History of Science

studies how scientists have engaged in the various activities

in the past, i.e.,
how social interactions among scientists
(and between scientists and the greater society) and styles of
scientific reasoning have changed over the
centuries;
i
how particular scientific achievements came to be
accepted,
p , both byy individual scientists and by
y the scientific
community as a whole.
 HOS LECTURE 1

History of Science
HistoryofScience

TheGreekWorld

SciencebeginsintheGreekworldwiththeriseofwidespreadliteracy.

TheGreeksusedanalphabeticwritingsystemratherthanalogographicsystem
The Greeks used an alphabetic writing system rather than a logographic system
liketheChineseorEgyptians,andthismadelearningtowritesignificantlyeasier.

Readingwasmadewidelyaccessible.
Reading was made widely accessible.

TheGreekswhosettledinAsiaalsohadexposuretobothBabylonianand
Egyptianknowledge,prescientificmathematics,andengineering.
gyp g p g g
Exposuretothesenewideasencouragedthedevelopmentofscientificthinking.
 Thefirstscientists:Thalesinthe6thcenturyBC(cityofMiletus).

Theybeganaskingquestionsaboutmathematicalgeneralizationsandthefundamental
natureofthings.

Moreimportantly,theydidnotinvokereligiousexplanations.
More importantly they did not invoke religious explanations

Theynotonlystatetheirtheories,butattemptedtoprovidealogicaldefenseofthem,
introducingtheideaofaproof.

Scienceandphilosophydidnothavecleardivisionsatthistime,andphilosophersand
scientiststypicallyworkedinbothfields.
 Pythagorasfoundedabrotherhoodinthe6thcenturyBC.Hisbrotherhoodmademany
contributionstothedevelopmentofGreekmathematics,aswellasrevealingthe
mathematicalnatureofmusic.

Hebelievednumbersweretheonlyrealityandthatcontributedtothetendencyof
He believed numbers were the only reality and that contributed to the tendency of
Greeksciencetospendagreatdealofeffortconsideringnaturephilosophicallyrather
thanobservationally.
 Scientistssometimescomeupontheoriesthatprovetobefaraheadoftheirtime.

TheatomisttheoryisonesuchexamplefromtheGreekworld.
Theatomists,Democritusandothers,believedthatmostoftheuniversewasempty
spaceandthatmattercouldonlybedividedsofar.
Weknowthatthistheoryisessentiallycorrectinitsbroaddetailstoday.
Theatomistswerethinkingabouttheworld,buthadnoevidencetheycouldpointto
demonstratethevalidityoftheatomictheory.

MathematicalmodelingofsciencebeginswithastudentofPlatosnamedEudoxus.
Whilehedidnotsuggestanyactualnumbers,hesuggestedthenotionofepicycles
usedheavilyinthelaterPtolemaictheoryofthesolarsystem.
 AristotleiscertainlyPlatosbestknownstudent,andthemostinfluentialofthe
Classical Greek scientists He divided science into several subjects and his
ClassicalGreekscientists.Hedividedscienceintoseveralsubjects,andhis
classificationswestilllargelyusetoday:zoology,physiology,linguistics,psychology,
meteorology,physics,planetaryastronomy,geology,opticsandchemistry.
Aristotlebasedhiswritingonobservation,butdidnotbelievethat
experimentationwouldrevealanythinguseful.Hisrationalistapproachtoscience
wouldproveextremelyinfluentialwhenhewasrediscoveredinthemiddleages.
 ClassicalGreeksciencedidnotproceedunimpeded.

AnaxagorasandSocrateswerebothprosecutedonthegroundsof
impiety.Socrateswasactuallyputtodeathforhiscrime.

Greekreligion,despiteeffortstoresistphilosophyandscience,would
Greek religion despite efforts to resist philosophy and science would
eventuallybeforcedtogivewaytotherationalizinginfluenceof
scienceandphilosophy.
HellenisticPeriod

beginswiththedeathofAlexandertheGreat,andalsothedeathofAristotlethe
followingyearin322BC.Thisperiodwouldbeginwithahugeflurryofactivityin
the 3rd century BC considered as the most productive period of Greek science
the3rdcenturyBC,consideredasthemostproductiveperiodofGreekscience.

