Science is old and new, at the same time. Here we'll look at the history of science, and ultimately WHY science is the backbone of civilization.
Without science we would all be cavemen living in caves.
The pyramids in Egypt couldn't have been made without "science," even if they did not call the practice by that name. In our current society "Science" means:
Definition of science
1: the state of knowing : knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding
2a: a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study the science of theology
b: something (such as a sport or technique) that may be studied or learned like systematized knowledge
have it down to a science
3a: knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method
b: such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena : NATURAL SCIENCE
4: a system or method reconciling practical ends with scientific laws
cooking is both a science and an art
-- Merriam-Webster Dictionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/science
So you see, even the pyramids couldn't have been built without science (even if they didn't call it that name) because science just means knowing how things work.
Some people follow religions that advise disbelief in science, that the religious texts are the only (or best) source of knowledge. Well.... okay people have the right to think that. But it's a good thing that everyone doesn't take that approach or we wouldn't have modern civilization like electricity, medicine, and cars.
Some people believe that science is (or can be) manipulated by bad actors. True there are bad actors in the world, some very powerful. The thing about science, though, is it checks itself. Because "science" is interested in how things REALLY work, it wouldn't take long for other scientists to realize something is wrong. The whole point of science is that your work is open and share-able. Scientists love checking each others work and looking for mistakes or improvements, like a nagging mother. They love this. Scientists LIVE for proving other scientists wrong. So with this and all the information being open to view for everyone, discrepancies don't last long before someone points and everyone else looks at the problem. As a matter of fact, if a scientist makes a claim and it can't be verified (basically by anyone else) then the claim is not accepted into "the literature." (Public Journals and such, where all the science is written down for other scientists to read, critique, and discuss.)
In 2021 we are firmly in the Information age. Sharing information is easy. Anyone can take their favorite interest and learn all of its history up to TODAY, and then go explore it for themselves through travel and gadgets.
We humans (economics aside) have access to comfortable environments, abundant food, enjoyable living, easy/fast travel, and all the knowledge of the world in the palms of our hands.
How did we get here?
Ancient History
While the earth is 4.6 billion years old, human settlements have only existed for the last 12,000 years (which pre-dates stone tools [9.000 years ago] and writing [6,000 years ago]). Presumably, science did not really exist at that time. People might have used "trial and error" but that's it.
Then around 5,800 years ago people discovered metals, likely by accident. We've been working with metals ever since (iron [3,500 years ago]). This was all basically through "trial and error."
Mathematics, medicine, and astronomy were developed in the middle east around 3.000 years ago. (But that wasn't empirical science or logic.)
The Ancient Greek philosophers Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato lived around 2,600 years ago. Those three cats have an interesting saga. Loosely:
- Socrates (469-399 BC) liked to walk around Athens questioning why things turned out as they did (trees, land, people, etc). Young people followed him, playing the game of him asking question after question until a matter was figured out. Plato was one of those young men. Interestingly, the town governors didn't like the practice and voted to put Socrates to death; and he went willingly.
- Plato (425–348 BC) is in the middle. He was Socrates' student and Aristotle's teacher. It's popularly known that Plato was basically a spoiled rich kid to begin with, meaning he had the best education of the age without having to toil at work all day just to survive. So he had the means and the pre-requisites to follow Socrates and the other "great minds" of the time. Interestingly, Socrates never wrote down his own work but Plato was a prolific writer. Plato wrote down a lot of Socrates' ideas, his own ideas, and ideas from others of the time. He built on Socrates' explanations of the world and turned it into "inductive reasoning." He lived a long life and was famous for his sprawling Academy just outside Athens. Though for a quick minute during one of the many (often violent) political changes, he was sold into slavery for a while. He is unique of the three (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) in that his work has survived almost intact for all this time. (Mostly due to extra copies of his work being housed away from the Great Library of Alexandria which was famously burned and looted after 48 BC.)
