History · Europe in Transition: From Feudalism to Industrialization
Chapter 9 : The Rise of Modern Science
Table of contents34 sections
- 1.The Rise of Modern Science
- 2.J.D. Bernal's Phases of the Scientific Revolution
- 3.Origins
- 4.Medieval Continuities and Challenges
- 5.The Role of 'Magic' in Late Medieval Enquiry
- 6.The Renaissance Contribution
- 7.Key Terms
- 8.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 9.Social Context of Modern Science
- 10.Historiographical Debates on the Origins of Science
- 11.Key Terms
- 12.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 13.Major Developments
- 14.Micro-Cosmological Developments (Biology, Medicine, Chemistry)
- 15.Cosmological Developments (Mathematics & Astronomy)
- 16.Key Terms
- 17.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 18.The Formulation of Scientific Method
- 19.Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
- 20.René Descartes (1596-1650)
- 21.The Cartesians and Feminism
- 22.Adoption of Experimental and Cartesian Methods
- 23.Institutionalization: Scientific Societies
- 24.Key Terms
- 25.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 26.Science and Religion
- 27.The Pro-Link Argument (Protestantism Promoted Science)
- 28.The Anti-Link Argument (Critics of the Protestant Thesis)
- 29.The Shift to Rational Religion
- 30.Key Terms
- 31.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 32.Important Events of the Scientific Revolution
- 33.Historiography & Suggested Readings (Extracted Arguments)
- 34.Quick-Recall Box
Chapter preview
The Rise of Modern Science
The seventeenth century witnessed a fundamental change in human perception of the universe, transitioning from a centuries-old earth-centered concept to a heliocentric (sun-centered) picture. This demystification of the universe led to a mechanistic view of the world by the second half of the seventeenth century, resolving Europe's intellectual crisis and prompting a rethinking of moral, religious, and natural ideas. This process of establishing a new view of the universe and scientific knowledge is termed the Scientific Revolution.
The rise of science, then called natural philosophy, was marked by intellectual triumphs in mathematics, astronomy, and physics. Its chief features were the observation of natural phenomena and the formulation of laws based on experiment and conclusion.
J.D. Bernal's Phases of the Scientific Revolution
According to historian J.D. Bernal, the Scientific Revolution occurred in three distinct phases:
| Phase | Key Figures | Major Development |
|---|---|---|
| First Phase | Copernicus | Replacement of the geocentric view of the universe with the heliocentric concept. |
| Second Phase | Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo | Providing a scientific and mathematical basis to the heliocentric view. |
| Third Phase | Isaac Newton, René Descartes | Formation of scientific societies; science becomes an institutional part of European society. |
Origins
The beginnings of science trace back to the ancient world, heavily dominated by Greek scholars whose views persisted for centuries:
- Aristotle (Physics): Believed all heavy bodies fall toward the centre of the universe (the Earth) and rest there unless propelled by a mover.
- Ptolemy (Astronomy): Held that a concentric series of transparent crystalline spheres revolved in ascending order of purity around the corruptible Earth. The moon, sun, planets, fixed stars, and the primum mobile (outermost sphere driving the system) revolved in perfect circles.
- Galen (Medicine): Lived in the second century AD (after Hippocrates ). Wrote On Anatomical Preparations (a standard text for over 14 centuries). He showed the existence of muscles and the spinal cord but incorrectly based human anatomy on animal dissections. He argued the liver was the centre where veins entered, supplying nutrition via one type of blood, while arteries carried a different blood mixed with pneuma…
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