History and development of the scientific method in Western civilization

¶ … Scientific Method, Scientific Revolution and Scientific Management of Western Civilization

The quest for knowledge for knowledge's sake is an inherent part of mankind, and with this knowledge we are able to progress as a race through scientific advancements, in the form of medicine and technology to name but two. One of the most famous figures who pushed knowledge for knowledge's sake was Galileo, who discovered, to the horror of the Church, that the Earth is not the centre of the universe. So important was Galileo that he has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy" (Singer 217). The Scientific Revolution itself was a major turning point in human understanding of the world, but rather than being confined to a single area or group, knowledge has been sought and gained all around the world. Indeed, the history of science in early cultures predates the science of the Middle Ages. However, rather than being a developed scientific method, the early cultures' science was protoscience, or the philosophical disciplines which later served as the basis for rigorous science, such as alchemy becoming chemistry.

1. Mesopotamia

The Mesopotamian people always had an unshakable quest for knowledge. Right from their beginnings as a race, which began around 3500 B.C. In what is now Iraq, they kept thorough and detailed observations of the world with numerical data. For instance, a concrete tablet of Pythagoras' law has been found and traced back to as early as the eighteenth century B.C., which is a date far earlier than Pythagoras himself was even born (Hoffman 18).

The Mesopotamian people did not stick solely to mathematical advances though, and were actually responsible for many things which we not only use on a daily basis but are wholly necessary for our society in its current state. One notable example is the invention of the wheel in 3500 B.C., which took transportation to a whole new level and allowed the development of all forms of transport used today, from bicycles and trains to cars and airplanes (Ancient Mesopotamia: Science & Inventions). According to the same source, the Mesopotamians also invented the seeder plow which "revolutionized agriculture by carrying out the tasks of seeding and ploughing simultaneously." What is particularly interesting about the development of the seeder plow was that the Mesopotamians believed the image of the plow could be seen in the stars, which is how they came to build it. Moreover, they "discovered that by observing the movements of celestial bodies they could measure time, which was key for planting crops and for holding religious festivals. Their astronomical observations still aid today's scientists."

The "astronomical observations" of the Mesopotamians are not only used by today's scientists, but all of us. Our entire concept of days and periods of time are from the Mesopotamians, such as a week being defined as every seven days, the lunar month and the solar year. Indeed, even the names of the days are named after the celestial bodies that were at the time believed to revolve around the Earth: the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn (Scofield). Scofield also made the point that the Mesopotamians agricultural success was only permitted to happen because of their development of astronomy, astrology and the calendar as these could be measured to deduce the optimum time for growing crops and harvesting. What is particularly interesting, though, is that the Mesopotamian people considered astronomy and astrology to be the same thing. Mesopotamian astronomy actually later became more astrology-based, and rather than distancing itself from superstitions it studied the stars to decide omens and horoscopes. Despite the persistent attitude towards such practices, the Mesopotamians knew what they were doing. Some 1500 years later, Al-Batani used the collected horoscope and omen information to calculate the Earth's axis, citing it as being 54.5 arc-seconds per annum. The value currently placed by scientists is 49.8 arc-seconds per annum. Clearly then, the information they collected was incredibly accurate. So accurate in fact that historian Asger Aaboe stated all subsequent varieties of scientific astronomy, in the Hellenistic world, in India, in Islam, and in the West -- if not indeed all subsequent endeavor in the exact sciences -- depend upon Babylonian astromony in decisive and fundamental ways.

It can also be said that the Mesopotamians devised the origins of philosophy, as their wisdom incorporated such thoughts as ethics, whilst their reasoning and rationality was developed to extend far beyond empirical observation (Buccellati 35-47). Their philosophy also laid the foundations for their revised approach to astronomy in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., as the astronomers began to study philosophy to try to gain an understanding of the early universe, combining their predictive planetary systems with an internal logic. As this approach was important not only to astronomy but also the philosophy of science, it has been called the first scientific revolution by a number of scholars (Brown).