- Aristotle (384-322 BC) never knew Socrates, as the latter died before the former was born. Young Aristotle was trained in the medicine of the time (basically observation and guesswork) then sent to nearby Athens to learn (about how the world works) from Plato at his famous Academy. The two seem to have remained lifelong collaborators if not exactly friends. Aristotle was a great writer, in both senses of the word. He wrote well, and often, on a number of lofty topics including the first concept that the earth IS NOT the center of the universe. His greatest accomplishment may have been that he was tapped to be the personal tutor of Alexander the Great. Some argue that this association with history is a big reason that we know so much about these three in modern times, because these types of discoveries were being made also in India and China. After tutoring ATG, Aristotle continued to work on figuring out how the world works. He is widely regarded as the first scientist. Eventually, after more political unrest, he was forced to flee to a nearby island where he died soon after.
The more you delve into these three cats, the more confused you will be. People can study philosophy in university for a decade and still argue with each other over what it all means. But these three cats are the base of science, even though their theories aren't relied upon in modern times. (They're mainly cited as historical references for the origins of philosophy and science.)
Summary: Together, Plato (whose main theme was parroting and expounding on what he learned from Socrates) and Aristotle are considered the two greatest western philosophers. (Philosophy here meaning how the world works - people, objects, environment, nature.)
It's important to note how they differ, though, which we'll do below.
In the next section (Middle History) we will BREEZE THROUGH the steps forward for scientific thought. We'll start with these three and how they each took the baton forward a bit, in their own way.
[References at end of page]
What the Ancients Believed
Science branched off from philosophy around the time of Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. We wanted to give you a good foundation (the paragraphs above) as a place to start with this topic. The history of just those three are the subjects of university curriculum so we got a bit wordy up there.
Now, so as to not overwhelm, we'll just breeze through the major steps forward in the PRACTICE of the "scientific method." This list is compiled from the references below that detail the history (evolution) of science. Each entry below links to the Wiki page for that person. This is a quick list to hit the high points. There are dozens if not hundreds of entries we could have included. Again, there are entire university curriculums built for learning about this.
Confucius (551–479 BC)
- Proponent of morality, family bonds, and skilled judgement over rote memorization of facts.
Pythagoras (570–495 BC)
- Mathematics (Pythagorean theorem); Codified music into math; First-ish Vegetarian; Believed in a "soul;" First "philosopher" (lover of wisdom)
Socrates (469-399 BC)
- How does the world work? Does it work this way? Or does it work another way? Our knowledge, our souls, come from DIVINE providence. It's up to us to figure it out.
Plato (425–348 BC)
- Our knowledge and souls, and essence, doesn't come from divine providence. Our essence basically.. is what it is. Nature is basically in balance with itself, by itself.
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
- The point of reality is NOT SO MUCH what is inside us and our thoughts, but what actually makes up the physical world. Physics, botany, medicine, these are the things that govern how the world works. Also, the world (which is not the center of the universe) isn't eternal. It's a cyclical system of rebirth made of the four elements — earth, water, air, and fire. (Cyclical meaning like water evaporates then rains back into the ocean; Repeat.)
Between the time of these ancient Greek philosophers and the real start of the scientific age beginning around 1500 AD, the ideas discussed by these three were developed further in Greece and other parts of the world including Rome, Persia, India, and China. The Islamic Golden Age was a big part of this between the 8th century and 14th century.
During this time (between the big three above and 1500 AD), philosophy (and ergo science) began a slow meander between natural philosophy and the beginnings of empiricism. (Empiricism basically meaning evidence-based not just thoughts/ideas.)
When the printing press was invented in Germany in 1440 AD, it sparked a learning revolution like never before seen in mankind. Humans were finally able to share information without it being watered down through the process of storytelling.
Ideas could be made solid, so you could understand things better and learn new things.
Ideas could be passed around, so everybody didn't have to figure out EVERYTHING for themselves.
Ideas could be expanded and moved forward, because you're not always starting from scratch with everything.
Middle History
NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING LIST (below) MOST HAVE COME ABOUT WITHIN THE LAST 500 YEARS - A RELATIVELY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. (1500-present)
Note: The descriptions are painfully short. These famous people each had scores of accomplishments. To name just one or two per person seems a disservice to them all. THANK YOU WIKIPEDIA! (Everyone please donate $5 to them if you can. They're doing good to help educate the world.)
