Science and technology timeline
Jesus Cuesta Gil
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Abstract
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The development of science and technology spans from ancient civilizations through pivotal inventions and discoveries that have shaped modern society. Key historical milestones include the restoration of scientific knowledge lost during the Dark Ages, advancements in warfare technology, and revolutionary shifts in communication and transportation. The paper reflects on the implications of these developments and speculates on future innovations, particularly in the realms of biotechnology and space exploration.
Related papers
The Invention of Glass, Microscopes and Telescopes : the advancement of Microbiology and Astronomy
The ultimate cause of much historical, social and cultural change is the gradual accumulation of knowledge of the human environment. The invention of glass and microscopes and telescopes, substantially increased human knowledge of the human environment. Microscopes and telescopes would not have been possible without the prior discovery of glass-making and some knowledge of the law of refraction. Without the microscope we would have no knowledge of micro organisms and the causes of many diseases. Without the telescope we would probably still believe the sun and planets orbited a stationary earth. The change from an earth centered universe, the common sense theory for societies with unassisted vision, to a sun centered theory such as the Newtonian system, and then to General Relativity was inevitable. This was because the knowledge provided by unassisted vision, naturally led to an earth centered universe, the knowledge available from 17th to 19th century telescopes and mathematics led naturally to a sun centered system, such as the Newtonian system and better telescopes led naturally to a theory such as General Relativity. The human environment has a particular structure so that human knowledge of the environment is acquired in a particular order. The simplest knowledge is acquired first and more complex knowledge is acquired later. The order of discovery determines the course of human social and cultural history as knowledge of new and more efficient means of meeting human needs, results in new technology, which results in the development of new social and ideological systems. This means human social and cultural history, has to follow a particular course, a course that is determined by the structure of the human environment.
The beginning of scientific technology
Technology and the Growth of Civilization, 2019
The first attempt to implement a ‘scientific technology’ in the Hellenistic age was aborted with the return of traditional empirical technology, before a revolutionary turnaround in the Middle Ages which introduced many innovations into everyday life.
History of science and science combined: solving a historical problem in optics—the case of Galileo and his telescope
The claim that Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) transformed the spyglass into an astronomical instrument has never been disputed and is considered a historical fact. However, the question what was the procedure which Galileo followed is moot, for he did not disclose his research method. On the traditional view, Galileo was guided by experience, more precisely, systematized experience, which was current among northern Italian artisans and men of science. In other words, it was a trial-and-error procedure—no theory was involved. A scientific analysis of the optical properties of Galileo's first improved spyglass shows that his procedure could not have been an informed extension of the traditional optics of spectacles. We argue that most likely Galileo realized that the objective and the eyepiece form a system and proceeded accordingly.
The ‘true inventor’ of the telescope. A survey of 400 years of debate
2012
Who invented the telescope? From the very moment the telescope emerged as a useful tool for extending man’s vision, this seemingly simple question led to a bewildering array of answers. The epigram above, written in the midseventeenth century, clearly illustrates this point. Indeed, over the years the ‘invention’ of the telescope has been attributed to at least a dozen ‘inventors,’ from various countries1. And the priority question has remained problematic for four centuries. Even in September 2008, the month in which the 400th anniversary of the ‘invention’ was celebrated in The Netherlands, a new claim was put forward, when the popular monthly History Today published a rather speculative article, in which the author, Nick Pelling, suggested that the honour of the invention should nòt go to the Netherlands, but rather to Catalonia on the Iberian Peninsula.2 Pelling’s claim was picked up by the Manchester
Albert van Helden et al., eds., The Origins of the Telescope (Amsterdam: KNAW Press, 2010).
Renaissance Quarterly 65 (2012), 564-566.
