The History of Science

Development of Science Throughout History

• Science comprises natural, social, and formal branches of study.

• The earliest roots of science can be traced back to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia around 3000 to 1200 BCE.

• The Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity made formal attempts to provide explanations of events in the physical world based on natural causes.

• The Islamic Golden Age preserved and absorbed the Hellenistic worldview into the Arabic-speaking Muslim world.

• The Scientific Revolution of 16th- to 17th-century Europe transformed natural philosophy into a more mechanistic and integrated branch of science.

• The chemical revolution of the 18th century introduced new quantitative methods and measurements for chemistry.

• In the 19th century, new perspectives regarding the conservation of energy, age of Earth, and evolution came into focus.

• In the 20th century, new discoveries in genetics and physics laid the foundations for new subdisciplines such as molecular biology and particle physics.

• Science is a human activity, and scientific contributions have been made by people from a wide range of different backgrounds and cultures.

• The relationship between science and religion has been characterized in terms of "conflict," "harmony," "complexity," and "mutual independence."

• The establishment of the Royal Society and its code of experiment has become an important chapter in the historiography of science.

• The development of writing enabled humans to store and communicate knowledge across generations with much greater accuracy.Scientific Achievements in Ancient India and China

• Sangamagrama is considered the "founder of mathematical analysis".

• Nilakantha Somayaji's equation for the center of interior planets was more accurate than European or Islamic astronomy until the 17th century.

• The Vedas contain intelligent speculations about the universe's genesis, the spherical earth, and a year of 360 days.

• Pāṇini formulated close to 4,000 rules for Sanskrit in his grammar that included the phoneme, morpheme, and root.

• Suśruta's ancient text described various surgical procedures, including rhinoplasty and cataract surgery.

• The Arthaśāstra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy.

• The Chinese used a positional decimal system and developed negative numbers, decimal fractions, and cubic equations.

• Chinese astronomers observed sunspots, supernovas, and lunar and solar eclipses and made accurate predictions of eclipses by the 12th century.

• Shen Kuo was the first to describe the magnetic-needle compass, discovered the concept of true north, and improved the design of many astronomical instruments.

• The Jesuit China missions of the 16th and 17th centuries were the first to appreciate Chinese scientific achievements and introduce them to Europe.

• The Greeks provided non-supernatural explanations for natural phenomena and produced the first systematic discussions of natural philosophy.

• Aristotle introduced empiricism and the notion that universal truths can be arrived at via observation and induction.Classical Learning and Scholarship in Ancient Greece and the Middle Ages

• The principles of mathematics and empirical research from ancient Greek and Hellenistic philosophers were applied to scientific investigations during the Hellenistic age.

• The Socratic method and the concept of Forms gave rise to advancements in geometry, logic, and natural sciences.

• Aristarchus of Samos proposed a heliocentric model of the Solar System, while Eratosthenes accurately calculated the circumference of the Earth.

• Hippocrates introduced the first healthcare system based on science and clinical protocols, and his theories helped create an organized medical structure for society.

• Euclid laid down the foundations of mathematical rigor and introduced the concepts of definition, axiom, theorem, and proof still used today in his Elements.

• Pliny the Elder produced one of the largest encyclopedias of the natural world and recognized the importance of crystal shape, which presaged modern crystallography.

• The Roman Empire appreciated Greek achievements in literature, philosophy, politics, and the arts, and Greek scholars settled in Rome, giving Romans access to teachers of Greek literature and philosophy.

• Commentaries and encyclopedias were used to popularize Greek knowledge for Roman audiences.

• The fall of the Western Roman Empire led to a deterioration of the classical tradition in the western part of Europe, while the Byzantine Empire preserved and improved the learning.

• The Islamic Golden Age saw the transmission of Greek heritage to Western Asia, aided by translations of Greek texts into Arabic during the 8th–9th century.

• Madrasas were centers for religious and scientific studies in the Islamic world, and higher education was focused on Islamic law and religious science.

• Islamic science during this time was primarily focused on the correction, extension, articulation, and application of Greek ideas to new problems.Advancements in Mathematics in the Islamic World:

• Arabic mathematics was a descendant of Greek and Indian mathematics.

• Muslim mathematicians made key refinements to the number system, such as the introduction of decimal point notation.

• Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi gave his name to the concept of the algorithm.

• Islamic trigonometry continued from the works of Ptolemy's Almagest and Indian Siddhanta.

• Many Islamic engineers, instrument makers, and surveyors contributed books in applied mathematics.

• Islamic mathematicians made their greatest contributions in astronomy.

• Al-Battani improved the measurements of Hipparchus and the precision of the measurement of the precession of the Earth's axis.

• Corrections were made to Ptolemy's geocentric model by al-Battani, Ibn al-Haytham, Averroes, and the Maragha astronomers.

Institutionalization of Medicine in the Islamic World:

• The medical sciences were prominently cultivated in the Islamic world.
• Medical specialties started to emerge, such as those involved in the treatment of eye diseases such as cataracts.
• Ibn Sina was a prolific Persian medical encyclopedist who wrote extensively on medicine.
• Institutionalization of medicine was a significant achievement in the Islamic world.

Birth of Medieval Universities in Western Europe:

• An intellectual revitalization of Western Europe started with the birth of medieval universities in the 12th century.
• The curriculum of these medieval institutions centered on the seven liberal arts.
• Latin translations of Aristotle's works such as De Anima (On the Soul) and the commentaries on them were required readings.
• At the beginning of the 13th century, there were reasonably accurate Latin translations of the main works of almost all the intellectually crucial ancient authors.
• Precursors of the modern scientific method can be seen already in Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, and Duns Scotus.