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The nature of the history of science is a topic of debate (as is, by implication, the definition of science itself). The history of science is often seen as a linear story of progress [27] but historians have come to see the story as more complex.
Nov 15, 2024 · History of science, the development of science over time. Humankind has long observed regularities in nature, from the movements of the Sun and Moon during day and night to the seasonal migrations of animals. Learn how science advanced from the observation of these natural phenomena to modern understanding.
- L. Pearce Williams
Observing the natural world and paying attention to its patterns has been part of human history from the very beginning. However, studying nature to understand it purely for its own sake seems to have had its start among the pre-Socratic philosophers of the 6th century BCE, such as Thales and Anaximander.
If science is a way of thinking and was invented in 6th century Ionia, then, before Thales, did no one think scientifically? If not, why did they start in 6th century Ionia -- and how? Pictures and songs seem wired into our brains, making us human. But science may not be wired in, and, if not, may be a Greek artifact.
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- The authority of phenomena
Even as Dante was writing his great work, deep forces were threatening the unitary cosmos he celebrated. The pace of technological innovation began to quicken. Particularly in Italy, the political demands of the time gave new importance to technology, and a new profession emerged, that of civil and military engineer. These people faced practical problems that demanded practical solutions. Leonardo da Vinci is certainly the most famous of them, though he was much more as well. A painter of genius, he closely studied human anatomy in order to give verisimilitude to his paintings. As a sculptor, he mastered the difficult techniques of casting metal. As a producer-director of the form of Renaissance dramatic production called the masque, he devised complicated machinery to create special effects. But it was as a military engineer that he observed the path of a mortar bomb being lobbed over a city wall and insisted that the projectile did not follow two straight lines—a slanted ascent followed by a vertical drop—as Aristotle had said it must. Leonardo and his colleagues needed to know nature truly; no amount of book learning could substitute for actual experience, nor could books impose their authority upon phenomena. What Aristotle and his commentators asserted as philosophical necessity often did not gibe with what could be seen with one’s own eyes. The hold of ancient philosophy was too strong to be broken lightly, but a healthy skepticism began to emerge.
The first really serious blow to the traditional acceptance of ancient authorities was the discovery of the New World at the end of the 15th century. Ptolemy, the great astronomer and geographer, had insisted that only the three continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia could exist, and Christian scholars from St. Augustine on had accepted it, for otherwise men would have to walk upside down at the antipodes. But Ptolemy, St. Augustine, and a host of other authorities were wrong. The dramatic expansion of the known world also served to stimulate the study of mathematics, for wealth and fame awaited those who could turn navigation into a real and trustworthy science.
In large part the Renaissance was a time of feverish intellectual activity devoted to the complete recovery of the ancient heritage. To the Aristotelian texts that had been the foundation of medieval thought were added translations of Plato, with his vision of mathematical harmonies, of Galen, with his experiments in physiology and anatomy, and, perhaps most important of all, of Archimedes, who showed how theoretical physics could be done outside the traditional philosophical framework. The results were subversive.
The search for antiquity turned up a peculiar bundle of manuscripts that added a decisive impulse to the direction in which Renaissance science was moving. These manuscripts were taken to have been written by or to report almost at first hand the activities of the legendary priest, prophet, and sage Hermes Trismegistos. Hermes was supposedly a contemporary of Moses, and the Hermetic writings contained an alternative story of creation that gave humans a far more prominent role than the traditional account. God had made humankind fully in his image: a creator, not just a rational animal. Humans could imitate God by creating. To do so, they must learn nature’s secrets, and this could be done only by forcing nature to yield them through the tortures of fire, distillation, and other alchemical manipulations. The reward for success would be eternal life and youth, as well as freedom from want and disease. It was a heady vision, and it gave rise to the notion that, through science and technology, humankind could bend nature to its wishes. This is essentially the modern view of science, and it should be emphasized that it occurs only in Western civilization. It is probably this attitude that permitted the West to surpass the East, after centuries of inferiority, in the exploitation of the physical world.
Even as Dante was writing his great work, deep forces were threatening the unitary cosmos he celebrated. The pace of technological innovation began to quicken. Particularly in Italy, the political demands of the time gave new importance to technology, and a new profession emerged, that of civil and military engineer. These people faced practical problems that demanded practical solutions. Leonardo da Vinci is certainly the most famous of them, though he was much more as well. A painter of genius, he closely studied human anatomy in order to give verisimilitude to his paintings. As a sculptor, he mastered the difficult techniques of casting metal. As a producer-director of the form of Renaissance dramatic production called the masque, he devised complicated machinery to create special effects. But it was as a military engineer that he observed the path of a mortar bomb being lobbed over a city wall and insisted that the projectile did not follow two straight lines—a slanted ascent followed by a vertical drop—as Aristotle had said it must. Leonardo and his colleagues needed to know nature truly; no amount of book learning could substitute for actual experience, nor could books impose their authority upon phenomena. What Aristotle and his commentators asserted as philosophical necessity often did not gibe with what could be seen with one’s own eyes. The hold of ancient philosophy was too strong to be broken lightly, but a healthy skepticism began to emerge.
The first really serious blow to the traditional acceptance of ancient authorities was the discovery of the New World at the end of the 15th century. Ptolemy, the great astronomer and geographer, had insisted that only the three continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia could exist, and Christian scholars from St. Augustine on had accepted it, for otherwise men would have to walk upside down at the antipodes. But Ptolemy, St. Augustine, and a host of other authorities were wrong. The dramatic expansion of the known world also served to stimulate the study of mathematics, for wealth and fame awaited those who could turn navigation into a real and trustworthy science.
In large part the Renaissance was a time of feverish intellectual activity devoted to the complete recovery of the ancient heritage. To the Aristotelian texts that had been the foundation of medieval thought were added translations of Plato, with his vision of mathematical harmonies, of Galen, with his experiments in physiology and anatomy, and, perhaps most important of all, of Archimedes, who showed how theoretical physics could be done outside the traditional philosophical framework. The results were subversive.
The search for antiquity turned up a peculiar bundle of manuscripts that added a decisive impulse to the direction in which Renaissance science was moving. These manuscripts were taken to have been written by or to report almost at first hand the activities of the legendary priest, prophet, and sage Hermes Trismegistos. Hermes was supposedly a contemporary of Moses, and the Hermetic writings contained an alternative story of creation that gave humans a far more prominent role than the traditional account. God had made humankind fully in his image: a creator, not just a rational animal. Humans could imitate God by creating. To do so, they must learn nature’s secrets, and this could be done only by forcing nature to yield them through the tortures of fire, distillation, and other alchemical manipulations. The reward for success would be eternal life and youth, as well as freedom from want and disease. It was a heady vision, and it gave rise to the notion that, through science and technology, humankind could bend nature to its wishes. This is essentially the modern view of science, and it should be emphasized that it occurs only in Western civilization. It is probably this attitude that permitted the West to surpass the East, after centuries of inferiority, in the exploitation of the physical world.
- L. Pearce Williams
By the start of the Scientific Revolution, empiricism had already become an important component of science and natural philosophy. Prior thinkers , including the early-14th-century nominalist philosopher William of Ockham , had begun the intellectual movement toward empiricism. [ 40 ]
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May 28, 2014 · Unfortunately, they did not know the zero, and their numeral system lacked simplicity: 27 signs were required to express 999. Greek Science. Unlike other parts of the world where science was strongly connected with religion, Greek scientific thought had a stronger connection with philosophy. As a result, the Greek scientific spirit had a more ...