Ibn Tufail (1105–1185)
- Early supporter of dissection and autopsy; Known for his story/allegory about a Feral Child as it relates to the maturing human condition.
William of Ockham (1287–1347)
- Early proponent of logic; Known for "Occam's Razor;" Revered by the Church of England.
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Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
- Painting, drawing, engineering, science, sculpture, architecture; "If you find from your own experience that something is a fact and it contradicts what some authority has written down, then you must abandon the authority and base your reasoning on your own findings."
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469–1527)
- Father of modern political philosophy and political science.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543)
- Quantity theory of money; First accurate model of our universe and solar system; His last book and death shortly after, started the scientific revolution.
Georgius Agricola (1494–1555)
- He is well known for his pioneering work De re metallica libri XII, that was published in 1556, one year after his death. This 12-volume work is a comprehensive and systematic study, classification and methodical guide on all available factual and practical aspects, that are of concern for mining, the mining sciences and metallurgy, investigated and researched in its natural environment by means of direct observation. Unrivaled in its complexity and accuracy, it served as the standard reference work for two centuries.
Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564)
- Author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem (On the Fabric of the Human Body). Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy.
François Viète (1540–1603)
- Fundamental in creating "new algebra." Lawyer by trade.
William Gilbert (1544–1603)
- He passionately rejected both the prevailing Aristotelian philosophy and the Scholastic method of university teaching. He is remembered today largely for his book De Magnete (1600). BACON did not like his opinion on astonomy: "The Alchemists have made a philosophy out of a few experiments of the furnace and Gilbert our countryman hath made a philosophy out of observations of the lodestone." However, Whewell said: "Gilbert... repeatedly asserts the paramount value of experiments. He himself, no doubt, acted up to his own precepts; for his work contains all the fundamental facts of the science [of magnetism], so fully examined, indeed, that even at this day we have little to add to them."
Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
- Father of empiricism; He argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. Most importantly, he argued science could be achieved by the use of a sceptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves; First proponent of strict methodology.
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
- Father of observational astronomy; Father of modern physics; Father of the scientific method; Father of modern science; Invented the thermoscope; Found proof of Aristotle's assertion that earth is not the center of the universe.
Hans Lipperhey (1570–1619)
- Commonly associated with the invention of the telescope, because he was the first one who tried to obtain a patent for it.[1] It is, however, unclear if he was the first one to build a telescope.
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630)
- Laws of planetary motion (mathematics)
William Harvey (1578–1657)
- First known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the brain and the rest of the body by the heart, though earlier writers, such as Realdo Colombo, Michael Servetus, and Jacques Dubois, had provided precursors of the theory.
Willebrord Snellius (1580–1626)
- Was the first to try to do a large-scale experiment to measure the circumference of the earth using triangulation; A work on trigonometry (Doctrina triangulorum) authored by Snellius was published a year after his death; Snellius was also a distinguished mathematician, producing a new method for calculating π—the first such improvement since ancient times. He rediscovered the law of refraction in 1621.
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
- Social contract; Work with physics, gasses, geometry.
René Descartes (1596–1650)
- Invented analytical geometry, linking the previously separate fields of geometry and algebra; Regarded as one of the founders of modern philosophy; Refusing to accept the authority of previous philosophers, Descartes frequently set his views apart from the philosophers who preceded him. In the opening section of the Passions of the Soul, an early modern treatise on emotions, Descartes goes so far as to assert that he will write on this topic "as if no one had written on these matters before." His best known philosophical statement is "cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am.")
Otto von Guericke (1602–1686)
- His pioneering scientific work, the development of experimental methods and repeatable demonstrations on the physics of the vacuum, atmospheric pressure, electrostatic repulsion, his advocacy for the reality of "action at a distance" and of "absolute space" were remarkable contributions for the advancement of the Scientific Revolution.
Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647)
- A student of Galileo. He is best known for his invention of the barometer, but is also known for his advances in optics and work on the method of indivisibles.
