Some example episodes for the final paper

(star indicates extra mathematical sophistication)

1. phlogiston theory of combustion ---> oxygen theory (Lavoisier)
2. catastrophism in geology ---> uniformitarianism (Lyell)
3. theory of circulation of the blood (Harvey)
4. atomic theory (Dalton, Perrin)
5. punctuated equilibrium theory in evolution
6. particle optics ---> wave optics (Young, Fresnel)
7. fluid electicity (Franklin)
8. electrons (Thompson)
9. plate techtonics in geology
10. global warming
11. atmospheric pressure (Torricelli)
12. energy concept and ideal heat engines (Carnot)
13. DNA and molecular genetics (Watson, Crick, Rosalyn Franklin: interesting feminist angle)
14. psychoanalysis (Freud)
15. Bayesian statistics (Ramsey, DeFinetti)
16. Cartesian physics (Descartes)
17. elliptical orbits (Kepler)
18. tidal theory (Galileo, Kepler, Newton)
19. the clonal selection theory of the immune system
20. behaviorism ---> cognitive psycyhology
21. theory of polymers
22. population genetics (Fisher*)
23. quantum theory (Planck, Bohr, etc.*)
24. relativity theory (Einstein*)
25. black holes (Hawking, Penrose*)
26. Electromagnetism (Oersted, Faraday, Maxwell*)
27. statistical mechanics (Einstein*)