The Mesopotamians were also instrumental to developments in medicine and technology. In the medical field, they introduced concepts and procedures that remain the main part of modern-day treatment, such as prescriptions, diagnosis, physical examinations and prognosis. The Diagnostic Handbook, the single most extensive medical text from the Mesopotamians, explained methods of therapy and etiology as well as various symptoms of illness and subsequent diagnosis and prognosis (Horstmanshoff, Stol and Tilburg 97-98).

For technological innovation, the achievements of the Mesopotamians were prolific. Inventions accredited to them range from metal and copper-working, which is scarcely surprising as they were amongst the very first groups of the Bronze age, to water storage and irrigation as well as textile weaving and glass making (Faiella 8-31).

There can be no doubt therefore that the Mesopotamians were people of vast intelligence, creating ideas and objects that not only helped them, but have remained in use over the millennia and continue to be an integral part of our societal needs.

2. Egypt

Like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians were responsible for making great developments that revolutionized science in their time but have, in some way or another, remained in use to this day. One notable example is the Egyptian hieroglyphs, which provided the basis of the Phoenician alphabet and thus laid the foundations for such languages as Greek, Latin, Arabic and Hebrew (Jensen 256). However this was not known for sure until the pictographic Proto-Sinaitic alphabet was discovered. The Phoenician language, as the first widespread phonetic script, spread relatively rapidly around the world thanks to the Phoenician merchant sailors, introducing the language to various parts of Europe and North Africa (Daniels 94-95). Latter-day historians have subsequently found Phoenician inscriptions around the world, from Lebanon to Carthage, as well as indications of its usage in Egypt (Wilford). Wilford also notes in his article that "the writing…with Egyptian influences, has been dated to somewhere between 1900 and 1800 B.C., two or three centuries earlier than previously recognized uses of a nascent alphabet." Such a find allowed scientists to trace the evolution of language from the pictorial hieroglyphs to alphabetic writing, which originated as "a kind of shorthand by which fewer than 30 symbols, each one representing a single sound, could be combined to form words for a wide variety of ideas and things." Thus, any lingering doubt about the influence of Egypt on developed language has since been discarded.

The Egyptians also helped develop an understanding of physiology and medicine, with one of the very first medical documents still in existence being the Edwin Smith papyrus. The papyrus is the sole surviving copy of an Ancient Egyptian textbook examining trauma surgery and was the oldest surgical document. The papyrus shows remarkable knowledge for a primitive culture, demonstrating an understanding of major organs such as the heart, liver, kidneys and bladder as well as the recognition that the heart was connected to the blood vessels.

According to the New York Academy of Medicine, the Papyrus dates back to the sixteenth century B.C. And the content is from materials predating it by a thousand years (Wilkins 240-244). Owing to it attempting to describe and analyze the brain, it could be considered as the roots of neuroscience. Aside from the workings of the brain, the papyrus, like the Mesopotamians, utilized such concepts as examination, treatment, prognosis and diagnosis, all of which are still standard practice today (Britannica). The aforementioned components show startling parallels to the basic scientific empirical method and according to Lloyd the Egyptian works played a very significant role in this methodology being developed.

Thus, it can be deduced that the Egyptians played an enormous role in the development of both language and medicine, with their advancements in both still being used and revered today.

3. Greek

The impact of Greece on the civilized world can be neither denied nor understated. The history of science in Greece was born through its philosophy of the search for practical knowledge, focusing mainly on reason and inquiry. In this way, philosophers developed lines of thought and reasoning pertaining to ethics and morality on how we can lead good lives that are unobtrusive to others, right through to musings on a divine power and the afterlife. Many inquiries were made into the universe, from how it worked to its creation, as well as the construction of a workable calendar and an understanding of numerous illnesses. These collective areas of discussion fall under the term of natural philosophy, or philosophy of nature. Before modern science was developed and widely used, natural philosophy was the prominent method of gaining knowledge. So dominant and involved was natural philosophy that it served as a precursor of various natural sciences like physics. Indeed, the term 'science' did not evolve until the nineteenth century; until then it simply referred to knowledge. Therefore it is a natural progression from natural philosophy to science, or philosopher to scientist, and it is instantly apparent that the Greek philosophers provided the stepping-stones to modern science. So intrinsically linked is philosophy with Greece that Martin West is quoted in The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World as saying that the Greeks "taught themselves to reason. Philosophy as we understand it is a Greek creation." (140)

