LESSON 1

Scientific Revolution

Science is as old as the world itself. There is no individual

that can exactly identify when and where science began. From
the genesis of time, science has existed, it is always
interwoven with society. So, how can science be defined?

Science as an idea.
● It includes ideas, theories, and all available systematic
explanations and observations about the natural and
physical world.

Science as an intellectual activity.

● It encompasses a systematic and practical study of the
natural and physical world. This process of study
involves systematic observation and experimentation.

Science as a body of knowledge.

● It is a subject or a discipline, a field of study, or a
body of knowledge that deals with the process of learning
about the natural and physical world. This is what we
refer to
● as school science.

Science as a personal and social activity.

● This explains that science is both knowledge and
activities done by human beings to develop better
understanding of the world around them. It is a means to
improve life and to survive in life. It is interwoven
with people's lives.

Scientific revolution was the golden age for people committed

to scholarly life in science but it was also a deeply trying
moment to some scientific individuals that led to their
painful death or condemnation from the religious institutions
who tried to preserve their faith, religion, and theological
views. Some rulers and religious leaders did not accept many
of the early works of scientists. But these did not stop
people, especially scientists, from satisfying their curiosity
of the natural and physical world.
Scientific resolution is very
significant in the development of
human beings, transformations of
society, and in the formulation of
scientific ideas. It significantly
improved the conduct of scientific
investigations, experiments, and
observation. The scientific
revolution also led to the creation
of new research in science and
prompted the establishment of a
strong foundation for modern science
in many ways scientific revolution
transformed the natural world and
the world of ideas

FAMOUS SCIENTISTS

ALBERT EINSTEIN

Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in

Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six
weeks later the family moved to Munich, where
he later on began his schooling at the
Luitpold Gymnasium.

Albert had his education at Aarau,

Switzerland and in 1896 he entered the Swiss
Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be
trained as a teacher in physics and
mathematics. In 1901, the year he gained his
diploma, he acquired Swiss citizenship and,
as he was unable to find a teaching post, he
accepted a position as technical assistant in
the Swiss Patent Office. In 1905 he obtained
his doctor’s degree.

He produced much of his remarkable work and in 1908 he was

appointed Privatdozent in Berne. In 1909 he became Professor
Extraordinary at Zurich, in 1911 Professor of Theoretical
Physics at Prague.
After World War II, Einstein was a leading figure in the World
Government Movement, he was offered the Presidency of the
State of Israel, which he declined, and he collaborated with
Dr. Chaim Weizmann in establishing the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem.

SCIENTIFIC WORKS:

● Special Theory of Relativity (1905)

● Relativity (English translations, 1920 and 1950)
● General Theory of Relativity (1916)
● Investigations on Theory of Brownian Movement (1926)
● The Evolution of Physics (1938)

Einstein’s gifts inevitably resulted in his dwelling much in

intellectual solitude and, for relaxation, music played an
important part in his life. He married Mileva Maric in 1903 and
they had a daughter and two sons; their marriage was dissolved
in 1919 and in the same year he married his cousin, Elsa
Löwenthal, who died in 1936. He died on April 18, 1955 at
Princeton, New Jersey.

J.J THOMSON

Joseph John Thomson was born in Cheetham Hill, a suburb of

Manchester on December 18, 1856. He was Cavendish Professor of
Experimental Physics at Cambridge, where he succeeded Lord
Rayleigh, from 1884 to 1918 and Honorary Professor of Physics,
Cambridge and Royal Institution, London.

Thomson’s early interest in atomic

structure was reflected in his Treatise
on the Motion of Vortex Rings which won
him the Adams Prize in 1884. His
Application of Dynamics to Physics and
Chemistry appeared in 1886, and in 1892
he had his Notes on Recent Researches in
Electricity and Magnetism published. This
latter work covered results obtained
subsequent to the appearance of James
Clerk Maxwell’s famous “Treatise” and it
is often referred to as “the third volume
of Maxwell”. Thomson co-operated with
Professor J. H. Poynting in a four-volume
textbook of physics, Properties of Matter
and in 1895 he produced Elements of the
Mathematical Theory of Electricity and
Magnetism, the 5th edition of which
appeared in 1921.

