A New Way of Thinking The Birth of

A New Way of Thinking: The Birth of Modern Science • Perhaps the most important cultural event in human history • Intellectual and cultural transformation occurring between 1540 and 1750 • Based on careful observations, controlled experiments, repeatable outcomes, and the formulation of general laws to explain the world • Creators of science knew they were doing something new, something radical

The Birth of Science • • Enormously significant for humans Altered fundamental ideas of humans place in the cosmos Challenged the teachings of religions and its authority over human life Challenged hierarchies and political systems dating to ancient times Introduced skepticism into everyday human discourse Sadly, used to legitimize gender and racial inequality By 1900 science had become the chief symbol of modernity

Why did science arise in Europe? • Lets look at the world before 1500 • The Islamic world was the most scientifically advance areas prior to 1400 • China was the most technologically advanced and economically superior from 1000 to 1500 • However, Islamic science remained outside the system of education, being the endeavor of individuals and also having to contend with the rise of fundamentalism within the religion

Why did science arise in Europe? • In China: • No independent institutions of higher learning • Only schools preparing students for civil service exams where all emphasis was on Confucian texts and ways. No new ideas • But: • In Europe conditions became favorable uniquely to the rise of scientific thinking

Why did Science rise in Europe? • • Evolved legal systems that guaranteed independence from the church and state of a variety of institutions for learning: universities by the 1200’s Corporations: groups of individuals could group together and obtain rights as a legal unit. This allowed autonomy of universities By 1550 Europe could draw on the knowledge of other cultures due to its movement into the world Europe was center of an explosion of information exchange without parallel in world history

Why did Science rise in Europe? • New waves of knowledge shook up old ways of thinking • Uncertainty and skepticism changed people’s views of the old “truths” helping science emerge in its more modern form • The Reformation contributed to this onrush of change by challenging received authority, encouraging education on mass literacy, and affirming the validity of non ecclesiastic professions.

Science: Cultural Change Agent • European view of world before the scientific revolution: • Education and educated dominated by ideas inherited from Greece and Rome • Aristotle and Ptolemy were the main “scientists” from the ancient world. • Ideas: Earth is the center of the universe. It is stationary and all other heavenly bodies (whatever they are) revolve around it and are perfect. • Most believed the universe to have a divine creator and divine purpose

The Beginning of the Revolution in thought • • • Initial change in Europe was the mathematical development of the heliocentric view of the cosmos Developed by Nicolas Copernicus a Polish monk De Revolutionibus: On the Revelations of the Heavenly Spheres Idea was that the Earth and planets revolved around the sun Based on mathematical derivations, not on observations Said planets orbited in circles; this produced some problems

• • Other scientists built on this insight • Galileo observed the sky and heavenly bodies through a telescope, one which he improved and saw moons orbiting Jupiter • • Kepler demonstrated that planets orbit in ellipses not circles. This made the Copernican model superior to the old geocentric one In his “Starry Messenger” he published his findings which got him into trouble with the Catholic church Galileo also did work with ballistics, inertia. Set the stage for Newton

Newton • • • Sir Isaac Newton, English scientist, developed through observation many laws of physics that are still considered applicable today. Most of what we have learned since is built to some extent on his work. Formulated laws of motion and mechanics Developed concept of universal gravitation Natural laws govern the universe at all levels Developed first true theory of optics. Discovered how light functioned and that it was both waves and particles Created the calculus. Necessary for higher mathematical thinking

European Science by 1730 • • • By the time Newton died in 1727, educated Europeans had a fundamentally different view of the physical universe than anyone before. The universe was governed by universal mathematical principles that humans could understand use not by spirits and magic The universe was seen as a machine that was self regulating Reason can be used to obtain knowledge of the universe Many scientists became “deists”, people who acknowledge a universal creator, but one who takes no interest in anything or anyone beyond creation. This was the beginning of much questioning regarding religion

Who were these scientists • The scientific revolution involved people from all over Europe. However, the Catholic church became opposed to much of the new knowledge and where it was powerful science became less valued • In Protestant countries, churches were less powerful and rulers had a vested interest in the new science for their own purposes. Science became focused in Germany, Netherlands, and Great Britain for much of the next two centuries. • Most scientists were male, although a few women, generally aristocratic, also contributed to the scientific movement through male relatives

Spread of Science • One of the greatest changes was in the spread of scientific information. Most science was done in Latin, and this created a bond between those who could speak it. However, during this time several societies such as the Royal Society of England, and the French Academy began to publish new science and information on a regular basis in the vernacular. This allowed many more persons to become familiar with and accustomed to the new way of thinking spreading scientific notions across Europe.

