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Thehistory of science covers the development ofscience fromancient times to thepresent. It encompasses all three majorbranches of science:natural,social, andformal.Protoscience,early sciences, and natural philosophies such asalchemy andastrology that existed during theBronze Age,Iron Age,classical antiquity and theMiddle Ages, declined during theearly modern period after the establishment of formal disciplines ofscience in the Age of Enlightenment.
The earliest roots of scientific thinking and practice can be traced toAncient Egypt andMesopotamia during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE. These civilizations' contributions tomathematics,astronomy, andmedicine influenced later Greeknatural philosophy ofclassical antiquity, wherein formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in thephysical world based on natural causes. After thefall of the Western Roman Empire, knowledge ofGreek conceptions of the world deteriorated in Latin-speakingWestern Europe during the early centuries (400 to 1000 CE) ofthe Middle Ages, but continued to thrive in theGreek-speakingByzantine Empire. Aided by translations of Greek texts, theHellenistic worldview was preserved and absorbed into theArabic-speakingMuslim world during theIslamic Golden Age. The recovery and assimilation ofGreek works andIslamic inquiries into Western Europe from the 10th to 13th century revived the learning of natural philosophy in the West. Traditions of early science were also developed inancient India and separately inancient China, theChinese model having influencedVietnam,Korea andJapan beforeWestern exploration. Among thePre-Columbian peoples ofMesoamerica, theZapotec civilization established their first known traditions of astronomy and mathematics forproducing calendars, followed by other civilizations such as theMaya.
Natural philosophy was transformed by theScientific Revolution that transpired during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, asnew ideas and discoveries departed fromprevious Greek conceptions and traditions. The New Science that emerged was moremechanistic in its worldview, more integrated with mathematics, and more reliable and open as its knowledge was based on a newly definedscientific method. More "revolutions" in subsequent centuries soon followed. Thechemical revolution of the 18th century, for instance, introduced new quantitative methods and measurements forchemistry. In the19th century, new perspectives regarding theconservation of energy,age of Earth, andevolution came into focus. And in the 20th century, new discoveries ingenetics andphysics laid the foundations for new sub disciplines such asmolecular biology andparticle physics. Moreover, industrial and military concerns as well as the increasing complexity of new research endeavors ushered in the era of "big science," particularly afterWorld War II. (Full article...)
Lysenkoism was a pseudoscientific political campaign led by the SovietbiologistTrofim Lysenko againstgenetics and science-basedagriculture in the mid-20th century, rejectingnatural selection in favour of a form ofLamarckism, as well as expanding upon the techniques ofvernalization andgrafting.
More than 3,000 mainstream biologists were dismissed or imprisoned, and numerous scientists were executed in the Soviet campaign tosuppress scientific opponents. The president of the Soviet Agriculture Academy,Nikolai Vavilov, who had been Lysenko's mentor, but later denounced him, was sent to prison and died there, while Soviet genetics research was effectively destroyed. Research and teaching in the fields ofneurophysiology,cell biology, and many other biological disciplines were harmed or banned. (Full article...)
The late 19th century was a period of increased tension and conflict betweenscience and religion; the relationship is dramatized in this engraving by W. Ridgway (published in 1878) afterDaniel Huntington's 1868 paintingPhilosophy and Christian Art. An attractive young woman attempts to persuade a wizened natural philosopher of the virtue of Christian art (in the form of an adoration scene), while he resolutely points to his book, the pages of which read "SCIENTIA" and "MECHANICA", in answer. In addition to youth and beauty, the young woman has nature itself, seen through the window, on her side. (In the original painting, the landscape is a somewhat wilderRomantic scene, meant to emphasize the power of nature.)
...that in thehistory of paleontology, very fewnaturalists before the 17th century recognizedfossils as the remains ofliving organisms?
...that on January 17, 2007, theDoomsday Clock of theBulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved to "5 minutes from midnight" in part because of globalclimate change?
...that in1835,Caroline Herschel andMary Fairfax Somerville became the firstwomen scientists to be elected to theRoyal Astronomical Society?
Niels Henrik David Bohr (/niːlzbɔːr/;Danish:[ˈne̝lsˈpoɐ̯ˀ]; 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danishtheoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to understandingatomic structure andquantum theory, for which he received theNobel Prize in Physics in 1922. He was also aphilosopher and a promoter of scientific research.
Bohr developed theBohr model of theatom, in which he proposed that energy levels ofelectrons are discrete and that the electrons revolve in stable orbits around theatomic nucleus but can jump from one energy level (or orbit) to another. Although the Bohr model has been supplanted by other models, its underlying principles remain valid. He conceived the principle ofcomplementarity: that items could be separately analysed in terms of contradictory properties, like behaving as awave or a stream of particles. The notion of complementarity dominated Bohr's thinking in both science and philosophy. (Full article...)
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