As with the Mesopotamians, the Ancient Greeks played their part in the development of astronomy and most specifically the formation of a workable and reliable calendar. The first published work involving the calendar was the poet Hesiod's Works and Days, which spoke of a calendar from which the farmer's character was able to regulate the activities of the seasons using the phases of the Moon and stars (Thurston 21).

It is apparent that there were familiar themes amongst the ancient civilizations which they all deemed important. This has been pointed out with the findings of astronomy in the Mesopotamians and the Greeks, and they, along with the Egyptians, also focused on medicine to make revolutionary discoveries. This is rather unsurprising for the Greeks, as it has already been established that their natural philosophies served as a base for modern science. Interestingly though, the medicine of the Greeks was not practiced by a single profession nor was there any licensing qualification; rather, a wide spectrum of people were considered medics. These groups of people included herb collectors, midwives, drug sellers, gymnastic trainers, physicians and temple healers with the cult of Asclepius, all boasting of being qualified healers in their relevant area (Lloyd 38-39). Whilst the obvious benefit of such a competitive field is everyone striving to be the best, the downside is the public verbal attacks on each other to encourage doubt amongst the public towards a competitor. A prime example of this can be found in the Hippocratic text about epilepsy On the Sacred Disease, in which temple healers come under criticism from the author for their ignorance and apparent greed. Under the circumstance that the author was well-educated on the illness such criticism would be wholly justified, and indeed he displayed a glimmer of that with his acknowledgement that epilepsy is a natural illness caused not through external influences or factors. Yet his lack of knowledge on what the cause really is and what treatment is available made it apparent he was no more enlightened than his rivals (Lloyd 15-24). Thus, any custom the temple healers lost from the basis of On the Sacred Disease was unjustified, as they probably knew no less than the author himself.

The Greeks were also arguably responsible for the advent of botany and zoology, as Theophrastus wrote the first systematic books describing and classifying minerals, rocks and plants, as well as his thoughts on the nature of animals. These ideas were later used by Pliny the Elder in the Naturalis Historia, published in 77 AD, which has survived to this day and purportedly covers the whole spectrum of ancient knowledge. What made the encyclopedia stand tall above other texts of the time was its departure from merely noting various items, but Pliny seeking explanations. Moreover, many of his assertions were correct, such as the statement that amber is fossilized resin from pine trees, a fact that was until then unknown.

There can be no doubt that modern science owes a great deal to the Ancient Greeks, and one must wonder how much our current knowledge would be disadvantaged had they not made the discoveries that they did.

4. Roman

The Roman impact on modern Western civilization has been thoroughly documented, and they more than deserve their place in history for contribution to the modern world. As with the Greeks, the Roman Empire wanted to systemize scientific knowledge gained from the preceding Hellenistic period, coupled with what was learnt in the areas that had been conquered by the Romans. The aforementioned Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder played a central role and was of the highest importance. Pliny organized the encyclopedia into sensible and clear sections of the organic world of plants and animals as well as the realm of inorganic matter. In addition to the example of fossilized pine mentioned previously, much is said about animals and plants -- of which Pliny talks at length about the abuse they suffer at the hands of people. There is also spectacular detail regarding metals and minerals. Of the former, there is extensive discourse regarding metals such as gold, silver, tin, iron, lead and mercury along with some of their alloys including pewter and bronze. So detailed is the text that Pliny even talks at length about the greed for gold, including the ridiculousness of using it for coins, and its uniqueness in being far more malleable than any other metal known to man. Of the latter -- minerals -- Pliny primarily expands upon earlier authors such as Theophrastus and talks about a variety of minerals, gemstones and man's obsessive green over luxurious and expensive items. However, it is not a superficial overview of these products, but an incredibly detailed analysis. Pliny talks about properties of fluorspar, the shape of diamonds and right through to the use of diamond use by gem engravers who make use of its hardness to cut and polish other stones. Given such detailed examination of not only metals and minerals but also art history, zoology and botany it is easy to see why the Romans held it in such high regard.

There were of course other central figures too, including Claudius Ptolemaeus, known as Ptolemy. Ptolemy was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer and astrologer and lived under Roman rule in Egypt. His great mind bore a remarkable influence on the Romans by systemizing astronomy, using existing knowledge discovered by those before him to create a firm empirical foundation for astronomy, thus permitting him to demonstrate a working relationship between astronomical observations and astronomical theory. Not only did his astronomical treatise the Almagest define both method and subject of future research into astronomy, but his Ptolemaic system was the dominant model for understanding the movements of the heavens (Goldstein).

The Hellenistic knowledge served as a building block for more than just Ptolemy though, and the physician Galen used their discoveries on anatomy and physiology to generate new thoughts. His interest in anatomy and physiology saw him undertake dissections of various animals from dogs to Barbary apes which became central to moving medical science forward leaps and bounds, becoming a major part of medical knowledge for over a millennium. Specifically, he wrote detailed observations on such components as the nervous system and organs, as well as specific functions like the arteries being responsible for carrying blood around the body.

Peculiarly though, despite the fact that the years of the Roman Empire saw science continue to expand -- and in multiple directions -- the Latin texts that were written were largely compilations of work from the Greeks, prior to the new discoveries of the Romans. So much was Greek ingrained in science that it was the language used for teaching and research, which hindered the spreading of knowledge so much that the majority of Greek texts did not become available in Western Europe until the twelfth century.

5. Byzantine

While the foundations of science were undoubtedly laid by the ancient cultures, the Middle Ages proved to be the time where science moved out from under the wing of philosophy and became a discipline of its own (Saliba 32).

The Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire centered on Constantinople, was the most sophisticated culture of the early Middle Ages and kept the Greco-Roman discoveries, systems and theories of medicine, mathematics and science. The philosophical musings and scientific systems offered by central figures such as Aristotle, Galen and Ptolemy spread around the Empire, which not only introduced a new audience to these great men but they, along with the commentaries made about them, served as the launch pad of science through the Medieval period. There was also another unexpected outcome, this one a great benefit to the Christian Church: following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Western Europe saw a huge loss of knowledge pertaining to religion, but, owing to the Church, such scholars as Aquinas and Buridan allowed the spirit of scientific inquiry to continue in Western Europe. Thanks to translations of medieval works in the twelfth century Renaissance, this eventually caused Europe to become the science leaders during the Scientific Revolution. This period allowed science to flourish, with its philosophy focusing on logic, encouraging empiricism and viewing nature as a set of existing laws that could be understood and explained through reason.

Despite the initial setback, the Byzantine Empire played host to some exciting developments. For instance, Byzantine scientists not only preserved and continued the works of Ancient Greek mathematicians, but actively put mathematics itself into practice. Indeed, early Byzantium saw Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus construct the Hagia Sophia temple using mathematical formulas. The temple still stands today, but is now a museum in Istanbul. The significance of this building was enormous as it marked a technological breakthrough in its geometry, height and, of course, design.

Perhaps one of the most important contributions the Byzantine Empire made to the progression of science was providing the medieval Islamic countries with the Ancient Greek works of mathematics and astronomy, which allowed them to be translated into Arabic for the Islamic world to digest the wealth of information within. This not only allowed the Islamic countries to catch up, but, as many Europeans had done before them, use the texts as a platform from which to devise their own theories and make new discoveries. What followed was a two-way-street of development and contribution between the Europeans and the Arabic world as the latter became the leaders of scientific knowledge and constantly pushing new developments in the areas of astronomy, science and mathematics. When these developments took place, various Byzantine scientists would translate the texts into Medieval Greek for the continued scientific development in the Western world. The back-and-forth discovery and communication was clearly beneficial for both sectors and proved to be a sensational means of furthering human awareness and understanding of natural laws. One particular example of this is how the Islamic-devised Tusi-couple, an alternative to the equant put forth in Ptolemy's Almagest, was introduced to Europe and even featured in works of Nicolaus Copernicus (Saliba), the first astronomer to devise a working theory that demonstrated the Earth is not the center of the universe. So important was Copernicus that his On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres is not only considered the birthplace of modern astronomy, but the beginning of the Scientific Revolution itself.

The Byzantine Empire had a profound effect on the development of science that proved to be imperative to understanding the natural laws on a global level, and while their contributions may not remain as well-known as those of the Egyptians, we continue to use and employ their discoveries on a daily basis.

6. Islamic Golden Age

As noted in the previous section, the Islamic world played a substantial part in the development of science and the discoveries and theories were passed back to Europe for a linear global understanding. The Islamic Golden Age is considered to have occurred between the eighth and thirteenth centuries A.D. (Falagas, Zarkadoulia and Samonis 1581-1586), though recent scholars have increased this to the fifteenth century (Saliba 245).

The Islamic Golden Age was a hotbed of continual development in understanding, knowledge and theories, with a vast array of groups contributing to such areas as law, literature, technology, sociology, philosophy, navigation, agriculture, industry and economics. Turner wrote in 1997 that "Muslim artists and scientists, princes and laborers together made a unique culture that has directly and indirectly influenced societies on every continent." (270) The Muslim scientists developing early scientific methods alongside quantitative, empirical and experimental approaches to scientific inquiry has caused a number of scholars to believe they provided the platform for modern science (Durant 162-186).

The Islamic world developed early scientific methods and made great progress in methodology, especially al-Haytham who, as noted by Gorini, is considered one of the great pioneers of experimental physics (53-55). Al-Haytham authored the Book of Optics which was responsible for reforming the field of optics and proved, using empirical evidence, that light rays entering the eye are responsible for sight. He then demonstrated this with his invention the camera obscura, which showed the physical nature of light rays (Lindberg 154-176). Al-Haytham introduced the scientific method, an achievement which has earned him the title of the "first scientist" (Steffens). He was also responsible for the groundbreaking work on psychology of visual perception, which is now regarded as the basis for psychophysics (Khaleefa).

The Islamic world also invented a number of new technologies that were later picked up in Europe, such as a variety of astronomical instruments including the quadrant, sextant and observation tube, the latter being the influence behind the telescope (Morelon 9-10). Aside from astronomical technologies, the Islamic world created street lamps, waste disposal facilities (Artz 148-50), ethanol (Hassan), and more than 200 surgical instruments.

A perhaps less obvious contribution from the Islamic world is their modifications to libraries. The libraries in Muslim countries not only had collections of ancient manuscripts which made the scientific discoveries of the ancient cultures accessible to everyone, but they also introduced the public library and the ability to borrow books on loan, thus allowing everyone to increase their knowledge should they desire to. Libraries also served as a place to discuss science, theories, discoveries and ideas, which clearly made science much more accessible to the public in general. Finally, the library catalogue of organizing books into categories and genres, which we now enjoy as a feature of every library, was first introduced in medieval Islamic libraries (Francoise 988-991).

The Islamic countries impacted public education in another way than library access though, and again created something which is now enjoyed globally. That innovation was the university, with the University of Al Karaouine in Morocco featuring in the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest degree-granting university (242). Whilst there is no doubt that the early Islam universities differed from the European universities, and indeed the universities we have now, they still served as a major influence on not only modern universities but also the first to arrive in Europe (Makdisi 175-182). The Islam influence on education did not stop with the institution, but the doctorate itself was conceived in the medieval Islamic system of legal education. Makdisi also details other Muslim influences that remain in our universities: "the fact that we still talk of professors holding the 'Chair' of their subject" comes from the "traditional Islamic pattern of teaching where the professor sits on a chair and the students sit around him"; and he also explains that "practices such as delivering inaugural lectures, wearing academic robes, obtaining doctorates by defending a thesis, and even the idea of academic freedom are also modeled on Islamic custom."

