FREE ESSAY ON DEVEPOPMENT OF MODERN SCIENCE IN EUROPE

DEVEPOPMENT OF MODERN SCIENCE IN EUROPE

Questions! Where did I come from? Why is the sky blue? How do the trees produce fruit?
Ever since man looked around his environment and tried to figure out the things that was
going on around him he'd ask questions. Mankind has always wanted to understand the world
around him. 
For centuries mankind had used a belief system of supernatural powers, gods and goddesses
and eventually an all-powerful God to explain the world around him. And for a while
supernatural explanations of how nature worked was enough. But by the 16th century man
had started to explore the workings of the world around him. This exploration of nature
and how it relates to mankind is called science. This time of exploration from the 16th
century is called the Scientific Revolution.
We will take a look at the development of science throughout the periods of the first
scientific revolution. We will take a look at the men who played a significant part in
the development of science and how that development affected mankind's outlook on the
universe in which he lived. We will discuss the ideas of Galileo, Bacon and Marquis de
Condorcet and see how their ideas affected society. 
In order to understand how revolutionary the ideas of the Scientific Revolution where we
need to understand theories of the universe that preceded 1500's called the Aristotelian
concept of the universe. According to this theory all matter was arranged in a
hierarchical order according to its quality. The higher up the order that the matter was
placed the better the quality of that matter. The Christian church adapted the principal
with, of course, God being at the top. The closer to the top that the object was, the
closer to God it was. Mankind is placed just below Angels in the order, and therefore
close to God. Mankind was God's creation in His own image, and therefore the most
important creation on earth. Because earth was the home of God's most important creation
it was placed at the center of the universe, with the sun ,moon and stars going around
it. This made sense because ancient man could see the sun and moon coming up and going
down over the horizon. And if one pondered the question of why the sun and moon rose and
fell it could be concluded that they, along with the Stars, rotated around the earth.
This concept is called Ptolemaic astronomy. 
The first figure that we will discuss in the Scientific Revolution was Galileo Galilei.
He was an Italian born professor of mathematics who had a great interest in the workings
of the universe. 
Galileo had seen into the heavens with the telescope he had designed and created an even
more accurate picture of the universe. The Earth was not the center of the universe, as
Copernicus had stated in 1543,he claimed. 
Galileo's observations went against the official teachings of the church. Did not the
Bible say that the sun stood still according to the Old Testament story of Jericho? The
Earth not being the center of the universe would not fit into the Ptolemaic astronomy
concept. The academic philosophers, who subscribed to Church doctrine, feared that if
Galileo's principles are found to be true then people might question the accuracy of the
Churches representation of the world, and possibly lose belief in the Bible. The Church
was infuriated by Galileo's teachings and at the age of 70 indicted him for heresy. 
In 1615 Galileo published a letter written to the Grand Duchess of Tuskegee Christina, in
which he defended his scientific positions against the accusations of the Church
influenced philosophers. 
He states in the letter that those who accused him aren't interested in the truth and
show, a greater fondness for their own opinions than for the truth, they sought to deny
and disprove the new things which, if they cared to look for themselves, their own senses
would of demonstrated to them." He wrote that the charges made against him are sprinkled,
passages taken from the Bible which they had failed to understand properly, and which
were ill suited to their purposes. He went on to say that his attackers are spreading
rumors about his theories being unholy when he states, they have endeavored to spread
their opinion that such propositions in general are contrary to the Bible and are
consequently damnable and heretical. When he wrote, they would have us together abandon
reason in the evidence of our senses in favor of some Biblical passage, but under the
surface meaning of its words a different sense , he was saying that those who speak out
against him are saying that we should give up reason and scientific evidence and believe
their particular interpretation of Scripture even though it may not be God meant. Galileo
makes the argument that even though the Holy Bible never speak untruth... it is very
abstruse, and may say thanks which are quite different from what its bare words signify.
He went on further to write that an order for the Bible to hold truth for each and every
man it must be interpreted and therefore the words may have a different meaning when read
by different people in different circumstances. Galileo is basically saying in this
letter that those who oppose him use verses from the Bible out of context and that would
be better for them to use reason in trying to understand God's grand plan for nature, and
that God had endowed us with senses, reason and intellect and to ignore these would be
doing the creator an injustice.
Englishman Sir Francis Bacon and Frenchman Rene Descartes were both proponents of a new
scientific method of explaining God's universe. 
Descartes was a mathematic genius, which did not adhere to the traditional scientific
principles of Aristotle. He believed that it was necessary to doubt existing truths,
until using the deductive reasoning and a systematic mathematical process could prove
them. 
Bacon, too, had no great love for the old traditional methods of trying to understand the
things around us. He called for the use of the inductive method of acquiring knowledge.
This method relied on particular observations to arrive at generalizations. By studying
particular trees, such as apple trees and peach trees, scholars could induce knowledge
about trees in general. 
In 1620 Bacon wrote New Organon, which expressed his views on the new Scientific Method.
He wrote, "it is idle to expect any great advancement in science from the Super inducing
and in a grafting of new things upon old. We must begin anew from the very foundations,
unless we should result for ever a circle with mean progress... , which means scientists
should have used the new scientific method instead of the traditional methods of
Aristotle and Plato. 
Bacon used a metaphor, using insects, to show the three types of scientific methods. The
first was like the ant that piled up tons of data but did nothing with it. The second was
like the spider that wove exquisite and complex webs. The webs were just ideas of the
scientist without any observation behind them. The third, which Bacon preferred, was the
honeybee that took things from nature and mixed it with the stuff of its own being to
produce something sweet and useful to humankind. In other words the scientist using this
type of method gathered information by observation and experimentation, which is followed
by a rational interpretation of the results. This is called the empirical method. Bacon
felt that through use of his empirical method of science and with the support of the
government funds scientists, like the ones at Gresham College, could make great strives
in improving the lives of the population and making the nation powerful and rich. 
