Chapter 1.

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Intellectual revolutions
that define society

The world is in constant flux. Everything, including all the material things and ideas, may
change accordingly based on the facts which are an output of human curiosity. Seeking answers to
human questions added scientific facts, evidence, and concepts in the network of knowledge
understandable by man. It means that the more questions asked, the more knowledgeable humans
become.

In order for us to enumerate and understand the major shifts in the history of science and
technology, we must be familiarized with the most significant scientific events that change and
shaped our society during the time of Nicolaus Copernicus, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud. In
addition, we have to study the major shifts during the early times in Mesoamerica, Middle East, and
Africa.

Learning Outcome:
Articulate ways by which society is transformed by science and technology.
Trace the history of science and Technology in different areas and civilization; and
Enumerate scientific and Technological advancement made by people and some civilizations of
seventeenth century.

1. 1300- 1600 – a time of great change in Europe as scholars began to question ideas that had been accepted
for hundreds of years.
2. BEFORE 1500 – scholars generally decided what was true or false by referring to an ancient Greek or
Roman author or to the Bible.
3. REFORMATION – religious movement that prompted followers to challenge accepted ways of thinking
about God and salvation

While the reformation was taking place, another revolution in European thought had begun, one that would
permanently change how people viewed the physical world.

A NEW WAY OF THINKING

BEGINNING IN THE MID- 1500’s – few scholars published works that challenged the ideas of the ancient
thinkers and the church. As scholars replaced old assumptions with new theories, they launched a change in
European thought that historians call the…
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION - was a new way of thinking about the natural world. This way was based
upon careful observation and a willingness to question accepted beliefs.
reached because of the combination of discoveries and circumstances
the age that fuelled scientific researches especially in astronomy and mathematics.

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 THE MEDIEVAL VIEW

GEOCENTRIC THEORY – a belief that the earth was an immovable object located at the center of the
universe according to this belief, the moon, the sun, and the planets all moved in perfectly circular paths
around the earth common sense seemed to support this view. After all, the sun appeared to be moving around
the earth as it rose in the morning and set in the evening. Proposed by Aristotle (Greek philosopher of the 4th
century BC) expanded by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD

✔ Christianity taught that God had deliberately placed the earth at the center of the universe. Earth was thus a
special place on which the great drama of life unfolded.

A REVOLUTIONARY MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE

An early challenge to accepted scientific thinking came in the field of astronomy. It started when a small
group of scholars began to question the geocentric theory.
HELIOCENTRIC THEORY – sun-centered theory proposed by a Polish cleric and astronomer Nicolaus
Copernicus who reasoned out that indeed, the stars, the earth, and the other planets revolved around the sun
after studying planetary movements for more than 25 years.

This still did not explain completely why the planets orbited the way they did. He also knew that most scholars
and clergy would reject his theory because it contradicted their religious belief. Fearing ridicule or persecution,
Copernicus did not publish his findings until 1543, the last year of his life. He received a copy of his book,
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, on his deathbed.

The work of Copernicus had built foundations for other scientists.

TYCHO BRAHE - carefully recorded the movements of the planets for many years
produced mountains of accurate data based on his observations. however, it was left to his followers to make
mathematical sense of them
JOHANNES KEPLER – assistant of Brahe, a mathematician, who continued his work concluded that certain
mathematical laws govern planetary motion. One of these laws showed that the planets revolve around the
sun in elliptical orbits instead of circles, as was previously thought (Copernicus ideas were true)
demonstrated mathematically that the planets revolve around the sun.

GALILIEO’S DISCOVERY
GALILEO GALILEI – an Italian scientist who built new theories about astronomy; he studied heavens in
1609 using telescopes he made.
He published a small book entitled Starry Messenger which described his astonishing observations; he
announced that there are four moons of Jupiter; the sun had dark spots; earth’s moon had a rough, uneven
surface (shattered Aristotle’s theory that the moon and stars were made of a pure, perfect substance. His laws
and observations also supported the theories of Copernicus.

CONFLICT WITH THE CHURCH

• Galileo’s findings frightened both Catholic and Protestant leaders because they went against church
teaching and authority. If people believed the church could be wrong about this, they could question other
church teachings as well.
• In 1616, the Catholic Church warned Galileo not to defend the ideas of Copernicus. Although Galileo
remained publicly silent, he continued his studies. Then, in 1632, he published Dialogue Concerning the

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 • Two Chief World Systems. This book presented the ideas of both Copernicus and Ptolemy, but it clearly
showed that Galileo supported the Copernican theory. The pope angrily summoned Galileo to Rome to
stand trial before the inquisition.
• Galileo stood before the court in 1633. Under the threat of torture, he knelt before the cardinals and read
aloud a signed confession. In it, he agreed that the ideas of Copernicus were false.
• Galileo was never again a free man. He lived under house arrest and died in 1642 at his villa near Florence.
However, his books and ideas still spread all over Europe. (In 1992, the Catholic Church officially
acknowledged that Galileo had been right).

✔ The revolution in scientific thinking that Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo began eventually developed into a
new approach to science called the scientific method.

