Our prior reading about science centered on what is now Europe. The location of science endeavors will change during this unit, as science will largely disappear from Europe, only to be continued by the Arab and Chinese cultures.
Science would diminish in Europe due to two major factors. First, the fall of the Roman Empire in 530 AD, would bring about the loss of large cities and the destruction of roads, which would bring about the end of trading. The fall of the Roman Empire would also see the destruction of the Academy, Lyceum and Museum as great centers for learning. Second, the rise of Christianity caused a desire to study those things that are sacred, not secular. Simply put, “if it is not going to help you get to heaven, there is no need to study it.” There was one exception to this and that was the study of medicine. The Christians felt it was their duty to take care of the ill. The works of Galen and Hippocrates were still studied at the monasteries, while other Greek books were stored in the same monasteries.
Science would flourish in the Islamic culture. The Arabs continued to trade, especially with the Indian and Chinese cultures. Another contributing factor to science continuing with the Islamic Empire was the Arabic language. Many of the works of the ancients were translated into Arabic. This allowed for the scientific knowledge to be passed on. The Arab culture was very math oriented and astronomy grew with the study of geometry. The Arabs built a “true” observatory in a learning center called the “House of Wisdom” where the astronomical works of Ptolemy were taught. A scientist named Alhazen also contributed to astronomy, although he didn’t know it, as his work in optics and lenses would be influential for the invention of the telescope years later. The medical works of Galen were also taught in this place. In fact, medicine became highly developed even though the dissection of corpses was not allowed in Islamic culture.
The Chinese were also major contributors to the world of science, although much of their knowledge was not brought to Europe until the voyages of Marco Polo. Luckily, one of the first inventions of the Chinese was paper in 105 AD. This allowed them to document a great deal and the travelers to China preserved the information. The Chinese were using rockets, clocks, and furnace bellows before they had been used in Europe. The Chinese were probably most famous for their contributions to astronomy. They were great observers of the heavens and made many star maps as well as documenting supernovas and comets.
What two factors led to the “end” of science in Europe?
Questions Continued
What two reasons allowed science to continue in the Arab culture?
In what branch of science did the Chinese excel?
Science would return to Europe when emperor Charlemagne decreed that all monasteries must establish a school in 787. While it is true that the Christian church had inhibited the development of science in earlier centuries, the church was also responsible for the preservation of the ancient writings. The members of clergy were often the only ones who could read and this made monasteries the perfect place to establish schools. Charlemagne would later decree the measurement of a royal foot in 789, of course by using his own foot. The interaction with the Islamic culture also played a major role in the return of science, as trade would once again increase. A large number of Greek works became available to scholars between 1150 to 1270. The Christian philosophers often attempted to reconcile the teaching of the ancients with the teachings of the church. St. Thomas Aquinas argued that one should seek to gain knowledge from both religious faith and natural reason. Aquinas often argued that the works of Aristotle were compatible with Christian religion. However, many scholars disagreed with this view and by 1210, many of Aristotle’s teachings were banned by the church. This led to many of Aristotle’s views being challenged. Roger Bacon wrote that it is wrong to rely on authority of past scholars and that experimentation is a vital means to gaining knowledge. Peter Abelard would echo Bacon’s thoughts when he wrote a book entitled Sic et Non (Yes and No) in which he detailed some contradictory statements found in the writings of various authorities. Abelard claimed that reason and logic are needed to solve problems. William of Ockham and Jean Buridan challenged Aristotle’s views on motion and Nicholas of Cusa debated Aristotle’s concept of a fixed Earth. Surprisingly, Nicholas of Cusa was a cardinal in the church, which believed in a fixed, immovable Earth. Although it is important to recognize that Aristotle was often wrong, it is just as important to note that his theories had lasted for almost 2000 years.
William of Ockham would become famous for a scientific precept called Ockham’s Razor. This idea claims “All things being the same, simplest answer is usually the right one.” For example, if a student is missing from class, the most probable reason is that the student is sick. Other possibilities can be considered, but most often you will find the student is sick. So, when scientists begin experiments, they will most often look for the result they are expecting. However, it is often the case that a surprise answer brings about the most important information.
science of this era.