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A Voyage to Beyond the Human Eye by Microscope, Leeuwenheok's Invention
OALib, 2016
Microscope, an instrument used for obtaining magnified image of small objects. The term of microscope was coined by Johannes Faber of Bamberg. The identity of its inventor has not been clearly established. Aristotle about 24 centuries before Leeuwenhoek described the working of microscope in some detail. The earliest records of optical lenses date from the late 13 th century, when spectacles came into use. Roger Bacon, in his "Opus Magnus" of 1268 spoke of the use of lenses for magnifying objects. About 4 centuries later Leeuwenhoek built over 200 simple microscopes and became the father of protozoology and bacteriology. Leeuwenhoek was born in Delft, Holland. He is commonly known as the father of microbiology and considered the first microbiologist. He was raised in Delft, worked as a linen draper in his youth and founded his own shop (1654) and made a name for himself in municipal politics, and eventually developed an interest in lens making. Leeuwenhoek with his simple microscope for which he ground the lenses, achieved magnification of 270 times. Anton van Leeuwenhoek, during the last quarter of the seventeenth century with exquisitely polished homemade lenses, studied a great variety of natural materials such as pond water, vinegar, and blood. He observed protozoa (microscopic animals) in mixture of pepper and water, and bacteria in scrapings of human teeth. He described discovery of "animalcules", as he called them, raised protozoa, bacteria, blood corpuscles, spermatozoa and the striated fibers found in bundles in voluntary muscles, and many other microscopic creatures and structures. He also had many findings in dentistry. Leeuwenhoek earned for himself a place of honor as a Fellow of the Royal Society in London. During his lifetime he sent 375 scientific papers to the Royal Society and 27 papers to the French Académie des Sciences. After the creation of the microscope it evolved slowly, hampered both by the lack of theoretical understanding and mechanical technology needed for making precision instruments. About 1800 the compound microscopes of the better makers began to resemble their modern counterparts. In 20 th century the fundamental principles which were discovered led immediately to the development of oil-immersion objective and remain as the basis of microscope design.
What lies beneath: Early modern discovery and The Invention of Science
Metascience, 2017
There was such a thing as the scientific revolution, and this is the book about it. For David Wootton, modern natural science is a function of discovery. Early modern Europe discovered discovery and thereby invented science. Wootton presents this argument as a commonsense counterblast against modish relativism. By that token, he recognizes that his historical argument is epistemologically entangled. But he seems to think that the argument itself unties the knot. The paralogism of this approach is reflected in Wootton's account of the discovery question. In this review essay, I'll provide a detailed account of Wootton's discussion, followed by a critique. In my conclusion, I'll suggest an alternative way of thinking about the invention of discovery in early modern Europe.
Science and Society: The Case of Acceptance of Newtonian Optics in the Eighteenth Century
Science & Education, 2012
The present paper presents a historical study on the acceptance of Newton’s corpuscular theory of light in the early eighteenth century. Isaac Newton first published his famous book Opticks in 1704. After its publication, it became quite popular and was an almost mandatory presence in cultural life of Enlightenment societies. However, Newton’s optics did not become popular only via his own words and hands, but also via public lectures and short books with scientific contents devoted to general public (including women) that emerged in the period as a sort of entertainment business. Lectures and writers stressed the inductivist approach to the study of nature and presented Newton’s ideas about optics as they were consensual among natural philosophers in the period. The historical case study presented in this paper illustrates relevant aspects of nature of science, which can be explored by students of physics on undergraduate level or in physics teacher training programs.
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The beginnings, from Lipperhey to Huygens and Cassini
Experimental Astronomy, 2009
The first century of telescopic astronomy can be divided into two periods. During the first, from 1609 to ca. 1640, observations were made with a simple "Dutch" or "Galilean" telescope with a concave eyepiece. Galileo made all his discoveries with this instrument. Its limited field of view, however, made magnifications of more than about 20 impractical, and therefore this instrument's limit had been reached within a few years. During the second period, ca. 1640-ca. 1700, the simple astronomical telescope came into use, almost immediately augmented with a field lens and an erector lens (the latter used only for terrestrial purposes). Magnifications were increased by increasing the focal lengths of objectives, and this quickly led to very long telescopes, often used without a tube. The astronomical discoveries made possible by this form of the instrument were, however, made with instruments of relatively modest lengths. By the end of the century, very long telescopes fell out of use, while shorter ones were adapted for measurements. Further discoveries became possible only with the reflecting telescope in the second half of the eighteenth century.
