Taking it further
Have you discovered an interest in the discovery of science? Why not nourish that passion with some of our options to take it further?
History of Near Eastern Medicine
An in-depth consideration of medicine in Mesopotamia and ancient Iran
The Asclepion
Indiana University's collection of ancient medicine resources
On Ancient Medicine
An online translation of Hippocrate's work.
History of Western Biomedicine
A vast collection of weblinks to take you further still
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Which type of course is best for you?
Openings
If you haven’t experienced higher education before, deciding to become an undergraduate student can be a big step. But don’t worry, the OU’s designed a programme that allows you to dip your toe in the water before committing yourself!
Making Sense of the Arts (Y160)
This course introduces some of the key ideas and ways of thinking involved in studying the arts and humanities. It explores several different areas of study including poetry, history, art history, philosophy and religious studies
Details of all the OU's Openings courses can be found on their Openings courses page.
Longer Courses and Qualifications
Open University courses are the main 'building blocks' of our qualifications. You can take a single course or take several to build towards an Open University diploma or degree.
Medicine and Society in Europe 1500 - 1930 (A218)
This course traces developments in medicine from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century, showing how a heritage of medical thought and practice inherited from classical Greece gradually became a recognisably modern medicine. It aims to set medicine in its social, political and economic contexts, looking at the patient’s changing experience of illness, their access to care, and the role and identity of healers across Europe. It shows how western medicine interacted with ideas from contemporary science, religion, and other systems of thought. The course provides a fascinating introduction to the last five centuries of medical history.
Topics in the History of Mathematics (MA290)
Mathematics has a long history, going back at least to Egyptian and Mesopotamian times. The course’s topics include the Greek idea of rigorous mathematical proof; how problem solving with numbers became algebra; the seventeenth-century ferment from which modern mathematics began to emerge; the work of Newton; eighteenth-century consolidation and developments associated with Leonhard Euler.
It also considers geometries and algebras in the nineteenth century; renewed interest in axiomatisation; new approaches to a more rigorous calculus; and the work of the computer pioneer Charles Babbage. You need little mathematical knowledge, though a familiarity with the subject will help, and you will need to engage with some mathematical explanations.