The Royal Society of London (1660)
- Granted a royal charter by King Charles II, it is the oldest national scientific institution in the world; In letters in 1646 and 1647, Robert Boyle refers to "our invisible college" or "our philosophical college." The society's common theme was to acquire knowledge through experimental investigation. The Royal Society started from groups of physicians and natural philosophers, meeting at a variety of locations, including Gresham College in London. They were influenced by the "new science", as promoted by Francis Bacon in his New Atlantis, from approximately 1645 onwards.
Robert Boyle (1627–1691)
- First modern chemist; Helped form The Royal Society. One of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method. He is best known for Boyle's law, which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system. Among his works, The Sceptical Chymist is seen as a cornerstone book in the field of chemistry. He was a devout and pious Anglican and is noted for his writings in theology.
Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695)
- Regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time and a major figure in the scientific revolution; In physics, Huygens made groundbreaking contributions in optics and mechanics, while as an astronomer he is chiefly known for his studies of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan. As an inventor, he improved the design of telescopes and invented the pendulum clock, a breakthrough in timekeeping and the most accurate timekeeper for almost 300 years. An exceptionally talented mathematician and physicist, Huygens was the first to idealize a physical problem by a set of parameters then analyze it mathematically and the first to fully mathematize a mechanistic explanation of unobservable physical phenomena. For these reasons, he has been called the first theoretical physicist and one of the founders of modern mathematical physics. Codified centripetal force, the correct laws of elastic collision, and his wave theory of light.
John Locke (1632–1704)
- Father of Liberalism; Considered one of the first of the British empiricists; His writings influenced Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American Revolutionaries. His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the United States Declaration of Independence.
Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723)
- A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology;" Van Leeuwenhoek is best known for his pioneering work in microscopy and for his contributions toward the establishment of microbiology as a scientific discipline; Worked as a draper in his youth and founded his own shop in 1654. He became well recognized in municipal politics and developed an interest in lensmaking. In the 1670s, he started to explore microbial life with his microscope; Using single-lensed microscopes of his own design and make, van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and to experiment with microbes, which he originally referred to as dierkens, diertgens or diertjes (Dutch for "small animals" [translated into English as animalcules, from Latin animalculum = "tiny animal"]). He was the first to relatively determine their size. Most of the "animalcules" are now referred to as unicellular organisms, although he observed multicellular organisms in pond water. He was also the first to document microscopic observations of muscle fibers, bacteria, spermatozoa, red blood cells, crystals in gouty tophi, and among the first to see blood flow in capillaries. Although van Leeuwenhoek did not write any books, he described his discoveries in letters to the Royal Society, which published many of his letters, and to persons in several European countries.
Isaac Newton (1642–1727)
- Built upon the work of Kepler, Galileo and Huygens; Laws of motion, gravity, speed of sound, the base of the mechanics direction of science, Calculus. (Yes, he should have a bigger entry. He is popular so I went easy here. Info on this cat is already plentiful.)
David Hume (1711–1776)
- This man's accomplishments aren't so straightforward. While he's credited with being a founder of skepticism, his work inspired Immanuel Kant (below) to actually reject science/empiricism. (This is all a bit confusing.) However, he is credited with having great influence on other philosophers/scientists. Among those influenced: Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, and Charles Darwin
Adam Smith (1723–1790)
- Philosopher; Father of Economics; Father of Capitalism; Wrote the famous economics text/book "The Wealth of Nations."
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)
- THIS CAT WAS AGAINST SKEPTICISM. Yes there was a backlash for a while around this time, where people thought the whole idea of science was basically BS. Eventually science prevailed - not because it's the star of our movie but because science has been proven time and again to be the best method humans have discovered, to systematically explore and catalog our world.
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743–1794)
- Father of chemistry; Accomplishments stem largely from his changing the science from a qualitative to a quantitative one; Discovery of the role oxygen plays in combustion; Recognized and named oxygen (1778) and hydrogen (1783), and opposed the phlogiston theory; Helped construct the metric system; Wrote the first extensive list of elements, and helped to reform chemical nomenclature; Predicted the existence of silicon; Discovered that, although matter may change its form or shape, its mass always remains the same; At the height of the French Revolution, he was charged with tax fraud and selling adulterated tobacco, and was guillotined.
