Bilim Devrimi ve Modern Bilimin Kökenleri

Studies in European History

by John Henry, Selim Değirmenci (Çeviri)

This study provides a brief survey and accessible guide to the most important aspects of the Scientific Revolution. As well as considering the development of the mathematical and experimental approaches to an understanding of the natural world, it looks at the crucial role of magical traditions in the origins of modern science and the importance of the Christian world-view in the shaping of the scientific endeavour. Written with the non-scientist in mind, it does not dwell on technical details but seeks to show the social, cultural, and intellectual factors which shaped the development of science in its formative stage and prepared the way for the predominance of science in modern Western culture. Taking account of the latest developments in our understanding of this vital aspect of European history, it is also a useful guide to more detailed literature for students and other interested readers.

Genres: History, History Of Science, Science, Nonfiction, European History

Unknown Binding

First published May 15, 1997

Reviews

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly brief tour of the main issues raised by the Scientific Revolution. IIRC he walks the line well between the first inklings of the context of justification and the sheer STS-friendly weirdness of the context of discovery.

The unexpected decoupling of the scientific revolution from the industrial revolution (two centuries apart!) is one of the most important facts I have ever learned.

[maybe 4 stars, I can't remember]

[Wolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uncomfortable writing, awkward composition, random name-dropping without context - I'm sorry Henry...

[Brett Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a nice history in the evolution of ideas and their influence in the West. It takes us from superstitious magic and religious supernaturalism (adhered to by many early scientists) to a revival of reason, mathematics, and naturalism, leading to the Scientific Revolution. The success of science would change the very nature of knowledge, what is knowledge, what knowledge means, and what knowledge can do. For me, the book illuminated how dramatically collective perspectives can so utterly change as we now see a reversal taking place back to superstitious magic and religious supernaturalism marked by wild conspiracy theories of asocial media on the New Right.

Mathematics was found to reveal things we couldn’t otherwise know, shifting natural philosophy from Aristotle’s qualitative approach to a quantitative one, even occasionally besting observations and experience. The sun goes round the earth, right? The Church sanctioned early math models as practical navigation tools but not as descriptions of how the world works. Kepler said otherwise: his equations were a physical, real-world account. History and moon landings proved him right. Mathematics didn’t merely describe the physical workings of nature; mathematics explained it. This episode served as another nice comparison between Medieval Church dogma and that of postmodern critical theorists in the humanities of our New Left today who hold the same “Church view” on mathematics and science.

The author notes three primary characteristics of the Scientific Revolution: the use of mathematics to understand nature, emphasis on observation and experience for discovering truth in nature, and a new belief that knowledge about nature should be put to practical use for the benefit on human life. “All three,” says the author, “owe their prominence to the influence of the humanists emerging out of the European Renaissance.” But the author elaborates differences between Continental Catholic Europe, where miracles held sway, and Protestant England, where they didn’t. The Brits also divested nature of morals and meaning, paving the way for the Industrial Revolution; great for humans, not so much for nature.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of some trends in the history of science as well as historiography of the history of science. However, the author frequently drops concepts or thinkers out of nowhere without further elaboration. Material also seemed awkwardly organized at times.

[Zedder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as definitive a survey of the scientific revolution as it is often made out to be. It just isn't big picture enough.