On his return from America, he achieved the most brilliant

work of his life – an original study of cathode rays
culminating in the discovery of the electron, which was
announced during the course of his evening lecture to the
Royal Institution on Friday, April 30, 1897. His book,
Conduction of Electricity through Gases, published in 1903 was
described by Lord Rayleigh as a review of “Thomson’s great
days at the Cavendish Laboratory”. A later edition, written in
collaboration with his son, George, appeared in two volumes
(1928 and 1933).

SCIENTIFIC WORK

● The Structure of Light (1907)

● The Corpuscular Theory of Matter (1907)
● Rays of Positive Electricity (1913)
● The Electron in Chemistry (1923)

AWARDS
● A recipient of the Order of Merit 1908
● Royal and Hughes Medals in 1894 and 1902
● Copley Medal in 1914.
● Hodgkins Medal (Smithsonian Institute, Washington) in
1902
● the Franklin Medal and Scott Medal (Philadelphia), 1923
● the Mascart Medal (Paris), 1927
● the Dalton Medal (Manchester), 1931
● Faraday Medal (Institute of Civil Engineers) in 1938.

ISAAC NEWTON

Isaac Newton was born on January

4, 1643, in Woolsthorpe,
Lincolnshire, England. The son
of a farmer who died three
months before he was born,
Newton spent most of his early
years with his maternal
grandmother after his mother
remarried. His education was
interrupted by a failed attempt
to turn him into a farmer, and
he attended the King’s School in
Grantham before enrolling at the
University of Cambridge’s
Trinity College in 1661.

Newton studied a classical curriculum at Cambridge, but he

became fascinated by the works of modern philosophers such as
René Descartes, even devoting a set of notes to his outside
readings he titled “Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae”
(“Certain Philosophical Questions”). When the Great Plague
shuttered Cambridge in 1665, Newton returned home and began
formulating his theories on calculus, light and color, his
farm the setting for the supposed falling apple that inspired
his work on gravity.

He constructed the first reflecting telescope in 1668, and the

following year he received his Master of Arts degree and took
over as Cambridge’s Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. Asked
to give a demonstration of his telescope to the Royal Society
of London in 1671, he was elected to the Royal Society the
following year and published his notes on optics for his
peers.
Through his experiments with refraction, Newton determined
that white light was a composite of all the colors on the
spectrum, and he asserted that light was composed of particles
instead of waves. His methods drew sharp rebuke from
established Society member Robert Hooke, who was unsparing
again with Newton’s follow-up paper in 1675.

The result was the 1687 publication of “Philosophiae Naturalis

Principia Mathematica” (Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy), which established the three laws of motion and
the law of universal gravity. Newton’s three laws of motion
state that (1) Every object in a state of uniform motion will
remain in that state of motion unless an external force acts
on it; (2) Force equals mass times acceleration: F=MA and (3)
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
THOMAS EDISON

Thomas Edison made a lot of key inventions and discoveries.

Here, we have listed a few noteworthy ones:
● Invented the carbon rheostat
● Discovered incandescent light
● Invented the motion picture camera
● Invented the fluorescent electric lamp
● Discovered thermionic emission

Edison has been described as

“America’s greatest inventor.” He
developed many devices in fields like
mass communication and electric power
generation. He was one of the
pioneers in applying the principles
of organized science and teamwork to
the process of invention, working
with many researchers and employees.

MARIE CURIE

Born Maria Skłodowska on 7 November

1867 in Warsaw, Poland, she was the
youngest of five children of poor
school teachers.

After her mother died and her father

could no longer support her she
became a governess, reading and
studying in her own time to quench
her thirst for knowledge. She never
lost this passion.

To become a teacher – the only alternative which would allow

her to be independent – was never a possibility because a lack
of money prevented her from a formal higher education.
However, when her sister offered her lodgings in Paris with a
view to going to university, she grasped the opportunity and
moved to France in 1891.

She immediately entered Sorbonne University in Paris where she

read physics and mathematics – she had naturally discovered a
love of the subjects through her insatiable appetite for
learning.

