GENERAL CONCEPTS &

HISTORICAL EVENTS IN
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY &
SOCIETY
CHAPTER 1

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INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTIONS
THAT DEFINED SOCIETY

LESSON 1
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OBJECTIVES
AT THE END OF THIS LESSON, THE STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE
TO:

 DISCUSS HOW THE IDEAS POSTULATED BY COPERNICUS,

DARWIN & FREUD CONTRIBUTED TO THE SPARK OF
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION &

 ANALYZE HOW SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION IS DONE IN VARIOUS

PARTS OF THE WORLD LIKE IN LATIN AMERICA, EAST ASIA,
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MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

GOAL
•TO ARTICULATE WAYS BY
WHICH SOCIETY IS
TRANSFORMED BY SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY.
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SCIENTIFIC
REVOLUTION
• SCIENCE IS AS OLD AS THE WORLD ITSELF.
• THERE IS NO INDIVIDUAL THAT CAN EXACTLY
IDENTIFY WHEN WHERE SCIENCE BEGAN.
• FROM THE GENESIS OF TIME, SCIENCE HAS
EXISTED.
• IT IS ALWAYS INTERWOVEN WITH THE SOCIETY. 5
SO, HOW CAN SCIENCE BE
DEFINED?
1. SCIENCE AS AN IDEA. IT 2. SCIENCE AS AN INTELLECTUAL
INCLUDES IDEAS, THEORIES & ACTIVITY. IT ENCOMPASSES A
ALL AVAILABLE SYSTEMATIC SYSTEMATIC & PRACTICAL STUDY
EXPLANATIONS & OF THE NATURAL & PHYSICAL
OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE WORLD. THIS PROCESS OF STUDY
NATURAL & PHYSICAL WORLD. INVOLVES SYSTEMATIC
OBSERVATION &
EXPERIMENTATION.
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3. SCIENCE AS BODY OF KNOWLEDGE. IT
IS A SUBJECT OR A DISCIPLINE, A FIELD
OF STUDY, OR A BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
THAT DEALS WITH THE PROCESS OF
LEARNING ABOUT THE NATURAL &
PHYSICAL WORLD. THIS IS WHAT WE
REFER TO AS SCHOOL SCIENCE.
4. SCIENCE AS A PERSONAL & SOCIAL
ACTIVITY. THIS EXPLAINS THAT SCIENCE
IS BOTH KNOWLEDGE & ACTIVITIES DONE
BY HUMAN BEINGS TO DEVELOP BETTER
UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD
AROUND THEM. IT IS A MEANS TO
IMPROVE LIFE & TO SURVIVE IN LIFE. IT
IS INTERWOVEN WITH PEOPLE’S LIVES.
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• HUMAN BEINGS HAVE EMBARKED IN SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES IN
ORDER TO KNOW & UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING AROUND THEM.

• THEY HAVE PERSISTENTLY OBSERVED & STUDIED THE

NATURAL & THE PHYSICAL WORLD IN ORDER TO FIND
MEANINGS & SEEK ANSWERS TO MANY QUESTIONS.

• THEY HAVE DEVELOPED NOBLE IDEAS, LATER KNOWN AS

PHILOSOPHY, TO PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE OR POSSIBLE
EXPLANATIONS TO CERTAIN PHENOMENA.

• HUMANS ALSO USED RELIGION TO RATIONALIZE THE ORIGINS 8

OF LIFE & ALL LIFELESS FORMS.

• THE IDEA OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION IS CLAIMED TO HAVE STARTED IN
THE EARLY 16TH CENTURY UP TO THE 18TH CENTURY IN EUROPE.
WHY IN EUROPE?
• THE PROBABLE ANSWER IS THE INVENTION OF THE PRINTING
MACHINE & THE BLOOMING INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES DONE IN
VARIOUS FIELDS OF HUMAN INTERESTS.

• THIS DOES NOT MEAN, HOWEVER, THAT SCIENCE IS A FOREIGN IDEA

TRANSPORTED FROM OTHER AREAS OF THE GLOBE.

• ANYONE WHO CAN EXAMINE THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,

MEDICINE & MATHEMATICS IS AWARE THAT ALL GREAT CIVILIZATIONS
OF THE ANCIENT WORLD HAD THEIR OWN SOPHISTICATED TRADITIONS 9
& ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THESE DISCIPLINES.
• SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION WAS THE PERIOD OF ENLIGHTENMENT WHEN
THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELDS OF MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS,
ASTRONOMY, BIOLOGY & CHEMISTRY TRANSFORMED THE VIEWS OF
SOCIETY ABOUT NATURE.

