How did Isaac Newton Start off the Scientific Revolution?

When the Apple fell on Newton’s head he discovered that gravity existed. “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” He’s stating that the universe is the force of gravity As a periodization, the Scientific Revolution has grown increasingly complex. As it has attempted to take account of new research and alternative perspectives, new additions and alterations have been made. The emergence of modern science during the early modern era, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy), and chemistry transformed societal views about nature and medicine. This was the change of medieval ideas of science occurred for four reasons: collaboration, the derivation of new experimental methods, the ability to build on the legacy of existing scientific philosophy, and institutions that enabled academic publishing. Daston stated This was “the most important transformation in human history” since the Neolithic era.

The Britannica editors state that “The Neolithic era is the final stage of cultural evolution or technological development among prehistoric humans. It was characterized by stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding, dependence on domesticated plants or animals, settlement in permanent villages, and the appearance of such crafts as pottery and weaving.” This event was when humanity was thought to reach its peak by developing craftsmanship. What we call today as Modern Science and Technology is in fact not modern, but was born nearly half a millennium ago during Renaissance era in Europe. According to Wotton, the scientific revolution began in Europe towards the end of the Renaissance Era lasting from the 15th century to 18th century. Ancient people who were considered the first scientists at the time called themselves “natural philosophers” or “practitioners of a skilled profession” or as “followers of a religious tradition” this. Both institutionally and conceptually, science was not an independent practice, in fact, it was looked down upon and considered witchcraft and what we see today wouldn't have been possible in the past. Much of what we know as science today was originally undertaken by priests and monks, and scientific knowledge was taught in temples and monasteries not through self-study or thought in schools like our modern world today. This caused a domino effect which was started by Newton. If it wasn’t for Newton we wouldn’t have modern day physics or have the evolution of science.

The Scientific Revolution was not marked by any single change, but it was a century-long process of discovery that further elaborated and developed the findings of those who had come before us —from the scientific learning from the ancient Greeks to their scholarly contributions of the Islamic thinkers, and the work of the late medieval and early Renaissance Europeans. The Medieval Islamic Science period lasted from 7th century to 15th century and it was the biggest contribution to our society, during the time Muslims were the leading scholars and the heirs to the scientific traditions of Greece, India, and Persia. The Islamic Science suffered a gradual decline in the early 12th century which provided the Europeans an opportunity to seek and translate the works of Islamic philosophers and scientists. Beginning in the late 11th century and the next two centuries the Islamic world was under pressure by The Crusades and Mongol conquests, during which libraries, observatories, hospitals, and universities were destroyed to show the superiority of the Crusaders and Mongols. In addition to Mongolian invasions and the Crusaders, political mismanagement and the stifling of ijtihad in the 12th century in favor of taqlid thinking played a part. The destruction of the intellectual center of Baghdad the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258 is traditionally seen as the approximate end of the Islamic Golden Age a majority of their most important documents and schools were also a majority of their population was there. The translation of the Islamic texts into Latin occurred during the 12th and 13th centuries and had a great impact on the European Renaissance and it helped Europe seize the initiative from the Muslims when the political conditions in Islamic world brought about a decline in Islamic science. By the end of the 18th century, the Scientific Revolution had given birth to the Industrial Revolution which dramatically transformed the daily lives of people around the world. During the 19th century, the practice of science became professionalized and institutionalized in ways that continued through the 20th century.

According to History.com, the scientific revolution was the prelude of a much bigger transformation, the Industrial Revolution which began in the 1760s. The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history and a shift to powered, special-purpose machinery, factories and mass production. The iron and textile industry, agriculture, and the invention of the steam engine played central roles in the Industrial Revolution, which also saw major changes in transportation and banking systems. These changes had a profound effect on the socio-economic and cultural conditions in England, and then subsequently spreading throughout the world. The first Industrial Revolution which took place from 1760 to somewhere between 1820 and 1840 evolved into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850 and continued through the 19th century. However, the date of origin is still a highly debated topic among historians. While it is difficult to explain all of the examples of how technology has influenced culture and vice versa, reviewing a few examples from the last few centuries it is clear that the technology developed during and after the Industrial Revolution has changed cultures from simple farming villages to modern hustling cities and sprawling suburbs.