2. Why was Roger Bacon largely against the teachings of Aristotle?
It was also during this era that science seemed to become more uniform. You have already read about Charlemagne and the royal foot. In 1101, King Henry I claimed the length of his arm should be considered the standard for the yard. Both of these measurements were established to ensure all measurements were the same, or uniform. Even politics would play a part in this as one of the provisions of the Magna Carta, a treaty that was signed in 1215, was that a uniform system of measurements was to be used. There was also a serious attempt to unify scientific views with various religions and cultures. In 870, Aristotle’s views were reconciled with Islam by Al-Farabi, a Persian scholar. Jewish philosopher, Moses ben Maimon would attempt to do the same with Aristotle and the Old Testament in 1135. There was also an attempt to get scientists to all work with the same procedures. Frenchman Peter Abelard wrote a series of manuals in 1111, which described the use and applications of various scientific tools.
Lastly, a scientist named Alhazen conducted what many consider to be the first experiment. The belief at this time was that the reason we could see things was due to light coming out of our eyes. This was easy to prove. If you close your eyes, light cannot escape and you cannot see. Alhazen wanted to prove that light came from another source, reflected off an object and into your eyes, and this allowed you to see. To prove this, he had 15 people stare at the Sun for an hour. His subjects all went blind, thus showing that the light was coming from the Sun and not their eyes.
The astronomy of the Middle Ages was based on Ptolemy’s Almagest. Again, Ptolemy based his views on those of Plato and Aristotle, which stated that all motion of heavenly bodies could be based on uniform circular motion. St. Thomas Aquinas tried to incorporate these views with the dogma of the church. Aristotle had claimed that a “prime mover” was needed to keep the heavens in motion. Aquinas used this as his “first proof” of the existence of God. The Almagest would be translated many times during this era; the two most significant times were in 827 when it was translated into Arabic and 1175 when it was translated into Latin.
The Chinese were once again the first to document many astronomical observations. In 635, we find the first documentation of the rule that the tail of a comet always points away from the Sun. The discovery of why this occurs would take another 1000 years. In 1100, the Chinese built a stone planisphere that demonstrated the cause of solar and lunar eclipses. Finally, the Chinese would document that the length of the solar year was 365.25 days around 1400.
The Arabs would also contribute to the astronomy of this era. Arab astronomer Arzachael was the first to suggest that the orbit of the planets was elliptical. Another Arab wrote a book in 1281 entitled Nihayat al-idrak fi dirayat al-aflak, which also described the motions of the planets. This book explained the motions as more of a uniform circular motion.
A large comet was sighted in 1066. In England, this comet coincided with the invasion of William of Normandy. Little did we know that this comet would return every 76 years and is known as Comet Halley today.
Many inventions would aid the science of astronomy. One of these inventions was the astrolabe. Geoffrey Chaucer, the same author that wrote The Canterbury Tales, wrote a book on how to construct an astrolabe and how to use it to compute the position of a star. As a side note, the invention and use of eyeglasses became popular in 1300.
Finally, Nicholas of Cusa wrote a book entitled De docta ignorantia (On learned ignorance) in 1440. This book said that we should not just accept the authority of the ancients. Nicholas challenged the ideas of Aristotle, especially the view that the Earth was at the center of our solar system.
3. What did the Chinese document about the tail of a comet?
The writings of Aristotle had a major influence on the life science of the medieval era. Aristotle’s major area of study was biology and natural science, so his writings were very good about this topic. Medieval biology tried to incorporate Aristotle’s method of investigation… try to find the function and purpose of organic structures. Biology was split into the two disciplines of botany and zoology. The interest in botany was spurred by medicine while zoology took on more of a fabled approach. Medieval literature is full of stories about incredible animals and monsters such as dragons and unicorns. Amazingly, many of these creatures were believed to be true to life.
Probably the most accomplished biologist of this time was Albertus Magnus. Magnus collected plants all over Germany as well as studying birds, insects and other animals. He also ridiculed the ideas of monsters and bizarre creatures. Magnus wrote a book entitled On animals where he described his observations and dissections of animals and insects in 1193. While we are on the topic of dissections, a book was written about the dissection of corpses. This book was devoted to human anatomy and the art of dissection. As a side note, the science building at Aquinas College is named after Magnus.