BACON AND DESCARTES

• The scientific method did not develop overnight. The work of two important thinkers of the 1600s, Francis
Bacon and René Descartes, helped to advance the new approach.
FRANCIS BACON –
• an English stateman and writer, had a passionate interest about science
• he believed that by better understanding the world, scientists would generate practical knowledge that
would improve people’s lives.
• attacked medieval scholars for relying too heavily on the conclusions of Aristotle and other ancient thinkers
EMPIRICISM, OR THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD –
• an approach that instead of reasoning from abstract theories, scientists must experiment and then draw
conclusions
RENE DESCARTES –
• He developed analytical geometry, which linked algebra and geometry. This provided an important new tool
for scientific research.
• Like Bacon, he believed that scientists needed to reject old assumptions and teachings
• he approached gaining knowledge differently than Bacon. Rather than using experimentation, Descartes
relied on mathematics and logic
• he believed that everything should be doubted until proved by reason

✔ Modern scientific methods are based on the ideas of Bacon and Descartes. Scientists have shown that
observation and experimentation, together with general laws that can be expressed mathematically,
can lead people to a better understanding of the natural world.

THE ENLIGHTENMENT
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement in the
eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith.

Benjamin Franklin - British colonist who embodied Enlightenment ideals in the British Atlantic with his
scientific experiments and philanthropic endeavors.
he gained fame on both sides of the Atlantic as a printer, publisher, and scientist
It uses the power of the press to question accepted knowledge and to spread new ideas about openness,
investigation, and religious tolerance throughout Europe and the Americas.
Many consider the Enlightenment a major turning point in Western civilization, an age of light replacing
an age of darkness.

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Several ideas dominated Enlightenment thought, including rationalism, empiricism, progressivism, and
cosmopolitanism.

• Rationalism is the idea that humans are capable of using their faculty of reason to gain knowledge.
• Empiricism promotes the idea that knowledge comes from experience and observation of the world.
• Progressivism is the belief that through their powers of reason and observation, humans can make unlimited,
linear progress over time.
• Cosmopolitanism reflected Enlightenment thinkers’ view of themselves as actively engaged citizens of the
world as opposed to provincial and close-minded individuals.

FREUDIAN REVOLUTION
SIGMUND FREUD – the founder of Psychoanalysis (type of therapy that aims to release pent-up or repressed
emotions and memories in or to lead the client to catharsis, or healing. In other words, the goal of
psychoanalysis is to bring what exists at the unconscious or subconscious level up to consciousness)

MODELS OF THE MIND

Perhaps the most impactful idea put forth by Freud was his model of the human mind. His model divides the
mind into three layers, or regions:
• Conscious- this is where our current thoughts, feelings, and focus live.
• Preconscious (sometimes called the subconscious) - this is the home of everything we can recall or retrieve
from our memory.
• Unconscious- at the deepest level of our minds resides a repository of the processes that drive our behavior,
including primitive and instinctual desires.

Later, Freud posited a more structured model of the mind,

one that can coexist with his original ideas about
consciousness and unconsciousness. In this model, there
are THREE METAPHORICAL PARTS TO THE
MIND:

1. Id: The id operates at an unconscious level and

focuses solely on instinctual drives and desires. Two
biological instincts make up the id, according to
Freud: eros, or the instinct to survive that drives us
to engage in life-sustaining activities, and thanatos,
or the death instinct that drives destructive,
aggressive, and violent behavior.

2. Ego: The ego acts as both a conduit for and a check

on the id, working to meet the id’s needs in a
socially appropriate way. It is the most tied to reality
and begins to develop in infancy;

3. Superego: The superego is the portion of the mind

in which morality and higher principles reside,
encouraging us to act in socially and morally
acceptable ways.

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DARWINIAN REVOLUTION

CHARLES DARWIN- an English naturalist and geologist who explained the diversity of life on Earth with a
theory of evolution in his book “On the origin of species” that was published in 1859

Evolution, as explained by Darwin, occurs by means of natural selection. In addition, natural selection
might occur because of the following reasons:

1. OVERPRODUCTION AND VARIATION – some species produce many offspring but not all of these
young will survive. It means that not all of the offspring have the characteristics to survive in the environment.

2. COMPETITION AND SELECTION – competition may or may not be direct but the idea is always on the
survival of the organism. The organisms that survived more likely reproduce which transfer their characteristics
to their offspring.

3. ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE – the environment will not adjust for the organism but rather it is always
the organism that will change to adapt to the environment.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Fossil Fuels, Steam Power, and the Rise of Manufacturing
At one time, humans were fuelled by the animals and plants they ate and the wood they burned, or aided by
their domesticated animals, provided most of the energy in use. Windmills and waterwheels captured some
extra energy, but there was little in reserve. All life operated within the fairly immediate flow of energy from
the Sun to Earth.

Industrial Revolution which began around 1750. People found an extra source of energy with an incredible
capacity for work. That source was fossil fuels — coal, oil, and natural gas.

Early Steam Engines

The story of the Industrial Revolution begins on the small island of Great Britain. By the early 18th
century, people there had used up most of their trees for building houses and ships and for cooking and
heating. In their search for something else to burn, they turned to the hunks of black stone (coal) that they
found near the surface of the earth. Soon they were digging deeper to mine it. Their coal mines filled with
water that needed to be removed; horses pulling up bucketful proved slow going.

1. JAMES WATT (1736–1819)- a Scottish instrument-maker who in 1776 designed an engine in which
burning coal produced steam, which drove a piston assisted by a partial vacuum

2. STEAM ENGINE- its first applications was to more quickly and efficiently pump water out of coal
mines, to better allow for extraction of the natural resource, but Watt’s engine worked well enough to be
put to other uses; he became a wealthy man.

3. attached to machines that spin cotton thread on spindles and to weave it into cloth on looms for faster
production of cotton cloth.

4. British also invented steam locomotives and steamships, which revolutionized travel.

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