James Burke argues that there existed moments in the history of western civilization that shaped the way people view the world. According to him, these dramatic occurrences happened at different times in history but had very great impacts on subsequent discoveries and knowledge. Burke highlighted twelve key inventions that formed good foundations for many other inventions that followed (5).
Burke attributes all these discoveries to the Greek philosophers and scientists (5). Accordingly, Greek scholars set the pace for other scholars and inventors who came after them. Greek wisdom reached Europe through the efforts of Muslims who ruled over Europe before the Renaissance. They translated Greek teachings into Arabic and carried their books with them to Europe. Other scholars later translated this information into Latin. This translation helped European scholars to read and apply their knowledge in discovering other new things.
The main events that Burke mentions in his book include the plague that killed close to half the population of Europe and the application of geometry in architecture and painting. He also mentions the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the invention of the printing press, Copernicus’ discovery of the solar system, the invention of gunpowder, the development of calculus, the steam engine, discoveries in medicine, the evolution theory, and electromagnetism. These are the advances and occurrences that Burke identifies as having spearheaded development in the Western World (Burke 50).
This work compares and contrasts two of these critical occurrences to demonstrate how subsequent scientific and technological occurrences developed from these twelve discoveries. Specifically, this paper compares and later contrasts Copernicus’ discovery; the sun rests in the middle of the solar system, and Darwin’s evolution theory.
Copernicus was the first scientist to contribute ideas that contradicted existing views about the nature of the solar system. Scientists who lived before him, particularly Ptolemy and Aristotle, believed that the sun revolves around the earth. They also believed that the earth does not move. The church also held a belief similar to Ptolemy’s suggestion. According to Copernicus, the sun does not rotate. It just rests at the center of the solar system.
He went further to assert that the earth and other planets move around the sun (Wrightsman 56). Copernicus did not publish these ideas for fear of contradicting the church and other scientists, who were more popular than him. His friends published his work only after his death. They published it after confirming that the sun does not move. His reasoning has, from then, served as the basis for all geographic and scientific inventions.
Charles Darwin, on the other hand, developed the natural Selection Theory. In this theory, he proposed that animals that share a habitat always strive to outdo each other while competing for resources in their surrounding. According to him, this competition forces animals to develop features that help them compete with other animals favorably. Eventually, animals that have the best characteristics survive the competition, while those animals with weak features get extinct. The struggle for survival among animals causes them to evolve. Darwin called this theory, natural selection or survival of the fittest (De Queiroz 27).
Darwin’s theory asserts that human beings evolved from apes. He did his research after reading a book that asserted that fossils show that other animals lived in this world millions of years ago. The difference between the structure of the fossils and the animals modern animals made him conclude that animals in the current world developed from other animals that lived before them (Gale 238).
Darwin’s ideas contradicted common ideologies among people in that century. At that time, everybody believed that God created everything on earth. Darwin, therefore, committed a very big crime when he argued that all animals evolved from other animals. People interpreted his arguments as a rebellion against God. So, Darwin found himself in problems with religious leaders and fellow scientists.
These two scientists changed the way people view the world. Each one of them tackled a critical topic on which people held wrong beliefs. Their discoveries, therefore, helped refute wrong beliefs in these fields.
Ptolemy and Aristotle lived before Copernicus. They did extensive research about the nature of the solar system. Both of them held a geocentric philosophy about the solar system. They believed that the earth is at the center of the solar system, and the sun and all the other stars and planets revolve around it. Copernicus refuted this view and came up with his own theory (Price 199). He took a different approach. Unlike Ptolemy and Aristotle, he argued that the sun is static and rests at the center of the entire solar system. He knew that nobody could believe his ideas. So, he did not publish his work until he died.
However, he managed to influence the way people viewed the solar system. For example, scientists began explaining the occurrence of day and night using the rotation of the earth on its axis. Research that scientists did after Copernicus’ work indicated that night occurs when one side of the globe faces away from the sun during the rotation of the earth. It takes 24 hours for a complete rotation. This reasoning explains why a day has 24 hours. Other scientists also used this knowledge in explaining the occurrence of solar and lunar eclipses. Both types of eclipse occur when the revolution of the earth causes darkness on the earth. The scientists also used Copernicus’ knowledge to explain why a year has 365 days. Accordingly, this is the number of days the earth takes to complete one revolution around the sun.