The Islamic Golden Age gave the world such a wealth of new things that much is now taken for granted. Not only was it responsible for furthering scientific methods in a number of ways, but it also enhanced the public learning in methods which have thrived and survived to this very day.

Transmission of Greek Philosophy under Islam

The Roman Empire collapsing had a knock-on effect whereby many texts of Classical Antiquity became the possession of the Europeans. As explained in the section exploring the Byzantine Empire, many of these texts had previously been provided to the Islamic countries. This goodwill gesture turned out to become an unpredictable turn of fortune, as during the Middle Ages, after the fall of the Roman Empire, many of these texts were translated from Arabic back to European languages. Thus, whilst the original copies of Europe were lost, their passing the texts to the Middle East had led to a second-best reward as the retranslated texts allowed the works of such philosophers as Aristotle to once again be known to the Europeans (Lebedel 109).

Another way in which Greek ideas were reintroduced to Europe was through the expansion of Islam from the Middle East to Europe. Sicily and Spain were conquered at approximately 700 A.D., with southern France becoming Muslim-populated by 730 A.D. Al-Hakam II, a ruler of Muslim Spain, gathered as many books as possible from Arab countries and provided them in a library which later became a translation center for the texts to be rewritten in Latin (Lindberg 57-8). The reintroduction was also furthered by the relocation of Arab scholars who, having studied the Greek texts in their home countries, moved to Europe and brought the Greek ideas with them (Laughlin 120).

7. The Crusades

The Crusades are probably one of the most famous and well-documented religious events of history, and they had a huge influence on the Middle Ages in Europe. They were military campaigns to restore the Holy Land to Christian control, initiated by a large portion of Latin Christian Europe, and lasted from 1095 to 1291. With the Holy Land being owned by Muslims, it was them who the Crusades were largely waged against. The complex tapestry that was relations between Europe and the Middle East took another turn during this period, as the Europeans took a great deal of knowledge in such areas medicine and science from the Muslims. So much so in fact, that it has been said the Crusades brought about results of which the popes had never dreamed of, and which were perhaps the most important of all. They re-established traffic between the East and West, which…was then resumed with even greater energy…if, indeed, the Christian civilization of Europe has become universal culture…the glory redounds, in no small measure, to the Crusades (New Catholic Encyclopedia 508).

The educational benefits of the Crusades did not stop their either. There was, once again, a two-way-street of scientific trading between East and West, and discoveries from the Muslim countries, such as algebra and optics, became known in the West. Not only did these have a profound impact on Western culture anyway, they also increased the course of advancement that took place in European universities which led to the twelfth century Renaissance. There is a certain irony that a military attack on the East by the West resulted in significant benefits to both sides, the effects of which are still utilized and expanded on today.

There were other, more general positive results from the Crusades aside from science. For instance, trade flourished thanks to local merchants travelling to the Middle East, partly as a result of experiencing the products it had to offer, products which were either previously unknown or incredibly rare, such as ivory, diamonds, oranges, apples, Asian crops and various spices. Such was the impact of the Crusades that historian Archibald Lewis has stated they allowed Western Europe to advance in all spheres of civilization. Lewis puts a large part of this down to conflicts that took place prior to the First crusade, which retook Western Europe and simultaneously weakened the Islamic presence around the Mediterranean thus allowing Western European Mediterranean trading and naval powers.

8. 12th Century Renaissance

The twelfth century Renaissance included social, political and economic transformations, including a revitalization of intellectualism in Western Europe which had their roots in the ancient Greek texts. By the outset of the thirteenth century there were accurate texts in Latin following their translation from Greek, which allowed the transfer of scientific ideas through not only universities but also monasteries. Inevitably, the natural science ideas written in the texts began to spread, and such scholastics as Robert Grosseteste, Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon had started to expand on them.