At the start of this era, an epidemic of the bubonic plague which became a major influence of scientific study. Medicine was already the most studied area of science and the plague would only strengthen this pursuit. The plague struck in 541 in Europe. At its peak, the plague killed 10,000 people/day. The plague would come to an end three years later. This study of medicine would continue with the creation of a hospital in Baghdad in 977. This hospital employed 24 physicians and had special sections for surgery and eye disorders. The writings of Galen and Hippocrates were still popular among doctors and by 1223 became required reading for most physicians.
Finally, Giles of Rome explained his belief on the fact that both parents are involved in procreation during the year of 1275. Again, this view began with Aristotle, although he was unable to prove this. Many still believed that the man “planted his seed” inside the woman, and like soil, the woman’s only function was to provide a place for that seed to grow. The fact that mammals and humans had eggs wouldn’t be discovered until 1827 or 600 years later.
Up to this point, we have not discussed the topic of fossils to a great extent. However, it is difficult to believe that the previous civilizations never encountered fossils. The first documented accounts of fossils were seashells on the tops of mountains that were discovered by Xenophanes during the Greek Era. He correctly interpreted this to mean that the mountains had once been covered by water. Another philosopher named Herodotus reached the same conclusion, but later misinterpreted other fossils. He equated fossilized bones of large creatures as mythical animals or giant humans. Other recordings mention fossil fishes and that Caesar Augustus kept a collection of large fossils in his villa. However, it is obvious that they had little understanding of their ancient origin. Sadly, the Arab scholar Avicenna would cloud the picture on fossils further when he argued that bone could not become stone and that fossils were simply “shaped stones”. Georgius Agricola would not coin the word “fossil” until the 16th century.
We have discussed travel and trade to a great extent, and those would continue during this era. Leif Ericson would reach North America in the year 1000. Leif, the son of Eric the Red who had reached Greenland in 982, would lead a group of Vikings and set up a colony in what is now Newfoundland. Maps would also remain important, due to all travel. A map of western China was printed in 1155. This is the oldest known printed map. Another map would have even greater importance, especially to those living in the New World. In 1397, Paolo Toscanelli made a map showing Asia only 4830 kilometers or 3000 miles west of Europe. Christopher Columbus would use this map to brag that he could make it to Asia faster than anyone had before. We will discuss the story of Columbus further during the next unit.
Also during this era, we discover a true attempt to understand the Earth itself. Shen Kua wrote a book entitled the Dream Pool Essays in 1086. Kua outlined the principles of erosion, uplift and sedimentation that would become the foundation of Earth Science. This book would also describe the principle of Ecological Succession where one landform or ecosystem would replace a previous landform or ecosystem. This is most obvious during changes from lowland to pond to marsh and finally to forest.
In the previous unit, we discussed the failings of Aristotle in the area of physical science. Although Aristotle’s ideas were wrong, they were also difficult to disprove. This allowed his ideas to continue through the Medieval Period and until the 17th Century. One of Aristotle’s concerns was what kept the stars in motion. Remember that the Greeks thought the stars were encased in a crystal sphere. Aristotle believed that there must be something that put an object in motion and keep those objects in motion. He felt that this was true for the stars as well. Philosopher Johannas Philoponus rejected this idea. He claimed that once a body is set in motion, it would continue to move in the absence of friction. He believed that objects could contain a certain amount of motion. So, according to Philoponus, the sphere of stars could continue to move because nothing opposed it. Thomas Aquinas would claim that God was what kept the sphere of stars in motion and the fact that stars moved proved the existence of God. This view was made official in 1277 in a papal decree intended to suppress any speculation that might contradict the teachings of the church. The views of Philoponus were still adopted by Jean Buridan and William of Ockham as they described the quantity of motion as impetus. They avoided the problem of condemnation of the church by invoking God as the originator of the motion and that God could change that motion if He pleased, although neither believed that this was actually the case. Galileo and later Isaac Newton refined the idea of impetus and objects staying in motion, later to be called inertia.
At this time, rockets would play an important part in physical science. The Chinese developed the first rockets in 1150. The Chinese used these rockets as a method to propel their fireworks. They clearly understood the concept of “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction” in the use of rocketry. However, as it is often the case, an interesting scientific invention was soon used as a military weapon. In 1380, rockets were used for the first time in Europe. Sadly, this use was in a battle.
What is the definition of inertia?