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UNR040 - Lecture 3

Development of science in the Middle Ages Development of science during the Renaissance period Development of science in the age of reason and enlightenment

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62 views21 pages

UNR040 - Lecture 3

Development of science in the Middle Ages Development of science during the Renaissance period Development of science in the age of reason and enlightenment

Uploaded by

ahmedzemaamer
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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UNR040: History of Science and

Technology

Mohamed Mahmoud, PhD

Email: [email protected]

gu.edu.eg
Development of science
I. Development of science in ancient cultures
II. Development of science in the classical era
III. Development of science in the Middle Ages
IV. Development of science during the Renaissance
period
V. Development of science in the age of reason and
enlightenment

1
III. Development of science in the middle ages

o Referred to as the medieval era

o It includes the following stages:


1) Early middle ages
2) High middle ages
3) Late middle ages

2
1) Early middle ages
o Also known as dark ages.

o It resulted in cultural and economic deterioration that occurred in


Europe.

o Greek was the language used for scientific writings. Later on it


declined.

o For Latin speaking population, Roman writings were the source of


science.

o By 6th century, churches became the center of knowledge and clergy


were interested only in bible. 3
Why clergy men studied science?
They studied science for the following reasons:

1) Study of nature was pursued for practical reasons than as an abstract


inquiry.

2) Need to take care of the sick led to study of medicine.

3) Need for monks to determine the proper time to pray led to the study
of stars.

4) The need to compute the date of Easter led them to study


mathematics.
4
o Around 800 AD, Charlemagne was
crowned emperor.

o He was the founder of Holy Roman


Empire.

o He restored learning and morality in


the environment.

o Study of astronomy gained


prominence during this period.
5
High middle ages (Ad 1000-1300)
o Around 1050 AD, European scholars built upon their existing knowledge
from Greek and Arabic texts.

o Medieval universities were established around this time.

o The re-discovery of the works of Aristotle.

o Importance was given to empiricism.

o Roger Bacon and Robert Grosseteste conducted investigations into optics.

o A description of a possible construction of a telescope has also been found.


6
o During the High Middle Ages, the Islamic world was at its cultural peak, supplying
information and ideas to Europe, via Al-Andalus, Sicily and the Crusader kingdoms
in the Levant.

o These included Latin translations of the Greek Classics and of Arabic texts in
astronomy, mathematics, science, and medicine.

o Translation of Arabic philosophical texts into Latin "led to the transformation of


almost all philosophical disciplines in the medieval Latin world", with a particularly
strong influence of Muslim philosophers being felt in natural philosophy,
psychology and metaphysics.

o Other contributions included technological and scientific innovations via the Silk
Road, including Chinese inventions such as paper, compass and gunpowder.
7
Late middle ages (AD 1300-1450)
o Occam’s Razor is a heuristics used by modern science to select between two or more
underdetermined theories.

o Occam's razor is a principle from philosophy. Suppose an event has two possible explanations. The
explanation that requires the fewest assumptions is usually correct. Another way of saying it is that
the more assumptions you have to make, the more unlikely an explanation. It was derived from
William of Occam’s logical studies

o They started studying the controversial scientific treatises of the Byzantine and Islamic empires.

o Thomas Bradwardine distinguished kinematics from dynamics.

o Nicole Oresme advocated that earth moves.

o Outbreak of plague put a stop to the massive scientific change


8
IV. Development of science during the renaissance
period (AD 1450-1650)

o Renaissance is an Italian word meaning rebirth

o The invention of printing press by Johan Gutenberg in


1436.

o Science was revived by philosophers like Copernicus,


Johan Kepler, Francis Bacon, Galilei and William
Harvey.
9
Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543)
o Polish astronomer who against
Ptolemaic view regarding the
motions of heavenly bodies (all
heavenly bodies including the sun
revolves around the earth).

o He proposed the Heliocentric


model

10
Johan Kepler (1571-1630)

o He gave three laws of planetary


motions.

o Kepler discovered that planets


move around the sun in
ellipses.

11
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
o Galileo made significant contribution to the
field such as astronomy, mathematics, physics
and the development of scientific instruments.

o First to use telescope.

o First to develop the law of falling bodies. The


law of fall states that the distance traveled by a
falling body is directly proportional to the
square of the time it takes to fall. This law
leads to the conclusion that the speed of a body
increases in direct proportion to the passage of
time. 12
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
o Emphasized the importance of
induction as a scientific method.

o Stressed the importance of


observation, experimentation, analysis
and inductive reasoning (The Inductive
reasoning refers to any method of
reasoning in which broad generalizations
or principles are derived from a body of
observations).
13
William Harvey (1578 –1657)
o Father of modern physiology.

o Discovered the circulation of


blood through the body.

14
V. Development of science in the age of reason and
enlightenment (1650-1800)
o Age of reason was an early 18th century movement which followed
after the mysticism, religion, and superstition of the Middle Ages.

o Individuals were free to pursue happiness and liberty.

o The age of enlightenment refers to a historical intellectual movement of


the 18th century.

o Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, development in the fields of


physics, mathematics, and chemistry
15
David Hume (1711-1776)
o He stated that "correlation doesn’t imply
causation", which refers to the inability to
legitimately deduce a cause-and-effect
relationship between two events or variables
solely based on an observed association or
correlation between them.

o The idea that "correlation implies causation" is


an example of a questionable-cause logical
fallacy, in which two events occurring together
are taken to have established a cause-and-effect
relationship.
16
John Locke (1632-1704)
o Regarded as one of the most
influential of Enlightenment thinkers
and commonly known as the "father
of liberalism".

o His work had a great impact on the


development of philosophy.

17
Issac Newton (1642-1727)
o Contributions in the field of astronomy,
physics, mathematics and theology.

o Theory of gravitation.

o Contributions to the fields of computation,


approximation and probability.

o Optics and mechanics.

o Newton saw God as the master creator whose


existence could not be denied.
18
George Berkeley (1685-1753)
o Famous for his work on vision
and metaphysics.

o Concentrated on visual and


tactual objects.

19
Thank You

gu.edu.eg
20

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