In this course, we will examine different passages of Tanakh that discuss scientific reason and predictability in the natural world. Examples include the days of creation, the prognostications of Joseph in Egypt, the serpentine staff of Moses at the burning bush, the chthonic death of Korah, or the curious gourd of Jonah. The goal is to discuss how to construct and test a predictive model as a natural scientist, and how the concept of the nes (“miracle”) dovetails with this intellectual process from the Torah’s perspective.

Sample Readings:

• Selections from Tanakh
• George Eliot, Daniel Deronda
• P. W. Anderson “More is Different”
• Excerpts from Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions