.”

Baber

“It seems as if the Communist
bloc is ‘calling the moves’ in re-
gard to many things. If this is
so, then the increased enmphasis
(placed on science in our country
‘is a reaction based on fear. To
meet the Communist challenge, a
better balance between the arts
and the sciences is needed, not a
complete reversal as made by the/|
Communists.

“There’s a great deal to be said
for the discipline of a science, the
more rigid deadline of a lab, the
absolute preciseness of experi-
ments. (Perhaps the most impor-
tant thing is that one experiences
undeniable rights and wrongs,
truths that can he proved; there
is often a beautiful certainty in
a science. In arts, one studies a
subject from so many angles that
frequently the student forgets to
make up her own mind as to what
position she will hold. :

“A more general kmowledge of
the practical sciences introduced
at high school level would benefit
a liberal] arts major. Theoretical
scierices, e.g. mathematics, have
relevance especially for philosaphy
majors and perhaps should be
taken at the college level. Aside|
from ‘Communist challenges’ and
the like, it is a shame that a lib-
eral arts major should be as ignor-
ant today as she is of scientific
principles; and vice versa. Can’t







a good thing; it’s necessary.
what I would like to see is logic

all students to- fulfill their science
requirements. This course would
combine the content and labora-
teries of the other four sciences,
physics, chemistry, geology and
biology, and would be taught by
members of all four departments.”

Helen proposes that the course
should not be easier than conven-
tional scienee courses and should
be. designed to give students “a
knowledge of the essentials of all
sciences.” This course would also
be of great value in helping a pros-
pective seience major decide in

which field she wishes to major.

“The importance. of science to

la Liberal Arts major,”’ Helen em-
\phasized, “lies in the introduction
of the student to the scientific

methed.”
Nancy Porter
Political Science

“Since I’m not scientifically-in-

clined, I feel that I’ve had all the
science F need or desire, but I don’t

mean to imply that a person with
a mind toward the sciences might
not do well to take more courses
in them.

“f took the 101 Geology course
here, beeause like most people, I
hadn’t taken it in high school. I
thought it was an excellent intro-
duction for us non-scientists, and
deep enough ‘for the future Geol-
ogy majors. A course in general
science seems to me rather high-
schoolish, and a separate course
for the unscientific would just put
an extra burden on the science
department. Se
- "‘Praining in scientific thought is
invaluable in any field, and science
really is bound up with Political
Science, sinee emphasis on science
is part of the political situation
these days. But for a political

seienee major, I think a study of

seientifie development today and
in the future would have more
value thaw another basic science

course.

Trudy Hoffman
English

“I think one year of science is
But

offered as a science; it trains the
mind in the same way a science
course does—or math could be

main purpose of the science must
be to train_a way of thinking.

“I think science is fascinating,
the way lit. is after two weeks.
‘Geology ‘was interesting, but 1

can’t use it for anything except

looking at mountains and so on,
As to taking more science if her

schedule. allowed the lit. courses
fof her maojr and that too, Trudy

says, “I would take more science,

but only if it just consisted of lec-
‘tures. I just haven’t the time nor

energy nor amount of interest that

labs require.
“T think a course in general

d| science would be stupid. Then in-
e| formation would be the point, and

Faso Os, anmelden lace

Dr. Michels: Science in a liberal Arts Education

Continued from Page 3, Cal. 4

‘have for science. What you want

to induce here is the willingness
and ability to read seience—not in
the highly technical sense, but at
least in the sense that it is writ-

ten for the layman, This means
‘that the student needs to have
enough examples of the way
science works—examples he un-
derstands—to get over his fear,
and an intimate enough knowledge
of scientific language and concepts
to be able to read scientific writ-
ings without serious difficulty.

Interviewer: Yes, but how do
you go about doing that in an in-
troductory course?

Dr. Michels: One presentation;
of course, is the historical develop-
ment of a science. But here the
temptation is to build a nice, log-
ical chain and to say that because
A happened B happened later. But
while this is often true of the mi-
nor steps in the growth of a
science, it is rarely true of the
major, the truly great steps, which
are often ibased on intuition.