Gresham College in London, England was an institution funded by Sir Thomas Gresham, which
had close ties with the Royal Navy. Many instruments were developed there which aided in
accurate time keeping and observation of the stars, which was so critical in ocean
navigation.
Instruments such as a newer telescope, the thermometer, the microscope, the pendulum
clock, the barometer and the air pump. These instruments not only helped England become a
great sea power, by enabling ships to travel farther and return safely, but gave the
scientists more accurate ways to gather information. The monarchy saw the value of
instruments produced by the scientists and established the Royal Society of London in
1662. 
England was not the only country whose monarchy recognized the usefulness of science.
Other royal houses established and often funded scientific societies of their own. By
1700 there were four great academies in Europe, The Royal Society of London, the Academy
of experimentation in Florence, The French Royal Academy and the Berlin Academy of
Sciences. The academies were places where leading scientists met and were encouraged to
experiment and do research. The findings of the Scientists were published in books and
journals. These publications at first were read only by other scientists but eventually
would be found in libraries and homes of the noblemen. 
Scientific Revolution scientists such as Galileo, Copernicus, Descartes and Bacon
wrestled with questions about God, human aptitude, and the possibilities of understanding
the world. The Church was an opponent of the Scientific Revolution, not so much because
of opposition to new ideas but instead because the new information contradicted the model
of the world the church had created.
The Church felt that if people lost faith in the Church's view of the universe then they
might lose faith in the Church itself and not support it. Without support of the people
,and the money it brings, the Church could lose the power that it held in Europe.
Eventually, the implications of the new scientific findings began to affect the way
people thought and behaved throughout Europe. 
The impact of the Scientific Revolution on how people thought about the world around them
was great. It's most direct influence was on European intellectuals who created a
movement called the Enlightenment.
Enlightenment intellectuals greatly admired the accomplishments of the Scientific
Revolution. As they had questioned the authority of traditional knowledge about the
universe they also began to question traditional views of the state and social order.
Their favorite term ,reason, literally meant the use of the scientific method to
understand everything. Physical science then was not the only place where the method of
observation and reasible deduction could be used. 
At the center of the Enlightenment movement was a group of French writers and
intellectuals, in Paris, called The Philosophes. Their goals were to use the Scientific
method, or deductive reasoning, to solve mankind's social problems. They believed that
with reason the human condition could be changed for the better. They called for
abolishing slavery, equality for all classes of people. represenitive government of the
people, quality education for all the youth, and the birthright of each person to enjoy a
happy life. Life here on earth should get better through progress and common sense
thinking. This was change in attitude implied that man could have a good life here on
earth and not have to wait until they entered heaven. Again this contradicted the model
of man's role in the world that the church had created. 
One such example of the ideals of The Enlightenment was Sketch Of The progress Of The
Human Mind, written by Marie-Jean Caritit, The Marquis de Condorcet. Written in 1793-94
he traced the nine stages, or epochs, of man's progress as it had already happened. The
tenth stage, he predicted, would be a society, where progress would provide mankind with
a perfect life. 
He writes, that nations should be equal and share in the enlightenment that is enjoyed by
the powerful civilized nations.
"Should not all the nations of the world approach one day the state of civilization
reached by the most enlightened peoples such as the French and the Anglo-American? Will
not the slavery of nations subject to the Kings, the barbarity of African tribes, and
ignorance of savages gradually disappear." He further goes on to write that slavery will
be abolished and all men will be free." Thus the day will come when the sun will shine
only on free man born knowing no other master but there reason; or tyrants in their
slaves priests and they're ignorant, hypocritical writings will exist only in the history
books and theaters." Scientific progress will produce wonderful machines to help mankind
produce more goods and grow more food. ...that new tools, machines, and lose will add
everyday at the capabilities and skills of humans they will improve a perfect precision
of their products of decreasing the amount of time and labor needed to produce them... a
smaller piece of land will be able to produce commodities of greater usefulness and value
than before... we will be with the Jews for each type of soil of production of goods that
will satisfy the greatest number of what it with the least amount of labor and
expenditure. He noted that mankind will be able to do away with war, The most enlightened
people, having seized for themselves the right to control their life and treasurer, was
slowly come to perceive war as the deadliest plague and the most monstrous of crimes...
they will understand that they cannot become conquers without losing the liberty that
perpetual ounces of the only way to preserve independence and that they should seek their
security not power. And finally he wrote that progress will eliminate poverty and
sickness, No one can doubt the progress and preventive medicine, the use of healthier
food and housing, a way of living that increases strength through exercise without
destroying it through excess, and finally the destruction of the two most persistent
causes it of deterioration, property and access of wealth, will lengthen for human beings
the average life span and I share more good health and a stronger constitution. Clearly
improvements in medical practices resulting from the progress of reason and the order of
call society will cause transmittable and contagious diseases to disappear as well list
diseases caused by climate,
nourishment and certain vocations. 
The men that we have discussed felt that it was important to open our eyes and discover
the world around us and try and answer the many questions that human beings ask about our
universe, through observation, experimentation and deductive reasoning. That all mankind
had the ability to reason and make a better life for themselves here on earth through
progress, and scientific inventions. The Scientific revolution and the Age of
Enlightenment was just the beginning of a journey that mankind would take toward a world
of better medicine, more and healthier food, shorter work hours and longer lives. And
maybe, if we use a little more reason and common sense we can achieve the goal of The
Marquis de Condorcet and live in that peaceful and perfect world.