This course is designed to develop and refine students' views about the nature of science, and the nature of change, both gradual and revolutionary, in scientific theory. This course uses work in the history of science and philosophy of science to address the nature of scientific disciplines (the theories and problems which characterize them); the relations between theory and the empirical work; and the nature of theory changes in the sciences. The course has also been designed to help students refine their ability to read and write scholarly work, including a major research project.