"De quelle nature est l’invention ? Les débats sur le « légitime inventeur » du télescope binoculaire à la fin du XVIIe siècle" in Jérôme Baudry (et al.), Produire du nouveau ? Arts – techniques – sciences en Europe (1400-1900), CNRS Editions, 2022, p. 41-56
In the late 1670s, the binocular telescopes made by the capuchin friar Chérubin d’Orléans gained a remarkable success among French noblemen. However, while the capuchin pretended to be the inventor of such instruments, several scholars opposed him, and attempted to demonstrate that binocular telescopes existed long before he became interested in them. The debate that followed such accusations led Chérubin to reconsider the very concept of invention, and to provide it with a new definition related to the emerging field of technology.
Microscopical advances: the posterity of Huygens´simple microscope of 1678
ENDOXA, 2004
From an examnation of recently rediscovered examples of the simple microscope with spherical lens and specimen revolver, originally developed by Christiaan Huygens, the paper seeks to ¡Ilústrate how the combined study of texts and objects is essential to establishing the evolution of an instrument. Some of the newly discovered Instruments are described and comment ¡s made on the commercial forces w^hich acted in parallel with scientific ones on the development of this particular form of microscope ' UVsage dv novveav microscope fait avec une seule et trhpetite houle de verre, n.p. [Paris], 1679. 'Les plus bcUes inventions sont tousiours imparfeites dans leur commencement, c'est pourquoy on a veu tout á coup plusieurs diíFerentes manieres de construiré ce nouveau genre de MICROSCOPE, auparavant qu'il ait esté mis dans la derniere perfection que les vend le sieur BVTTERFIELD, au Faux-bourg S. Germain'.
The Birth of Experimental Science
The Skeptic, 2016
To the ancient Greeks, science was simply the knowledge of nature. The acquisition of such knowledge was theoretical rather than experimental. Logic and reason were applied to observations of nature in attempts to discover the underlying principles influencing phenomena. After the Dark Ages, the revival of classical logic and reason in Western Europe was highly significant to the development of universities and subsequent intellectual progress. It was also a precursor to the development of empirical scientific methods in the thirteenth century, which I think were even more important because of the later practical benefits of science to humanity. The two most influential thinkers in development of scientific methods at this time were the English philosophers Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253) and Roger Bacon (c.1219/20-c.1292). (Note: Roger Bacon is not to be confused with Francis Bacon).
History of Science
This is a general paper dealing with the history of the history of science, with a special focus on historians and epistemologists who bolster their historiographic approach by making reference and/or relying on science, e.g. Popper, Bachelard, and Canguilhem
1 Newtonian Optics in the Eighteenth Century: Discussing the Nature of Science
2015
Despite the difficulty of precisely describing the nature of science, there is a widespread agreement concerning the necessity of incorporating into curricula some notions about how the scientific activity operates. Studying the history of conceptual development and the process of acceptance of scientific ideas by the scientific community may help teachers to incorporate valuable concepts on the nature of science in science teaching. Shortly afterwards the publication of the book Opticks, by Isaac Newton, in 1704, there appears a number of popular lectures and published works presenting the content of this book, attempting to make it suitable for the general public. These published works and popular lectures, however, did not discuss some conceptual problems in Newton’s book. The present paper analyses the development and acceptance process of Newtonian optics during the eighteenth century in Europe, and emphasizes some aspects of nature of science that can be learnt by the study of...
Newtonian Optics in the Eighteenth Century: Discussing the Nature of Science
Despite the difficulty of precisely describing the nature of science, there is a widespread agreement concerning the necessity of incorporating into curricula some notions about how the scientific activity operates. Studying the history of conceptual development and the process of acceptance of scientific ideas by the scientific community may help teachers to incorporate valuable concepts on the nature of science in science teaching. Shortly afterwards the publication of the book Opticks, by Isaac Newton, in 1704, there appears a number of popular lectures and published works presenting the content of this book, attempting to make it suitable for the general public. These published works and popular lectures, however, did not discuss some conceptual problems in Newton's book.
THE HISTORY OF THE TELESCOPE
The classic study by Henry C. King (1915-2005).
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