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)
- Philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism; Bentham defined as the "fundamental axiom" of his philosophy the principle that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong." He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law and influenced the development of welfarism. He advocated individual and economic freedoms, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and the decriminalising of homosexual acts. He called for the abolition of slavery, capital punishment and physical punishment, including that of children. He has also become known as an early advocate of animal rights. Though strongly in favour of the extension of individual legal rights, he opposed the idea of natural law and natural rights (both of which are considered "divine" or "God-given" in origin), calling them "nonsense upon stilts." He "had considerable influence on the reform of prisons, schools, poor laws, law courts, and Parliament itself."
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (1783)
- Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland.
William Whewell (1794–1866)
- In a time of increasing specialization, Whewell appears a throwback to an earlier era when natural philosophers dabbled in a bit of everything. He published work in the disciplines of mechanics, physics, geology, astronomy, and economics, while also finding the time to compose poetry; In mathematics, Whewell introduced what is now called the Whewell equation, an equation defining the shape of a curve without reference to an arbitrarily chosen coordinate system. He also organized thousands of volunteers internationally to study ocean tides, in what is now considered one of the first citizen science projects; One of Whewell's greatest gifts to science was his wordsmithing; Whewell coined the terms scientist, physicist, linguistics, consilience, catastrophism, uniformitarianism, and astigmatism amongst others; Whewell suggested the terms electrode, ion, dielectric, anode, and cathode to Michael Faraday.
Whoa, that section above was HEAVY.
The section above was really heavy. (Plus - not totally pleased with its completeness or success at making connections between earlier and later guys studying the same things.)
But that heavy list of discoveries DOES demonstrate something in common with most of these. These science discoveries evolved from regular people who were interested in a subject and then investigated it until they figured out what was going on. Also notice how others came along afterward and refined the first findings.
During this process of investigation, a common theme/thread/process is seen play out again and again:
From observations, to questions, to experiments, to writing it down, to sharing the info, to others critiquing the info, to others trying to duplicate the findings, to others expounding on the findings. (Repeat)
In the midst of this process going on, these curious people get together and discuss their work and check each others' work. It's important to note that it looks like a lot of these guys are motivated by genuine curiosity. They really want to know what's going on. And when they check each other's work they are looking to find better ways, or fix a problem, or make sure it's correct.
In the modern era, which we will get to soon, a segment of public opinion thinks that science is actively being manipulated for some ulterior motive. While it's true that corruption happens in the world, even in areas that seem above reproach, remember that science has a lot of people checking each others' work. That makes it a lot harder to fool people or promote faulty results. The over-arching idea of science is to discover the truth of a matter. Other scientists will raise red flags whenever they see something shady. This is why VERIFIED science is reliable - it's been proven openly in front of basically the entire world and detailed so others can replicate it themselves (and find the same result).
Modern History - Last 200 Years
And THAT, my friends, is the history of science and the scientific method.
Please know that I worked really hard to put this section together. I'm just a dumb truck driver. It took a really long time to try to understand this stuff well enough to pass along an UNDERSTANDABLE summary. I'd be embarrassed for you to know how long this project has been delayed just for working on this one little page here; and it's still not that good. But on a project like this (bringing more science to the paranormal) it seemed very important to include where "science" originated.
Science isn't some magic thing that we believe out of "faith." People believe in science because it's been proven, again and again, until we know the answers are solid. When new information is found, scientific answers evolve. That's the beauty of science - it's self correcting because it constantly checks itself.
References:
A brief history of Science - The Open University
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/history-science-technology-and-medicine/history-science/brief-history-science
Socrates - History.com
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/socrates
Aristotle - UCMP-Berkeley
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/aristotle.html
Plato - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato
Aristotle vs. Plato - Diffen.com
https://www.diffen.com/difference/Aristotle_vs_Plato
Plato and Aristotle: How Do They Differ? - Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/story/plato-and-aristotle-how-do-they-differ
History of Science - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science#Post-classical_science
Scientific Revolution - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Revolution
Library of Alexandria - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria
David Hume - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/
Individuals listed above have links to their Wiki pages.
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