Fall 2026

The Origins of Scientific Thought

HISTSCI 201 explores the emergence of the scientific method from ancient traditions and the development of the Copernican-Newtonian worldview.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Florence Hsia4.1/5Aijie ShiRohini Dasgupta

Summary

1 / 7

Review 2 states reading is necessary for an A and most materials are online, though the textbook is required. Review 6 agrees reading is necessary for exams. Review 7 advises skipping the textbook because lectures cover everything needed.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Not open to students with credit forILS 201 or HIST SCI/​HISTORY 323

HISTSCI 201

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026

Florence Hsia

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.20/5 from 82 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 4.2/5 raw quality · 2.2/5 difficulty · 25 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Reviewers praise Florence Hsia for engaging lectures and clear slides, finding her likable and knowledgeable. Her teaching style makes the material interesting, though some find the content dry. Others criticize lectures as boring or containing useless information, suggesting they are not essential, while some emphasize reading is critical, creating a disagreement on lecture utility.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.76 GPA, 91.0% A/AB (n=133 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.84 GPA, 93.7% A/AB (n=111 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.66 GPA, 88.3% A/AB (n=120 letter grades).

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for Michael Shank describe him as passionate and engaging, with interesting lectures that require student attention. Reviewers note his willingness to help and provide exam details in advance, though one mentions tangential lectures.

FLORENCE HSIA is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2013, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MICHAEL H. SHANK is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2012, Spring 2014, Fall 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction120 / 3240
DIS 301Classroom Instruction17 / 180
DIS 302Classroom Instruction15 / 170
DIS 304Classroom Instruction8 / 170
DIS 333Classroom Instruction20 / 00
DIS 305Classroom Instruction14 / 180
DIS 306Classroom Instruction10 / 200
DIS 307Classroom Instruction17 / 170
DIS 308Classroom Instruction19 / 200

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Reviewers describe Florence Hsia as knowledgeable and engaging, noting that her lectures are interesting. Review 1 notes personal dislike of the class despite learning, while reviews 4, 5, and 9 praise the lectures and recommend the course.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.76 GPA, 91.0% A/AB (n=133 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.84 GPA, 93.7% A/AB (n=111 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.66 GPA, 88.3% A/AB (n=120 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Review 2 states reading is necessary for an A and most materials are online, though the textbook is required. Review 6 agrees reading is necessary for exams. Review 7 advises skipping the textbook because lectures cover everything needed.

Review 3 notes lectures can be long and boring but discussion helps. Review 7 prioritizes lectures over the textbook. Review 10 finds slides helpful for missed classes and notes the professor's passion.

Topics

  • Ancient science and medieval Christendom
  • Copernican-Newtonian world view

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.13 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1320 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
HISTSCI 201 · Fall 2026

The Origins of Scientific Thought

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:456:009619",
    "course_id": "HISTSCI 201",
    "course_uid": "course_50ed8cf08dc852be98c4ddf2",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "009619",
    "source_subject_id": "456",
    "title": "The Origins of Scientific Thought",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "7a411115377de74adcba7c86a658a2319c0e08b0a3b8b84c236c80f61d116642",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}