The Final Post and an overview of this last eighth

This post is going to be more of a reflection on the course in general. Overall I was definitely satisfied with my adventure into the arts and humanities. Taking a course load of all stem classes has its advantages (no essays), but I really appreciate the books and the writing that I did this quarter. I feel like its actually contributed to making myself a more subjective individual. Of the books and reading we read this quarter I had a few favorites. I enjoyed reading the colloquy by Desiderius Erasmus  on pilgrimage for the reason that it was clear to see how the conversation was shifted towards showing a specific opinion. This was my first time reading an argument that was set up as a conversation and I enjoyed it greatly. I also enjoyed Galileo's dialogue on a chief two-world system for similar and different reasons. I enjoyed it more for its historical significance than for the actual content, but I also found the way he presented it, as a dialogue, interesting. It seems as though that is a popular way for intelligent people to express their ideas without being declared heretics. My favorite reading this quarter was definitely Candide. I had read it in my freshman year of high school with no context and quit halfway through because I had no idea what was going on, but with context it was infinitely more understandable. Looking at the problems and the lifestyles of authors at the time they are writing their works makes reading them much more interesting. Next year I definitely plan on diving in for some more history if I have any units available. What a great quarter and a great class!

Reflection on the final

Out of the final and into spring break. Not a bad end to the quarter. This week has been extremely hectic. Especially because all my finals were on Thursday Friday and Saturday. That left Tuesday and Wednesday completely free and compelled me to study in almost every second of free time that I had. With chemistry 2B and math 21B, taking a final that had nothing to do with math was quite relaxing. Unfortunately taking a history test and taking a math test require a completely different mindset that I feel I was somehow able to switch to. This quarter's material was pretty interesting to me. I enjoyed learning about the scientific revolution and the contributions made to both mathematics, physics, and philosophy by the people living in this era.

John Harrison and Navigation

When we began to discuss the age of discovery it made me remember a character who I always thought was interesting and thats the 18th century clockmaker, John Harrison. Merely a carpenter with knowledge of clockwork mechanisms, Harrison developed clocks that were accurate enough to determine longitudinal location using a sextant. This technique required having a clock that would stay on London time for the entirety of a sea journey so that by comparing the star charts and figuring out local time, one could determine where they were longitudinally. Harrison's advances in clockmaking were prompted by the longitude prize which was established by the royal society of London. Harrison encountered many struggles and eventually developed four separate clocks whose designs were far beyond their time.