What then is the relationship between Science, Technology, and Culture? It is an intricate relationship that forms a figurative circle of influence with no real start or end points. Science, Technology, and Culture continue to influence one another as they evolve and change over time. From the 19th century onward science, technology and culture have significantly influenced one another. As cultures change so does the technology they develop. A contemporary writer Raymond Williams, in his book Culture and Society, regards the concept of culture as consisting of four jointly applicable meanings: Culture is thus the totality of the technological, sociological and ideological features of a given society. Rationality, utility, ethics, freedom, and sociality are the central cultural elements of our societies. Because science and technology rest on these central cultural elements, the adoption of new knowledge and new devices does not always imply their acceptance. We often accept an innovation owing to its evident utility at the individual level, and then criticize it for its consequences at the collective or cultural level. Science and technology can contribute to the preservations and advancement of culture. At the same time, they can also help cause its mutation and destruction. Science has contributed a great deal to human welfare. It has produced miraculous cures for diseases which for a long time, were regarded incurable. It has brought the marvels on industrialism, technology and space exploration. But science has created as many problems as it helped to solve. It has led to undue stress on materialism and economic barbarism in the absence of controlling mental and moral ideas. The knowledge and power of science need to be harnessed to the service of man through the culture the finer sense and sensitivity of man.

For instance, beginning in the mid-1950s, the post-war years in Western Germany were marked by enormous obstacles. Due to extensive bombing destruction and dismantling of factories, various cultural and traditional supply networks were destroyed. Under this circumstance what role did culture play in the technological development of Western Germany? Stokes had argued that the way Western Germany approached technological change bound economic miracle both German past and to the country’s present-day industrial structure. The Western German approach, in other words, has drawn upon a set of German technological traditions that emerged in the large 19th and early 20th centuries, major characteristics of which include a drive for technical excellence tempered by gradual implementation of new technologies.

Every human society possesses its own distinct culture so that the members of one society behave differently in some significant respects from members of every other society. Furthermore, human societies are also distributed over very varied regions differing markedly in climate and environment. There also appears to be a very large ethnic, social and cultural differences between the various human communities and their economic conditions. In recent years the impact of culture on technology in most traditional societies has tended to bear on two opposing directions at once. On the one hand, western technology is being sought virtually without limits, on the other hand, there is opposition to certain aspects of western lifestyles, attitudes, and value. This phenomenon is termed as the techno-cultural gap between traditional values and western technology. Now, if we take these issues into full consideration, we are left to conclude that what is needed at this moment is not just an increase of international technology transfer nor even the setting up of a screening mechanism permitting only appropriate technologies to be transferred, but rather a major at two levels: the domestic and the international.

At the domestic level, it is important to build a popular technological awareness crossing the borderline between the so-called indigenous and modern technology people should become aware of the issues in culture and technology and they can improve their livelihood by modifying and improving indigenous and modern technologies.

On the study of science and technology in schools, scientists, technologists and science educationists of different cultures, languages and social systems must build new paradigms for science and technology education from a multicultural perspective. Science and technology must be seen as existing in all cultures, the issues must be taught and the potentials of these must be explored in situations of everyday life.

There is a growing awareness of the consequences of the interaction between science, technology, and culture. However, we are just beginning to understand how to reconcile the benefits of science and technology such as higher standards of living, longer life spans, more leisure time, and improved communications with the possibility of reshaping, many cultures and possibly redefining fundamental aspects of society. As science and technology continue to advance, the ways in which people communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge and attitudes toward individuals, as well as local, national, and international communities, will continue to undergo radical change. The continuing development of science and technology is not inherently bad. However, it has the potential to endanger our diversity and traditional knowledge. We must work together to determine how to preserve and foster our cultural heritage at the same time we embrace the future.

Cite this page