It was in Paris, in 1894, that she met Pierre Curie – a

scientist working in the city – and who she married a year
later. It was also around this time that she adopted the
French spelling of her name – Marie.

Marie Curie is remembered for her discovery of radium and

polonium, and her huge contribution to finding treatments for
cancer. This work continues to inspire our charity's mission
to drive fundamental change in end of life care so that
everyone can have the best possible quality of life to the
end.

SCIENCE REVOLUTION IN MESOAMERICA

Olmecs:

Olmec is considered to be the earliest

civilization in MesoAmerica. Appearing
around 1600 BCE, the Olmec were among the
first Mesoamerican complex societies, and
their culture influenced many later
civilizations, like the Maya. The Olmec
are known for the immense stone heads
they carved from a volcanic rock called
basalt. Archaeological evidence also
suggests that they originated the
Mesoamerican practices of the
Mesoamerican Ballgame—a popular game in
the pre-Columbian Americas played with
balls made from solid rubber—and that
they may have practiced ritual
bloodletting.

The presence of artifacts made from jade, a semi precious green

stone; obsidian, a glassy, black volcanic rock; and other stones
provides evidence for trade with peoples outside the Gulf Coast of
Mexico: the jade came from what is today the Mexican state of
Oaxaca and the country of Guatemala to the south; the obsidian
came from the Mexican highlands, to the north. The Olmec period
saw a significant increase in the length of trade routes, the
variety of goods, and the sources of traded items.

Most agriculture took place outside of the villages in fields

cleared using slash-and-burn techniques. The Olmec likely grew
crops such as maize, beans, squash, manioc, sweet potatoes, and
cotton.

There were eight different androgynous—possessing male and female

characteristics—Olmec deities, each with its own distinct
characteristics. For example, the Bird Monster was depicted as a
harpy eagle associated with rulership. The Olmec Dragon was shown
with flame eyebrows, a bulbous nose, and bifurcated tongue.
Deities often represented a natural element and included the
following:

● The Maize deity

● The Rain Spirit or Were-Jaguar
● The Fish or Shark Monster

MAYANS

The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery,

writing, calendars and mathematics, and left
behind an astonishing amount of impressive
architecture and symbolic artwork. Most of the
great stone cities of the Maya were abandoned
by A.D. 900, however, and since the 19th
century scholars have debated what might have
caused this dramatic decline

Unlike other scattered Indigenous populations of Mesoamerica, the

Maya were centered in one geographical block covering all of the
Yucatan Peninsula and modern-day Guatemala; Belize and parts of
the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas; and the western part of
Honduras and El Salvador. This concentration showed that the Maya
remained relatively secure from invasion by other Mesoamerican
peoples

The Classic Maya built many of their temples and palaces in a

stepped pyramid shape, decorating them with elaborate reliefs and
inscriptions. These structures have earned the Maya their
reputation as the great artists of Mesoamerica.

Guided by their religious ritual, the Maya also made significant

advances in mathematics and astronomy, including the use of the
zero and the development of complex calendar systems like the
Calendar Round, based on 365 days, and later, the Long Count
Calendar, designed to last over 5,000 years.

The Maya were deeply religious, and worshiped various gods related
to nature, including the gods of the sun, the moon, rain and corn.
At the top of Maya society were the kings, or “kuhul ajaw” (holy
lords), who claimed to be related to gods and followed a
hereditary succession. They were thought to serve as mediators
between the gods and people on earth, and performed the elaborate
religious ceremonies and rituals so important to the Maya culture.

AZTECS

The exact origins of the Aztec people are uncertain, but they are
believed to have begun as a northern tribe of hunter-gatherers
whose name came from their homeland Aztlan, or “White Land” in the
Aztec language of Nahuatl.

The Aztecs were also known as the Tenochca (from which the name
for their capital city, Tenochtitlan, was derived) or the Mexica
(the origin of the name of the city that would replace
Tenochtitlan, as well as the name for the entire country).

Typical Aztec crops included maize (corn), along with beans,

squashes, potatoes, tomatoes and avocados; they also supported
themselves through fishing and hunting local animals such as
rabbits, armadillos, snakes, coyotes and wild turkey.

