At the time, discovery was looked at with skepticism as people had become accustomed to the bible being the only source of information about the world. For example, Newton’s discovery of the laws of gravity demonstrated that there were natural, unchangeable and yet predictable laws that governed the universe (Newton 2). In turn, Enlightenment thinkers believed that if natural laws did exist, and humans could discover these laws, then they could design the ideal society to live in. Rousseau is a great example of a philosopher who looked at the social issues that were brought about by the new mindset of the Scientific Revolution. He was obsessed with making social reforms as people had begun to view themselves differently since they were no longer deigned to be the center of the universe.
During this revolution, there were many great philosophers who made incredible contributions to science and changed the way people look at the world around them. Polish priest and astronomer Nicloaus Copernicus published his book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres which assumed that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun instead of the previous belief which said all the planets and the sun revolved around the earth. Galileo Galilei used the first telescope and concluded that the “heavens” were more complex than anyone had suspected. He saw mountains
The land of the west was ready for Heroic Adam’s hands to reshape lands and create a new Eden on earth. The pioneers succeeded in “improving” the lands by creating intricate gardens in the east and converting the barren deserts of the west into fertile farmland. In some context, they did create a new Eden, however, I do not believe that the “improvements” made by the settlers, is Carolyn Merchant’s personal viewpoint. Throughout Merchant’s text, she argues that society needs to “recover” from this fallen state where humans have destroyed the once idealistic Eden. At first it was unclear on which platform Merchant stood upon.
There have always been scientific advancements since the start of time. Some have been very beneficial but some had negative effects. Two such physicists, Max Planck and Albert Einstein, have contributed greatly to society. Planck discovered the equation, E=Nhf, while Einstein developed the theory of relativity. These rapid advances in science assisted in the development of technology, and they also affected human interaction with the environment on a grand scale.
In addition to this it was believed that gold could be made into something which could prolong life indefinitely. The work of alchemists was largely based on Aristotelian principles where it was thought elements could be changed or transmuted by impressing new substances onto them. It was Robert Boyle (1626-1691), who although had a deep interest in alchemy, began the movement away from that way of working and towards a more empirical way of investigation in science through observation and experiments. However, the transition from the Alchemists way of working where a preconceived idea of how things should be was held and work was undertaken to try and prove this idea, to the chemist’s way of working, where ideas and conceptions were based on laboratory experiments, was a lengthy process. Alchemists believed that anything killed by man could also be revived by him and burning of substances such as wood, wax and oil was seen as the same as the killing process.
Others are creative to some degree, but they do not have the academic capacity to connect that with their inventiveness. Commonly, it is assumed that a genius has an exceptional and original way of approaching situations in the world, reinventing ideas and potentially creating something so massive that it revolutionizes the way others think. Could that be true? All throughout time there have been geniuses leaving their mark on society. There have been religious geniuses that have shaped the major religions as we know them today.
“Science is right & religion is wrong.” I personally, believe that this statement is not correct. This is because, there are some phenomenons in this world and in this universe that science can’t explain but religion however can- an example of this is would be the Mayan civilization; They predicted many of the natural disasters that came to be and they were far more advanced than us. This clearly proves that science is not always right and religion is not always wrong. Most Muslims would contradict this statement. This is due to the fact that Muslims believe that we (Humanity) are in the progress of learning and that we will come to understand the truth one day.
When looking into the history of the sciences, one cannot ignore the incredible contributions Islamic nations in the past have made including discoveries in medicine, astronomy, geography, mathematics, and philosophy to name a few. In many ways, Islamic religion was what promoted and justified scientific exploration and discovery. Muhammad told his people to seek knowledge, “God did not send down a disease without also sending a cure (Al-Kahlili).” Muhammad’s wisdom helped to promote exploration and discovery among Muslims. God is believed to be all encompassing and that everything is connected to Him. Science is therefore seen by Muslims as a branch of knowledge that is connected with the oneness of God (Unal, pg 12).
“Today, there is a popular consensus that the term ‘Renaissance’ refers to a profound and enduring upheaval and transformation in culture, politics, art and society in Europe between the years 1400 and 1600” (Brotton 9). Science was at the forefront of this expansion because of the speed at which technology advanced communication. With the invention of the printing press, education boomed and suddenly producing accurate copies of important books of the time was no longer a major time consuming process. Not only that, but now information in textbooks could continuously be updated as scholars began to better understand and learn more about their subject areas. This newfound availability of literature helped spur the movement of Renaissance Humanism.
Also, the ancient Greeks were credited with many developments that have led to modern day sciences. The deductive reasoning formula they developed proved particularly useful in the later development of the scientific method. The Socratic Method and the idea of Forms led to great advances in Geometry, logic, and natural sciences. Modern day scientific vocabulary and style are directly derived from translations of past scientific writings. Tia 2 During the development of Western Civilization religion was basically polytheistic, the worship of more than one god.