Forthefirsttimescientistsbegantoreceivepublicfundingfortheirstudies.The
PtolemaicrulersofEgypthelpedfoundandfundtheLibraryofAlexandria.Atits
peak,itmayhavehadasmanyas700,000volumes.TheMuseumwasbotha
templeandaplaceoflearning.MostHellenisticsciencewasinsomeway
associatedwiththeMuseum.
 EuclidwastheearliestofthegreatHellenisticmathematicians.Hecompiled
inhisbooktheElementsalloftheknowngeometryofhisday,putting
togetheratextbookthatwouldbethestandardwellaftertheRenaissance.
Eachconceptwaslaidoutclearly,withlogicalproofsandwithoriginal
contributionstogeometry.

Anothergreatscientistofthe3rdcenturywasAristarchusofSamos.
Aristarchusproposedaheliocentricmodelofthesolarsystem,probablybased
onaPythagoreannotionofacentralfirearoundwhichalltheplanets
(includingthesun)wouldrotate.However,liketheAtomisttheory,his
heliocentricmodelcouldnotbeproved.

ThegreatestmathematicalmindoftheHellenisticperiodwasArchimedes.
The greatest mathematical mind of the Hellenistic period was Archimedes.
Archimedeswasamathematician,butalsoconcernedhimselfwithscienceof
mechanics.UnlikeEuclidwhowrotetheElementsasatextbook,Archimedes
wroteforaverysmallaudienceofthemostadvancedmathematiciansofhis
d
day,andsofewworksofhissurvive.Heusedasystemofproofthatpresaged
d f k f hi i H d f f h d
thesystemoflimitsemployedinmoderncalculus.Hismathematicswould
provetobeextremelyinfluentialwhenhisworkswererediscoveredinthe
Renaissance.Apollonius,whoworkedwithconicsectionsellipses,parabolas,
p , p ,p ,
hyperbolasandcircleswouldalsoproveinfluentialintheRenaissance.
 ClaudiusPtolemybasedhisAlmagest
y g largelyonthebasisoftheobservationsof
g y
theastronomerHipparchus.
Hipparchushadbeenthefirsttoproposethatmathematicalmodelsofplanetary
motionhavepredictivepower.Inadditiontobeinganastronomer,Ptolemywasa
mathematician geographer and astrologer It is the Ptolemaic model that was so
mathematician,geographerandastrologer.ItisthePtolemaicmodelthatwasso
influentialinastronomyforthenextfifteenhundredyearsandwasfinally
overthrownwiththeCopernicansystem.

Diophantusdevelopedanalgebraicsystem,introducingnegativeandcomplex
numbers.Hismajorworkonlysurvivesinfragments.TheArabicdevelopmentsin
algebrawerearrivedindependentlyofDiophantus.

Medicinealsohaditsgreatauthor,Galen,whonotonlyexpandedupon
Hippocratesmedicalwriting,butalsoattemptedtocorrectsomeoftheflaws.
GalensmedicaltextwastransmittedtotheArabsanduponwhichtheybuilttheir
medicalpractices.Whileprimitivebymodernstandards,Galenmadegreatstrides
overexistingmedicine.
 Christianitybegantotakeholdpoliticallyinthe4thcentury,andbegantohavean
y g p y y g
effectonthepracticeofscience.Theatomisttheorywouldbecomeassociatedwith
atheismquestioningAristotle(whorejectedthenotionofavacuum,which
atomistrequired)becametantamounttoquestioningtheexistenceofgod.
Christianity had an increasingly deleterious effect on science
Christianityhadanincreasinglydeleteriouseffectonscience.

HypatiaofAlexandria,awomanmathematician,astronomerandphilosopher,a
womanscientistatatimewhenwomenwereconfinedtotheroleofwifeand
mother,becameamartyrforscience.Shewasdraggedintoachurchand
dismemberedbyaChristianmoboffollowersoftheChristianbishopCyril
Islam

ArabscholarsincludedMuslims,butalsoJews,Christiansandpaganswritingin
Arabic.

