History of science

"New science" redirects here. For the treatise about history, see The New Science.
For approaches to the study of history of science, see Historiography of science. For the academic field that comprises science and its corresponding technological advances, see History of science and technology. For the academic journal, see History of Science (journal).

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The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal.[1] Protoscience, early sciences, and natural philosophies such as alchemy and astrology during the Bronze Age, Iron Age, classical antiquity, and the Middle Ages declined during the early modern period after the establishment of formal disciplines of science in the Age of Enlightenment.

Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia around 3000 to 1200 BCE.[2][3] These civilizations' contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and medicine influenced later Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity, wherein formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the physical world based on natural causes.[2][3] After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, knowledge of Greek conceptions of the world deteriorated in Latin-speaking Western Europe during the early centuries (400 to 1000 CE) of the Middle Ages,[4] but continued to thrive in the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire. Aided by translations of Greek texts, the Hellenistic worldview was preserved and absorbed into the Arabic-speaking Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age.[5] The recovery and assimilation of Greek works and Islamic inquiries into Western Europe from the 10th to 13th century revived the learning of natural philosophy in the West.[4][6] Traditions of early science were also developed in ancient India and separately in ancient China, the Chinese model having influenced Vietnam, Korea and Japan before Western exploration.[7] Among the Pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica, the Zapotec civilization established their first known traditions of astronomy and mathematics for producing calendars, followed by other civilizations such as the Maya.

Natural philosophy was transformed during the Scientific Revolution in 16th- to 17th-century Europe,[8][9][10] as new ideas and discoveries departed from previous Greek conceptions and traditions.[11][12][13][14] The New Science that emerged was more mechanistic in its worldview, more integrated with mathematics, and more reliable and open as its knowledge was based on a newly defined scientific method.[12][15][16] More "revolutions" in subsequent centuries soon followed. The chemical revolution of the 18th century, for instance, introduced new quantitative methods and measurements for chemistry.[17] In the 19th century, new perspectives regarding the conservation of energy, age of Earth, and evolution came into focus.[18][19][20][21][22][23] And in the 20th century, new discoveries in genetics and physics laid the foundations for new sub disciplines such as molecular biology and particle physics.[24][25] Moreover, industrial and military concerns as well as the increasing complexity of new research endeavors ushered in the era of "big science," particularly after World War II.[24][25][26]

  1. ^ Cohen, Eliel (2021). "The boundary lens: theorising academic activity". The University and its Boundaries (1st ed.). New York, New York: Routledge. pp. 14–41. ISBN 978-0367562984. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b Lindberg, David C. (2007). "Science before the Greeks". The Beginnings of Western Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 1–20. ISBN 978-0-226-48205-7.
  3. ^ a b Grant, Edward (2007). "Ancient Egypt to Plato". A History of Natural Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–26. ISBN 978-052-1-68957-1.
  4. ^ a b Lindberg, David C. (2007). "The revival of learning in the West". The Beginnings of Western Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 193–224. ISBN 978-0-226-48205-7.
  5. ^ Lindberg, David C. (2007). "Islamic science". The Beginnings of Western Science (Second ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 163–92. ISBN 978-0-226-48205-7.
  6. ^ Lindberg, David C. (2007). "The recovery and assimilation of Greek and Islamic science". The Beginnings of Western Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 225–253. ISBN 978-0-226-48205-7.
  7. ^ Shigeru, Nakayama (1995). "History of East Asian Science: Needs and Opportunities". Osiris. 10: 80–94. doi:10.1086/368744. JSTOR 301914. S2CID 224789083. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  8. ^ Küskü, Elif Aslan (1 January 2022). "Examination of Scientific Revolution Medicine on the Human Body / Bilimsel Devrim Tıbbını İnsan Bedeni Üzerinden İncelemek". The Legends: Journal of European History Studies. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  9. ^ Hendrix, Scott E. (2011). "Natural Philosophy or Science in Premodern Epistemic Regimes? The Case of the Astrology of Albert the Great and Galileo Galilei". Teorie Vědy / Theory of Science. 33 (1): 111–132. doi:10.46938/tv.2011.72. S2CID 258069710. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  10. ^ Principe, Lawrence M. (2011). "Introduction". Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-0-199-56741-6.
  11. ^ Lindberg, David C. (1990). "Conceptions of the Scientific Revolution from Baker to Butterfield: A preliminary sketch". In Lindberg, David C.; Westman, Robert S. (eds.). Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution (First ed.). Chicago: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–26. ISBN 978-0-521-34262-9.
  12. ^ a b Lindberg, David C. (2007). "The legacy of ancient and medieval science". The Beginnings of Western Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 357–368. ISBN 978-0-226-48205-7.
  13. ^ Del Soldato, Eva (2016). Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2016 ed.). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  14. ^ Grant, Edward (2007). "Transformation of medieval natural philosophy from the early period modern period to the end of the nineteenth century". A History of Natural Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 274–322. ISBN 978-052-1-68957-1.
  15. ^ Gal, Ofer (2021). "The New Science". The Origins of Modern Science. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 308–349. ISBN 978-1316649701.
  16. ^ Bowler, Peter J.; Morus, Iwan Rhys (2020). "The scientific revolution". Making Modern Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 25–57. ISBN 978-0226365763.
  17. ^ Bowler, Peter J.; Morus, Iwan Rhys (2020). "The chemical revolution". Making Modern Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 58–82. ISBN 978-0226365763.
  18. ^ Bowler, Peter J.; Morus, Iwan Rhys (2020). "The conservation of energy". Making Modern Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 83–107. ISBN 978-0226365763.
  19. ^ Bowler, Peter J.; Morus, Iwan Rhys (2020). "The age of the earth". Making Modern Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 108–133. ISBN 978-0226365763.
  20. ^ Bowler, Peter J.; Morus, Iwan Rhys (2020). "The Darwinian revolution". Making Modern Science (2nd ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. pp. 134–171. ISBN 978-0226365763.
  21. ^ Cahan, David, ed. (2003). From Natural Philosophy to the Sciences: Writing the History of Nineteenth-Century Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-08928-7.
  22. ^ The Oxford English Dictionary dates the origin of the word "scientist" to 1834.
  23. ^ Lightman, Bernard (2011). "Science and the Public". In Shank, Michael; Numbers, Ronald; Harrison, Peter (eds.). Wrestling with Nature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 367. ISBN 978-0-226-31783-0.
  24. ^ a b Bowler, Peter J.; Morus, Iwan Rhys (2020). "Genetics". Making Modern Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 197–221. ISBN 978-0226365763.
  25. ^ a b Bowler, Peter J.; Morus, Iwan Rhys (2020). "Twentieth-century physics". Making Modern Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 262–285. ISBN 978-0226365763.
  26. ^ Bowler, Peter J.; Morus, Iwan Rhys (2020). "Introduction: Science, society, and history". Making Modern Science (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 1–24. ISBN 978-0226365763.