Another approach is to skip
most of the history and present
the subject as a logical structure
which at each stage is intermesh-
ed with experimental observation-
al evidence.

Interviewer: But can you get
any idea of how a science devel-
ops if it is presented as a struc-
ture with an internal structure and
well-defined delimitations ?

Dr. Michels: I think you have
hit, in the very form of the ques-
tion, one of the difficulties here.
The temptation is to build a nice,
closed, beautifully logical system,
which, by its very completeness,
kills the interest of any student.
It is one of our big failures that
we have not pointed out to stu-
dents that ‘the structure is fluid,
that it’s not entirely, but only
partly, logical, that it is and will
remain incomplete. —

Interviewer: This problem ' is
compounded (by the fact that little
original research goes on at the
elementary level.

Dr. Miehels: Research—if it is
thought of as that which a person
engages in to find out something

previously unknewn to him—can}

go on at the elementary level. In
the laboratory here we try to de
exactly this: we try to get the
students very, very early—actual-

ly at the end of about three-weeks+}

—into a research situation, work-
ing in small groups on developing

‘their own problems and their own

techniques for solving them.
Interviewer: ‘What I’m most con-
cerned about is what can best be
done in the limited time you have
to train a humanities student,
Dr. Michels: This is, of course,
what we're all concerned about,

_ Judy Polsky
Philosophy-French

Judy Polsky, a Philosophy and
French major, feels that her ex-
posure to seience has certainly
been neither adequate in quality
nor in quantity. However, : she
regrets the lack of science large-



L ly on the grade school level.
used. One year of a science can’t |
in itself provide enough informa-
‘tion to be of lasting value, so the

“In grade school I jwas most
receptive to the idea of experi-
menting, whereas by high school
my tendency towards the liberal
arts was already quite marked.
|My schooling previous. to Bryn
| Mawr was entirely in public
schools, and even in my one year
of high school physics .1 was de-
terred by the lack of lab equip-
ment.”

“My college science has also
been rather inadequate, but I don’t

have time to be able to spend any |

more course time at this point. I
regret that. I didn’t have a chance
‘before entering college.”

dudy. stated the possibility of
continuing her studies, in French
at, least, but said that even. in that

case she planned no further course||
work in science; “Some reading ||

.amd I don’t think that anybody I
know ‘will pretend to have a com-
pletely satisfactory answer. We
are all reshaping our work; a lot
of experimenting is going on.

Interviewer: Is there any direc-
tion in which the teaching of
physics—since that is your field—
is moving?

Dr. Michels: Yes: toward the
freer laboratory, wherever poss-
ible. . Also there is a shift from
the quantative side of physics to
the strictly reasoned, non-quanti-
tative side, in am attempt to spre-
sent physics as it has really grown
and exists, not simply in the eas-
iest, most connected, way.

Interviewer: I may seem to be
harping on this subject, but has

‘there been more teaching of science

as part of the historical process,
that is, in the light of its reper-
eussions in society at large?

Dr. Miehels: Yes, there have
been many attempts, but remem-
ber: no matter how greatly science
has influenced society, the inter-
action is seldom direct. The big-
gest part of the interaction has
come through that intermediate
between science and _ society—
technology. The two are distinct;
and F don’t think science can take
full responsibility for technology.

Interviewer: [Perhaps not, moral-
ly. But if you are going to jus-
tify emphasis on scientific educa-
tion by saying that science has
had @ powerful influence on our
society, must you not, im that ed-
ucational process, attempt to show
what effect it has had?

Dr. Michels: I think this must
‘be done, (but whether it’s the job
of the scientist or the historian,
I’m not sure. (Science often both
receives impetus from the society
and gives imipetus to it. You can
say either that. the 17th century
produced great progress in astron-
omy because there was an econ-
omic demand for better navigation,
or you can say that good naviga-
tion resulted from progress in as-.
tronomy, Probaly both are true
and neither is true; and both the
historian and the scientist are
concerned \with the question.