Aztecs practiced human sacrifice to feed their God. They abduct

other people from other civilizations to serve as their sacrifice
which made the other civilizatios avoid them.

WOMAN SONS OF SONS OF

UPPERCLASS COMMONERS

● Religion ● Law ● Warrior

● How to be ● Medicine ● Manners
a good ● Engineering
wife ● Writing
● How to be ● Interpretat
a good ion of
mother Dreams
● How to
cook

SCIENCE IN INDIA

Unlike the Science revolution that happened in MesoAmerica, where

Science and Religion couldn’t be combined to produce conceptions
that will benefit both, the Science revolution of the Indians
started with Science and Religion being intertwined with one
another that produced viable contribution, not just to the world
of science, but to humanity as well.

Indians believe that Science and Religion are intertwined. They

studied the universe, known as astronomy, because of their belief
that planets are their Gods. Thus, for them to fully embrace their
religious values, they need science.

After some years of studying astronomy to satisfy their beliefs,

the Indians used their knowledge of the universe and everything
beyond the earth’s atmosphere for their way of living. Astronomy
played an essential role in their civilization to understand the
changes in weather and seasons which is important for agricultural
activities.

SCIENCE OF GRAMMAR AND LINGUISTICS

● The first result of the scientific outlook of the Indians was

the production of Sanskrit grammar
● Astadhyayi Panini systematized the rules governing the
sanskrit
● When 3rd Century BC came, Indians decided to develop
Mathematics, Medicine, and Astronomy separately

MATHEMATICS
● Bakshali Manuscript is the first and surviving text of the
Indians about Mathematics. It contains:
1. Notation system
2. Decimal system
3. Number Zero
● Indians called their numerals as “Hindsa” or “Hindisat”
● Baudhayana’s Sulvasutra is the first book in Geometry that
Indians were able to produce.
● Earlier Mathematicians taught x/0 = 0, but Bahskar, a 12th
Century BC Mathematician proved it was infinity.
● “Infinity, however divided, remains infinity.”

ARYABHATTA

● He formulated the rule for finding the area of a triangle

that led to the origin of Trigonometry.
● He wrote Surya Siddhanta and Aryabhattiyam, books that deal
with Arithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry.
● He calculated the positions of the Planets.
● Discovered causes of Solar and Lunar Eclipses
● He measured the Earth’s circumference through the help of
Science.
 ● He gave the modern approximate value to pi as 3.1416

AYURVEDA

Ayurveda or Ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine

native to India, which uses a range of treatments, including
panchakarma (‘5 actions’), yoga, massage, acupuncture and herbal
medicine, to encourage health and wellbeing.
Panchakarma treatments may be harmful when performed by an
inexperienced practitioner. Ask them to explain their
qualifications and experience.
The ancient Indian medical system, also known as Ayurveda, is
based on ancient writings that rely on a “natural” and holistic
approach to physical and mental health. Ayurvedic medicine is one
of the world’s oldest medical systems and remains one of India’s
traditional health care systems.

The focus of Ayurveda treatment is to:

● Support the body in removing toxins and impurities
● Reduce symptoms
● Increase disease resistance
● Reduce stress
● Create more harmony and balance in life

Lord Dhanvantari is an outstanding personality in the history of

Ayurveda. He was the physician of the Gods (in both the Vedas and
Puranas) and an excellent surgeon. In Hinduism, worshipers pray to
Dhanvantari seeking his blessings for sound healing. In his
incarnation as king of Kashi, Divodasa, he was approached by a
group of sages (including Susruta, the great Indian surgeon) with
the request to teach them the science of Ayurveda.

In other versions of the origins of Ayurveda, it has been said

that Dhanvantari was deputed by Lord Indra to take the science of
Ayurveda to the mortals. Also to be noted, Dhanvantari is seen as
an avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism. The most frequently told story
about Dhanvantari is that when the ocean was churned by the gods
and demons in search of the elixir of life, Dhanvantari came out
of it holding a bowl of nectar in his hands.