Islamicsciencealwaysstruggledwithaveryfragilebalancebetweenconservative
clerics,andtheprotectionofpowerfulrulers.

ThosesciencesperceivedasmostusefultoIslam,allowedotherstosurviveaswell:
Those sciences perceived as most useful to Islam allowed others to survive as well:
particularlyastronomy,mathematicsandmedicine.Astronomerswereneeded
especiallyfortimekeeping,anddetermininglocationforfacingMecca,andeventually
madeofficialpartofIslamfaith,andevenpracticedatmosques.Underthissystem,
Arabastronomerssurpassedeveryoneelseintheworld:13thcenturysawthemhired
asimperialastronomersinChinaovernativeChinese,andremainedthebestuntil
Europeovertooktheminthe16thcentury.

ThesourcesofIslamicsciencewerewidelyvaried.Theyadoptedthescientific
traditionsoftheIndians,Persians,andGreekswhomtheyconquered.Earlydynasties
weredominatedbyforeigncivilservants,andthishelpedspeedassimilationofforeign
sciencesandencouragedtranslationefforts.
i d dt l ti ff t
 Physicians,likeotherscientists,studiedmorethanonescienceatatime,and
promotedthepowerofreason.Thisbroughtthemintoconflictwithreligion,
becauseIslamdeniedpowerofreasonwithoutrevelation.

LiketheirGreekpredecessors,secrecy/elitismonintellectualsubjectswas
Like their Greek predecessors, secrecy/elitism on intellectual subjects was
widespread.Therewasareluctancetoapplysciencetoeverydayproblems.The
fearofpersecutionfortheirstudiescertainlydidnotengenderafeelingof
opennessaboutscience.However,therewasalsoafearthatinformationmightfall
i t th
intothewronghands.
h d

Largepubliclibrarieswereoftenendowedbywealthypatronsandassociated
withmosques.TheselibrariescouldhousenotonlybooksonIslambutalsothe
q y
sciences.
 OneofthegreatscientiststocomeoutoftheIslamicworldwasalKhwarizmi.He
is considered the father of Algebra and the first to used the term al gebr
isconsideredthefatherofAlgebra,andthefirsttousedthetermalgebr,
meaningrestoration,referringtotherestorationofbalanceinanequationby
addingorsubtractingfrombothsides.
Hisnameisalsothesourceoftheword,algorithm.AlKhwarizmiiscreatedwith
inventingourmodernnotionofalgebraandArabicmathematicianswouldfollow
themethodslaiddownbyalKhwarizmi.Inhisbook,heintroducedthedecimal
notation,apparentlyborrowedfromtheIndians,includingthedigitzero,which
had been unknown to the Greeks
hadbeenunknowntotheGreeks.
AstronomywasoneofthesciencesIslamcametofindmoreorlessuseful,andit
was permitted to flourish with the support of powerful rulers their interest was
waspermittedtoflourishwiththesupportofpowerfulrulerstheirinterestwas
generallyinastrologicalpredictions.
Advancesinastronomyservedasimpetusfordevelopmentsinmathematics:
plane&sphericalgeometry,trigonometry,computationalmethodsandalgebra.

Bythe11thcentury,astronomy,withitsusedforkeepingcalendarsandfinding
theexactlocationofMeccafromvillagemosques,becameanofficialpartof
Islamic religious practice This gave astronomers some level of acceptance within
Islamicreligiouspractice.Thisgaveastronomerssomelevelofacceptancewithin
thecommunity,butconservativeclericsstrovetorestricttheinvestigationsof
theseastronomers.
MedievalEurope

Therearefewpositivethingsthatcanbesaidaboutthehistoryofsciencein
Byzantium or the early medieval period. Science was undergoing a slow process of
Byzantiumortheearlymedievalperiod.Sciencewasundergoingaslowprocessof
lossorbarelyholdingtowhatitpossessed.TheByzantineswerealittlebetteroff
becauseofslightlygreaterpoliticalstability,andbecausetheydidnotfacethe
linguisticbarrierstoGreeksciencethatwesternEuropeansfaced.