Interviewer: One last, topical

Dieticion, Librarian
Bid College Adieu

During the summer, Miss Mar-
jorie Bacheller, college dietician,
and Mrs, Ethel W. ‘Whetstone, the
library’s head of circulation, re-
tired their posts at the College.

‘Miss Bacheller came to Bryn
Cawr as dietician in the midst of
war-time rationing (1942-48). Her
success ‘with short supplies at that
time ‘was equalled by her remark-
able record of having to substitute



cause of a crop freeze, no less!).
‘She will spend her winters in New
York and summers in ‘Weston, Vt.

Mrs. Whetstone joined the Library
staff in 1946 and become Head of

‘Circulation in 1954. (She was al

graduate of the University of
‘North (Carolina, worked in the
U. 8. Army Library at Fort Bragg
before her marriage and her sub-
sequent move to the Main Line.
‘She will now make her home with
her husband in Wichita, Kansas.

Day only once since the war ye

question: how do the science re-
quirements at Bryn Mawr meas-
ure up to your idea of a minimum
introduction to stience fdr the
non-science major?

|. Dr. Michels: As I said adits,
there are no absolute standards by
which one can judge the adequacy
of a curriculum or of a course, It
is certainly true that Bryn Mawr
College has avoided the watered-
down courses about science, rath-
er than in science, that have been
developed in some attempts to
produce courses for non-scientists.
On the other hand, our present
science requirement is less than
that in many institutions—there
is considerable justification for
the growing insistence on a full
year each of biological and of
physical science as part of a lib-
eral arts program. ‘The catch, of
course, is that adding to the
science requirement would cut out
something else; [ do not feel qual-
ified to form the value judgment
required except in company with
my colleagues.

B. Ll.

Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:

‘We don’t want to seem finicky,
ibut, as we are seniors and have
been loyal if not faithful readers
of the College News all that knock-
down,drag-out time; and, as we
are exercising remarkable restraint
despite the extreme (provocation,
we do hope that our few slight
suggestions won't ibe ill-taken.

Suggestion 1: Though anagram-
ists ourselves, we could by no
means ~decipher® “the

paper, smack in the middle of a
most intelligible (for onee) article:
xqrpotz. ly-guarded” gave us no clue, but
rather titivated our curiosity.
Would you desist from these inter-
esting (but rather childish attempts
to puzzle us, or else run a regular
column of answers?

‘Suggestion 2: The only sports
article ‘we remember “seeing in
your ppaer during the whole of
our interment here was one on
the rope-climbing requirement.
The novelty of that article’s ap-
(pearance caused a furor all along.
‘the Atlantic seaboard: Im order
to prevent further disturbances
of this sort, we propose that you
notice the sporting life more reg-
ularly. How about beginning with

tense competition that goes on: in
the body-mechanies class?
With all good intentions,
, IR. Crostic, ’60
T. Johanssen, ’60



e
Notice

Students worried about the
short (10 minute) walk from
‘Batten House to Taylor will be
interested to learn that the Ad-
ministration. is offering station
} wagon transportation, Monday
through Friday inclusive. The
car will leave for Taylor at
12:25, thus making it possible
for Batten Housers and Gradu-
ate Center freshmen to reach
class meetings, etc. on time.















mined study program.”

HAVERFOR D COLLEGGE
announces a
WILLIAM PYLE PHILIPS LECTURE SERIES
by
ALVIN H.
Professor of Economics, Emeritus, Harvard University
Visiting Professor of Economics, Haverford College

HANSEN







on
Inflation and Economic Growth
Wednesday evenings during the fall of 1959
Catader 14S es ..» The Inflation Debate: Causes and Remedies
Oetober 28 .. The Public Debt, Eeonomic Growth, and Rate of
: ' Enterest
November 4 .............. Automation and Pyramid Building
| ‘November 18 .......... The Dual Economy: Prices and Taxes
| December 9 .... -+++.+ Rich America in a World of Poverty
pee at 8:16 P. M.

following, .
which appeared recently in your

a play by play account of the in- -





“a