The Renaissance saw scientific work of great importance being undertaken within the commentary framework of Aristotle's writings (Grant 127-31). Indeed, translators during this time actively sought out new philosophical, scientific and religious texts, with the latter highlighting an interest in translations of the Greek Church Fathers for the Europeans. The interest was so great that the Qur'an and other Islamic texts were sought for translation (d'Alverny 429-30), as well as some assorted Arabic literature (Irwin 93).

This renewed interest made the subjects not only attractive but also accessible in both a cultural and political sense. This was succinctly portrayed in the story of Gerard of Cremona, who undertook a journey to Toledo, despite it being a Christian land again, because he arrived at a knowledge of each part of [philosophy] according to the study of the Latins…because of his love for the Almagest, which he did not find at all amongst the Latins, he made his way to Toledo, where seeing an abundance of books in Arabic on every subject…out of his desire to translate he thoroughly learnt the Arabic language… (Burnett 255).

Thus, it can be seen that the Renaissance of the twelfth century played an integral part to scientific methodology as it forced a renewed interest in Arabic texts, which themselves were passed over from Europe prior to the collapse of the Roman Empire. Whereas the texts had been largely lost following the disintegration of the Roman Empire, the Arabic translations once again allowed the works of antiquity to be rediscovered by the Europeans.

9. Late Middle Ages (AD 1300-1500)

As noted previously, the first half of the fourteenth century was an exciting time for scientific discovery. This hunt for knowledge continued unabated and scientific development was gaining incredible speed. It has been said that

By the late Middle Ages the search for natural causes had come to typify the work of Christian natural philosophers. Although characteristically leaving the door open for the possibility of direct divine intervention, they frequently expressed contempt for soft-minded contemporaries who invoked miracles rather than searching for natural explanations…In the fourteenth century the natural philosopher Nicole Oresme, who went on to become a Roman Catholic bishop, admonished that, in discussing various marvels of nature, "there is no reason to take recourse to the heavens, the last refuge of the weak, or demons, or to our glorious God as if He would produce these effects directly, more so than those effects whose causes we believe are well-known to us." (Numbers 267)

Unfortunately these developments came to an abrupt end in 1348 when the Black Death struck, killing a third of the people in Europe. The impact of this was essentially doubled, given that most of the deaths occurred in the overcrowded towns, which also happened to be where the majority of innovations took place. It was not just the Plague however, there began a series of events, known aptly as the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages, which took a heavy toll on any development of society in any capacity.

At first there was the famine of 1315-1317 which, coupled with the Black Death in 1348, wiped out a large section of the European population, with historian Philip Daileader saying "45% to 50% of the European population [died] in a four-year period." There then came political revolts. Although these were by no means unknown before this time, they tended to be local and relatively small. However the Late Middle Ages saw a difference to the revolutions as they took on a grand scale and increased in occurrence. Germany, for example, saw at least sixty phases of militant peasant revolts between the years 1336 and 1525 (Blickle).

Given this, it is little wonder that the scientific developments were ground to a halt, and it was not until the fifteenth century that there began another Renaissance where the advancements picked up again.

10. Renaissance

Possibly the most famous offerings from the Renaissance are the artwork, with such notable artists as Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli and Donatello. It was during the Renaissance that such famous works as the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa were painted. Despite the upheaval in art however, it was during this time that science was given a spot at center stage again. For the first time in history though, there were times when the lines between the two were blurred, such as da Vinci's representative drawings of human anatomy and nature. Da Vinci was also a worthy scientist in his own right, setting up controlled experiments in water flow, systematic study of movement and aerodynamics and medical dissection. So prolific and advanced was his thinking and his methods that Capra has called him the "father of modern science."

It has been suggested that the single greatest achievement of the Renaissance period was not a discovery or theory, but the process for discovery i.e. The scientific method (Brotton). The scientific method paid specific attention to empirical evidence, which is still touted as the most reliable method today, as well as stating the importance of mathematics as it is a natural truth. It is easy to see why Brotton stated it as the single greatest achievement of the era, for it led to amazing discoveries in a number of areas, including biology, astronomy and physics; discoveries which provided the basis for what we know in today's era. In fact, dissection and a mechanistic view of anatomy did not gain much popularity until Vesalius published De humani corporis fabrica, the consequences of which had a great impact of biology and medicine.