• IT EXPLAINED THE EMERGENCE OR BIRTH OF MODERN SCIENCE AS A

RESULT OF THESE DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE DISCIPLINES MENTIONED.

• THE IDEAS GENERATED DURING THIS PERIOD ENABLED THE PEOPLE TO

REFLECT, RETHINK & REEXAMINE THEIR BELIEFS & THEIR WAY OF LIFE.

• THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT IT IGNITED VAST HUMAN INTERESTS TO

RETHINK HOW THEY DO SCIENCE & VIEW SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES. 10
• SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION IS VERY SIGNIFICANT IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN BEINGS, TRANSFORMATION OF THE
SOCIETY & IN THE FORMULATION OF SCIENTIFIC IDEAS. IT
SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED THE CONDUCT OF SCIENTIFIC
INVESTIGATIONS, EXPERIMENTS & OBSERVATIONS
• THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION ALSO LED TO THE CREATION OF
NEW RESEARCH FIELDS IN SCIENCE & PROMPTED THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR MODERN
SCIENCE.

• IN MANY WAYS, SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION TRANSFORMED THE 11

NATURAL WORLD & THE WORLD OF IDEAS.

SOME INTELLECTUALS & THEIR REVOLUTIONARY
IDEAS
• TO FURTHER UNDERSTAND WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED DURING THE
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION, IT IS IMPORTANT TO EXAMINE THE
DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS WHOSE IDEAS HAVE SHAKEN & CONTESTED
THE DOMINANT THEORIES & IDEAS DURING THIS PERIOD – THE
TRUTHS OF THEIR TIME. SCIENTISTS IN ALL PERIODS OF TIME ARE
DRIVEN BY THEIR CURIOSITY, CRITICAL THINKING & CREATIVITY TO
EXPLORE THE PHYSICAL & NATURAL WORLD.

• THEIR LOVE FOR SCIENCE IS DRIVEN BY THEIR DEEP PASSION TO

KNOW & TO DISCOVER.
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• IN THIS PART OF THE LESSON, THREE
NOTABLE SCIENTISTS ARE DISCUSSED.
• FOR SURE, THERE WERE MANY SCIENTISTS
WHO WORKED BEFORE & AFTER THESE
INDIVIDUALS.
• HOWEVER, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT
THESE MEN, PARTICULARLY THROUGH IDEAS, 13
NICOLAUS
COPERNICUS

ONE OF THE RENAISSANCE

MEN, PARTICULARLY IN THE
FIELD OF SCIENCE.

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• KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE
UNIVERSE HAD BEEN ESSENTIALLY
UNCHANGED SINCE THE GREAT DAYS OF
ANCIENT GREECE, SOME 1, 500 YEARS
BEFORE COPERNICUS CAME ON THE SCENE
(GRIBBIN, 2003).
• THIS CONTINUED UP TO THE RENAISSANCE 15

PERIOD.
• IN ONE IMPORTANT WAY, COPERNICUS
RESEMBLED THE GREEK ANCIENT
PHILOSOPHERS OR THINKERS – HE DID NOT
DO ANYTHING EXTENSIVE SUCH AS
OBSERVING HEAVENLY BODIES OR INVITING
PEOPLE TO TEST HIS IDEAS.
• HIS IDEAS WERE AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS
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PRESENTLY CALLED AS A THOUGHT

• COPERNICUS WAS STRONGLY INFLUENCED
BY A BOOK ENTITLEDEPITOME PUBLISHED
IN 1496 BY A GERMAN AUTHOR,
JOHANNES MUELLER.
• THIS BOOK CONTAINS MUELLER’S
OBSERVATIONS OF THE HEAVENS & SOME
COMMENTARY ON EARLIER WORKS 17

ESPECIALLY THAT OF PTOLEMY.

 • COPERNICUS’S IDEA & MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE WAS
ESSENTIALLY COMPLETE IN 1510.
• NOT LONG AFTER THAT, HE CIRCULATED A SUMMARY
OF HIS IDEAS TO HIS FEW CLOSE FRIENDS IN A
MANUSCRIPT CALLED COMMENTARIOLUS (LITTLE
COMMENTARY).
• THE PUBLICATION OF HIS BOOK DE REVOLUTIONIBUS
ORBIUM COELESTIUM (ON THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE
HEAVENLY SPHERES) IN 1543 IS OFTEN CITED AS THE
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• ALTHOUGH THE COPERNICAN MODEL MAKES SENSE
NOW, DURING THOSE TIMES, IT WAS JUDGED TO BE
HERETIC & THEREFORE IT WAS AN UNACCEPTABLE IDEA.
• THE CHURCH BANNED THE COPERNICAN MODEL &
WAS IGNORED FOR THE REST OF THE 16TH CENTURY.

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