Itwasnotuntilthe11thand12thcenturiesthatthingsbegantolookbrightonce
againforscienceintheWest.AboutthistimethepopulationofEuropeincreased
dramatically,urbanizationwhichisassociatedwithadvancedlearningbegan,and
y, g g ,
withpoliticalstabilitycametheincreasedopportunityfortradebringingEurope
finallyintocontactwithscienceagain.
 The12thand13thcenturiessawtheriseofEuropeanuniversitieslikeParis,Bologna
andOxford.Thepreviouseducationalsystemhadbeenbasedlargelyonprivate
schooling or monastery schools The universities that developed sprung largely from
schoolingormonasteryschools.Theuniversitiesthatdevelopedsprunglargelyfrom
suchschools,andwhiletheywereearlyonassociatedwiththeChurch,theywerenot
controlledbytheChurch.UniversitiesresistedthepressureoftheChurchwhen
conflictwouldeventuallyarise.

By12thcentury,Aristotle,EuclidandPtolemywerecentralpartsofuniversity
curriculum.Medievalastronomerscompiledacorpusastronomicusofinstruments,
observation tables and other data that allowed for prediction of eclipses, etc., and
observationtablesandotherdatathatallowedforpredictionofeclipses,etc.,and
formedthebasisoftheCopernicanrevolution.ThespreadofArabicandGreekscience
backintoEuropecamelargelyfromSpainandthroughItalianmerchants.
Thingsdidnotproceedverysmoothly.TheChurchattemptedtobanthestudyof
certainideasortextsitfeltrancontrarytoScripture.Theireffortswerenotentirely
i id i f l S i Th i ff i l
successful.Universitiesunderlocalbanstendedtoignorethemforfearoflosing
groundtoforeignuniversities.Thebacklashtosciencecouldbequitesevere,andat
timesthosewhoshowedanyaptitudeforcreativegeniusinscienceortechnology
y p g gy
werefrequentlyaccusedofsellingtheirsoulstothedevil.

ThelateMiddleAgesalsosawthebeginningsofstandardizationofmedicaltraining,
and education generally; and at least one brilliant mathematician Leonardo of Pisa or
andeducationgenerally;andatleastonebrilliantmathematician,LeonardoofPisa,or
Fibonacci,whobroughtthealgebraicsystemtoEuropeinearly13thcentury.Healso
attemptedtoimporttheArabicnumerals,butthismetwithconsiderableresistance.
Renaissance
TheRenaissancesawsciencetakeoffagaininEurope.
The Renaissance saw science take off again in Europe.
WiththeRenaissance,itbecameimportantformodelstobephysicallytrue;
scientistsfoughtforthetruthoftheworld,evenwhenitcontradictedScripture,even
riskedtheirlives.

NikolausCopernicus(d.1543)wasattemptingtoreformthecalendarforthe
Churchwhenhedevelopedhisheliocentricmodelforthesolarsystem.Itisnearly
identicalmathematicallytotheArabicmodels.
y
Inhisbook,hecitesdeficienciesinthePtolemaicmodelthatarenotsharedbyhis
model,however,sofearfulwasheofthereactionoftheChurchtohismodelthathe
refusedtoreleaseituntilafterhisdeath.In1586,GiordanoBrunowasburnedatthe
stake for heresy for being a heliocentricist Because mysticism was tied to science
stakeforheresyforbeingaheliocentricist.Becausemysticismwastiedtoscience
untiltheAgeofEnlightenment,menwouldbemurderedbytheInquisitioninthe
nameofprotectingtheChurchfromscienceandtheblackarts.
 Points to ponder and discuss

1. Summarize
1 S i AAristotles
i t tl philosophy
hil h and
d id
ideas with
ith emphasis
h i on why
h hhe
ruled over science and the society.