Undeniably the Renaissance period was not only dominated by religion, but characterized by it. So much so that much of the artwork produced during this period was either dedicated to or commissioned by the Church (Looking at the Renaissance). Despite the massive impact of religion on the Renaissance period, it was decidedly different to religion of the past in that contemporary theology was viewed in an entirely different light, probably because of the development of humanism and a large number of Renaissance theologians being followers of the ideology. This period also saw a number of humanists expanding the study of texts to incorporate Greek, meaning that for the first time in history the Greek texts of antiquity were read in the original language by the rest of Western Europe. This led to new ideas for humanists which in turn led to a much more precise understanding of Greek philosophy, which naturally had its own impact. The main role of humanism was to shape the intellectual landscape through its self-imposed importance on such humanities as moral philosophy, history and rhetoric. The Renaissance saw humanism and Christianity being merged together to close the gap between what they both had to offer, to combine them in unity rather than have them offer separate teachings. Indeed the goal of humanists was to work harmoniously with Christianity as opposed to work against it, no doubt because many humanists actually belonged to the church, such Pope Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini Pius II (Loffler 538-542). Part of this collaboration involved renewed efforts to improve understanding and translations of the Bible and other early Christian texts from a humanist standpoint; this turned out to be a very difficult and controversial phase as the humanist opposing the strict orthodoxy of the Catholic Church meant they started to insert pagan virtues while simultaneously reviving some religious notions from ancient Greece. Therefore it is very evident that much of the religious reformation to take place during the Renaissance happened solely because of the humanism movement.

The Renaissance remains one of the single most important periods of history as, after the crises of the Late Middle Ages, it saw revitalized efforts into not only science, but religion and art also. Many of the theories and discoveries of the time had enormous impact which has lasted to the present day, and the Renaissance also gave birth to some of the most important and enduring figures the world has ever known.

11. Scientific Revolution

From Scientific Method to Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution was only able to take place thanks to the change in attitudes to how people viewed science and technology. The philosopher Rene Descartes had proposed the suggestion of deductive reasoning, which is creating a premise and rejecting any contradictory evidence, leaving the researcher only with supporting evidence. This can be seen as problematic and had the potential to slow down scientific and technological developments, as if a fluke result supported the hypothesis, it would be taken as fact while the true results were thrown out. Sir Francis Bacon later introduced inductive reasoning, which involves gathering all available evidence and reaching a conclusion using the facts. Following this, data must be collected using measurable and observable evidence and undertaking the rigors of testing a hypothesis. It was Bacon's inductive reasoning that became known as the Scientific Method and which permitted the rapid acceleration of development in the Scientific Revolution.

The Scientific Revolution is wholly explained by its name: a revolution of science; a time which saw unprecedented advances in our knowledge and understanding. Where previous periods and eras had made great advancements and hinted towards modern science, the Scientific Revolution was the turning point and the time when various sciences, including astronomy, biology and chemistry, began to reject prevailing doctrines from Ancient Greece throughout the Middle Ages. In rejecting these doctrines, a true foundation of modern science was laid. Butterfield stated that the "revolution turned the authority in English not only of the Middle Ages but of the ancient world…it outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere episodes" (viii).

A number of revolutionary ideas were born in the Scientific Revolution, such as the realization of the Sun, rather than the Earth, being the center of the solar system. This had significant effects on religion too, as it highlighted the fact that humans are not the center of the universe and thus our position in life was challenged. Further, Galen's concept that the veins and arteries operated as two individual systems was replaced with William Harvey's discovery that they worked together "impelled in a circle, and is in a state of ceaseless motion" (69). Harvey was the first person to describe the circulatory system, which had obvious and immediate effects on medicine and anatomical understanding.