Charles Darwin’s natural selection theory sparked controversies among scientists and clergymen. Religious people discredited Darwin’s efforts. They accused him of demeaning God’s work and ability. However, this theory influenced the thinking of many scientists, clergymen, and laymen. It paved way for a lot of research in heredity, adaptation to different environments, and evolution in general. When Darwin’s child died, he applied his knowledge of heredity and evolution to conclude that inbreeding had caused her illness. One priest admitted that evolution is real, but God is the one who initiates it (Kampourakis 639).
Many scholars have researched this field. They have gone to the extend of crossbreeding organisms to come up with offspring that are stronger than their parents. Agriculturalists have developed plants and animals that are resistant to some specific climatic conditions and diseases. All these applications use Darwin’s knowledge. Historians and archaeologists also use this knowledge in determining the age of fossils and the number of years the world has existed. Ecologists also use this theory in determining the habitats of different organisms. All living things usually develop adaptive features depending on their surrounding environment.
From the discussion, it is clear that there are several similarities between the impacts of Darwinism and Copernicus’ ideas on the way people look at life. They both changed people’s loyalty to ideologies that existed in the past. Firstly, both of them gave ideas that opposed existing assertions from prominent scientists and religions. By the time Copernicus concluded that the sun does not rotate, Aristotle and Ptolemy had already popularized their findings insisting that the sun revolves around the earth. It was not easy to convince people that it is the earth and not the sun that goes around the solar system because these two scientists had already told them different things.
The church also insisted that the sun goes around the earth. Similarly, during Darwin’s time, everybody believed that God was the creator of everything on earth. When Darwin published his work, he faced extensive criticism from the church and fellow scientists.
In addition to contradicting popular scientists and religious beliefs, both theories were rejected and later accepted. During the early stages of conceiving his idea, Copernicus only used to talk about it secretly for fear of offending people who believed in the old theory of the solar system. He even feared publishing his theory. However, when he died, people realized that he was right. They published his idea and adopted it in many other inventions. The evolution Theory also faced criticism for challenging the supremacy of God.
It is also evident that both works appear to challenge God. Copernicus’s theory challenged beliefs among religious leaders. These leaders strongly believed that God created the earth, put it in the solar system and made the sun move around it. When Copernicus challenged this belief, many people thought that he was challenging God. The same thing happened to Darwin. His evolution theory attributes life to heredity and subsequent differentiation that makes the offspring look different due to changes in its environment. Clergymen also interpreted this theory as a rebellion against God.
The main difference between these two discoveries is the nature of their content in both theories. Copernicus’ theory about the solar system dwells much on geographical elements. It describes the position of the sun in relation to the earth and the movement of the earth around the sun. The evolution theory, on the other hand, discusses the adaptation of living things too competitive environments. Darwin’s theory, therefore, directly describes life while Copernicus’ theory talks about the environment. Both theories changed the way people viewed the world but from different positions.
The other difference between these two theories is the readiness of their founders to talk about them. In those days, it was dangerous to speak against existing notions about certain topics. They needed the courage to publish or even tell people about their discoveries. However, these two scientists handled the threats differently. Copernicus opted not to publish his work until he died. He dreaded a confrontation with religious leaders and other scientists. Darwin, on the other hand, published and even edited his work several times. He courageously faced the opposition. In fact, the opposition helped him to keenly focus on particular elements of his ideas. He always recorded everything he heard about his discovery and used it to improve the theory.
Works Cited
Burke, James. Day the Universe Changed. Hachette Digital, Inc., 2009. Web.
De Queiroz, Kevin. ‘Branches In The Lines Of Descent: Charles Darwin And The Evolution Of The Species Concept’. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 103.1 (2011): 19–35. Print.
Gale, Barry G. ‘Evolution Without Evidence: Charles Darwin And The Origin Of Species’. Brighton: Sussex, The Harvester Press ix, 238p.-. En General (KR, 198300961) (1982): n. pag. Print.
Kampourakis, Kostas, and William F McComas. ‘Charles Darwin And Evolution: Illustrating Human Aspects Of Science.’ Science & Education 19.6-8 (2010): 637–654. Print. Web.
Price, Derek J de S. ‘Contra-Copernicus: A Critical Re-Estimation Of The Mathematical Planetary Theory Of Ptolemy, Copernicus, And Kepler’. Critical problems in the history of science (1969): 197–218. Print.
Wrightsman, Bruce. ‘The Legitimation Of Scientific Belief: Theory Justification By Copernicus’. Springer (1980): 51–66. Print.