The European Scientific Revolution in Global Perspective

1
The European Scientific Revolution in Global
Perspective

• Readings http//faculty.fullerton.edu/nfitch/his
  tory110b/scitech.html
• Spodek, p. 479

2
China
3
European Science

• Was related to the Greeks
• Much of it was preserved in Alexandria by people
  from the Middle East
• Euclid worked on geometry

4
European Science (continued)

• Ptolemy worked in Astronomy
• He was heavily influenced by Babylonian Astronomy
• Galen worked in Medicine.
• All incorporation of Mesopotamian sources into
  Greek sources

5
Middle Ages

• Science of Ancient World was preserved by Islamic
  Scholars
• Islamic Societies are known as the great
  Synthesizers
• Decimal System was from India
• Paper came from China which meant math could now
  be done on paper

6
Mathematics and Science

• Al-Khwarizmi was a central Asian mathematician
  and philosopher.
• Trigonometry came from India
• Fibonacci studied Persian texts

7
New Information

• Copernicus model of lunar motion same as Ibn
  al-Shatir (Damascus, 1375)
• Copernicus descriptions of motions of other
  planets same as two peopleMuayyad al-Din
  al-Urdi (Damascus, 1266) and Nasir al-Din
  al-Tusi (Mongol, Central Asia 1274

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What happened?

• Europe began to see and think differently than
  the rest of the world
• Development of Perspective Drawing, which was
  critical for machine making.
• Brunelleschi was an Italian artist who studied
  Arab science.
• Alberti, another Italian artist, in 1453
  developed math and geometry of linear perspective.

9
Leonardo Da Vinci

• Think of him as an artist however he studied
  everything in order to paint it.
• He saw himself as more of an engineer than a
  painter.
• He used perspective to draw machines.

10
Rise of Science in Europe

• Brought sciences and artisans together in
  Royal-sponsored Scientific Academies
• The rise of the Public Sphere
• Ultimately led to application of science to
  technical problems.
• New machines came to be and new sources of power.
• These new things lead to more advanced weapons
  and other tools.

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Scientific Inventions
12
Advanced Weapons
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What was the response

• After Newton, science in Europe was not as linked
  to religion as it once was.
• Islamic Societies had a hard time with the new
  science. It was not consistent with the Quran
  like Greek science. But, the idea of the sun at
  the center of the universe was not a crisis as it
  was for Western Europe
• Arab science lags behind western science into the
  19th century largely because of influence of
  conservative ulama, who believed God punishing
  Arabs for seeking the secrets of divine truth.

14
What was the response in China?

• Jesuits like Ricci tried to impress the Chinese
  with mechanical toys, European science, and
  clocks
• Chinese were not interested in western science or
  technology. They did not see the point to it
  though they let Jesuits run their observatories
  because of the accuracy of their astronomical
  predictions

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Kaozheng

• New Chinese intellectual movement of the Qing
  Dynasty
• Seek truth from facts
• Precision, accuracy, and rigorous analysis to
  understand any problem
• Revival of ancient Chinese mathematical texts
• Partly to show that Western science derived from
  traditional Chinese mathematics

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Japans Response

• Eastern Ethics and Western Science
• Allowed Dutch one trading portimported many
  European books, especially science, medicine, and
  mathematics
• They recognized the significance of western
  science and technology, but understood it in the
  context of a Confucian culture