Issues with Science • • • Although most scientists remained good Christians, churches began to react to the lack of the inclusion of god in science The Catholic church was the most concerned and did several things to try to stem the tide of the new thinking: Created a forbidden book list Forced Galileo to say that he no longer believed the Earth moved around the sun or rotated. (He did this but still believed it. ) He did not want to get roasted. Some scientists were put to death for their persistence in believing what they observed and not what they were told to believe.

Science and the Enlightenment • As noted before, gradually more people became aware of the new way of thinking through publications and conversation. • As scientific thinking began to permeate educational establishments, most educated Europeans (despite religious opposition) took up the cause of science • Many philosophers and political thinkers also began to look at the scientific method as a way to understand how humans behaved. Could rational thinking be applied to human affairs?

The Enlightenment • Many of these people believed that scientific thinking could bring “enlightenment” to humankind. • That is, reason could be used to understand how and what humans do and guide everything human from politics to economics to philosophy • These people, generally known by the French word “philosophes” became quite popular and acknowledged.

The Enlightenment • • Human society could be transformed by scientific thinking and “progress”, a new concept of this age Enlightenment thinkers tended to be critical of, satirical of, and hostile to established authority in most spheres of human endeavor. Much Enlightenment thought attacked established forms of government particularly arbitrary ways, divine right of kings, and aristocratic privilege (oddly most of them were aristocrats). Much Enlightenment thought also attacked established religion unlike the scientists of a generation before.

The Enlightenment • Many were deists, some were pantheists (who equated god and nature) • Some even regarded religion as a fraud (Diderot in particular) • They also questioned the role of women in society and women’s education. Little practical came of this although it set the stage for the growth of feminism in the 19 th century

Some Enlightenment thinkers • Adam Smith-Scots philosopher who created the modern understanding of economics based on self interest and need • Immanuel Kant-German philosopher who defined thought as “daring to know” • John Locke-formulated constitutional government in his “Two Treatises on Government” heavily influencing British government in the early 18 th century and becoming the most influential person in American government period.

Some Enlightenment thinkers • • • Perhaps the two most important or at least the two most influential men overall in Europe were a Frenchman and a Swiss. Voltaire attacked religion (and served time in jail for it) and also developed theories of social behavior and ideal government. Voltaire was treated with respect by all of European society including those who did not like what he had to say Jean Jacques Rousseau argued that too much reason was bad and that one should immerse oneself in nature. His novel “Emile” and his philosophic tract “The Social Contract” became immensely influential and started the Romantic movement that, in a sense, replaced the Enlightenment in the early 19 th century

Effects of the new way of thinking and the Enlightenment in the 19 th century • • • Europe: in the 19 th century scientific reasoning was applied to many different modes of thought It became cumulative and self critical (like all mature thinking) As it was applied to things like life itself and politics new assumptions were created that to some extent undermined Enlightenment ideals Darwin on evolution argued that all life was in flux, there were no certainties Marx argued that human history was all change and challenge. Freud argued that human rationality may not exist

European Science beyond Europe • Science became the most widely desired product of Europe • The Chinese were interested in astronomy and mathematics • Japan, though isolated, continued to keep abreast of European scientific thought and applied it to its own society in unique ways • Some areas were less interested in the new thinking because it undermined old ways. An example would be the Ottoman Empire which did not adopt much of the new science due to religious and political differences.

Results • • The European scientific revolution and Enlightenment were the foundations of modern society across the world The new way of thinking became linked with social, political, economic, and cultural change. The idea of progress became part of European culture and this idea was transmitted to many other areas as European influence peaked in the 19 th century. Much of the knowledge was tied to inventions that made life better for the people who were able to use it.