How European begun to move ahead of the rest of the world in the scientific knowledge
Europe has a very strong base in scientific knowledge, which it utilizes at a very important asset over other continents in the world. Due to this scientific base, Europe has become a world class in various researches. Europe has well-improved scientific knowledge transfer in its institutions. The scientific knowledge in Europe has had its history.
During the middle ages, Europe had a lot of difficulties that affected its intellectual production. However, there were the medieval scientific texts available to be read leading to the understanding that nature functions under laws that when there is reason, comprehension can be achieved very fast.
The phenomena of the universe were approached through scientific study through elaboration of texts. It was possible for the European to question the doctrines of science, and do research to find new answers in science leading to developments in science in Europe.
Europe had many learned and thoughtful people who even when there were problems in royal absolutism had better vision for the future, and anticipated for a community that was very happy. Scientists in the world have been looking for order, and more specifically this was the ultimate goal for the European scientists.
This vision for order in Europe let to the discoveries in astronomy, physics and all other sciences such as chemistry and biology. These advances in science showed that nature was constituted by different parts that worked harmoniously; from the particles to the stars (Yasmeen 391–396).
Through scientific knowledge, it was easy to formulate explanations for the realities in nature. This led the scientists to under look the religious stories to new ways of thinking and explaining nature. In the late seventeen century, science had been accepted in Europe and almost every European was dominated by it.
The European bit the odd of religious and traditional theories, and took science to find answers to the many problems in nature. Many advances were made in medicine and astronomy even though this work was considered irreligious and inconsequential.
Even though many of the scientists who took seriously their work were killed, Europeans did not give up on science and continued to develop more advances in various sciences. For example, the work of Copernicus was disregarded as a description of reality to a mathematical exercise. However, with more advances in science, Isaac Newton changed the perception of people when he developed experiments to support his universal law in mathematics.
Science in Europe formed conceptual and methodological approaches to find answers and facts about the natural world. This started as a revolution in the human thoughts thereby bringing about the modern science as it is now called. There were various reasons as to why science came into being in Europe, and the knowledge overcame the entire world.
Its growth in Europe and not other parts of the world is until today a debate in many people’s minds. However, science is thought to have been conceived as a rebirth of people’s thoughts as they tried to understand nature. The change in attitude towards knowledge led to the discoveries of wisdom.
According to the Europeans, facts were all that mattered. According to the scientists, it was impossible to have supernatural processes, and stand to the grounds that everything needs to be rationally explained mathematically. The study of science in Europe was therefore popularized by various mathematical discoveries.
The Europe scientific methodology was also advanced by other scientists who set a program that extolled human reason in its application to the sensory experiences of humans. Through this approach, hypothesis could be formulated and tested in experiments thereby coming up with fundamental laws of nature
Science instruments were improved through the inductive approach, and at the beginning of the seventeen century, the microscope and the telescope were developed and used. Other than the telescope and the microscope, thermometers barometers air pumps and pendulum clocks were also invented. These inventions gave scientists easier time in studying the physical environment of the universe.
From the scientific knowledge, findings of research are applied in policy making in Europe, and not only rely on the politicians decisions. The policies are based on the scientific findings thereby making scientist go much deep into scientific research. This has made the European policy makers to take science very seriously thereby basing their decisions on it (Joseph 253-57).
The importance of the role of European advances in astronomy during the early and modern period
Even if there were difficulties at first to the advancements in astronomy by the Europeans due to lack of readable texts, the available texts were copied. The texts brought the interests to describe the planet motions, and determine their significance astrologically.
Astronomers were the notable scientific pioneers in Europe, which employed two approaches that depended on human reasoning leading to different applications. There was the deductive approach that based on the truths that were self-evidenced leading to complex plans to be applied in problems practically.
This approach emphasized on the relationship between mathematics and logic. The other approach used was inductive and employed facts objectively. The proponents of induction were used to come up with conclusions from the facts presented. The reasoning of the early European astronomers depended on the two approaches.
The early astronomers used both observations and mathematics to pave way for revolution in science in Europe. Before his death, Copernicus had published a book, which opposed the traditional theory on passing days and how heavenly bodies moved.
In general, astronomers had achieved a lot, and scientists were encouraged to have interests in related scientific fields. It was astronomy that gave birth to all other sciences such as physics and chemistry. Science was respected in Europe and scientific institutions began to gain a lot of public support through out Europe.
This was very important in scientific growth in Europe unlike other continents where there were no scientific advances. It was possible for scientists to carry correspondence that developed communities with scientific values, beliefs and language. The European community was ready to endorse science through support to the scientific communities. Scientists were the important heroes with support from the women, kings and city councils who built museums.
In the early modern Europe, there was protestant reformation, wars of religion, discoveries and colonization. During this time, centralized government came into being followed by a period of enlightenment, and then later industrialization that was brought by advances in the scientific knowledge.
Astrology was widely practiced by the learned class. In natural astrology, stars were thought to influence the natural world and were readily accepted. Judicial astrology focused on the personalities of people and detailed on future thoughts, and several people refuted it since it interfered with free will.
In Europe astronomy resulted during renaissance when studying humanism. It is believed that astrology declined in the early days due to modern scientific thinking that was purely based on facts and scientific findings supported by experiments (Moyer 228).
Due to advance in science and development of telescope, stars were seen as moving and not fixed, and views from people changed since they saw stars as equivalent to the earth. When astrology was defeated by science, astrologers went into astronomy; an area they thought was scientific. Astronomy advanced into theoretical and observational branches. Celestial objects could be observed and data collected for physical analysis through basic principles. Computers are theoretically used to describe objects and phenomena.
The renaissance is used to describe the early modern when Europe was reborn and culture developed. Though Europe advanced in scientific knowledge than any other part in the world, the advancements were thought to be unjustifiable since they were thought to e guesses.
Though there were various critics to this scientific knowledge, scientific knowledge survived them. When Copernicus proposed heliocentric model, Galileo expanded the work, and later on telescopes were used to enhance the made observations. Motion around the sun was described by Kepler where the sun was at the center. Further developments followed when Newton invented the reflecting telescope.
Wherever there were discoveries about a thing in the planet, further work followed to find out more about the same. This allowed proper examination of the masses of the moon and the planet. When new technology was introduced, there was a significant advancement in astronomy, which brought about spectroscopes. Through the technology, astronomists proved that the stars were similar to the sun but with a wider range of temperatures and sizes (Bruce 868-7).
Works Cited
Bruce, Eastwood. “The Revival of Planetary Astronomy in Carolingian and Post-Carolingian Europe”Variorum Collected Studies Series CS 279, (2002): 868-7
Joseph, Agassi. “Science and Its History: A Reassessment of the Historiography of Science”, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, (2008): 253-57.
Moyer, Ann. ‘The Astronomer’s Game: Astrology and University Culture in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries’, Early Science and Medicine, 4 (1999): 228.
Yasmeen, Faruqi. “Contributions of Islamic scholars to the scientific enterprise”. International Education Journal 7, 4 (2006): 391–396.