Intellectual Revolution

Intellectual revolution that occurred in China, India and Africa

CHINA

o The four Great Inventions of ancient China includes the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing.

o The book of Badic al-Zaman ibn al-Razaz al-Jazari described candle and water clocks, water vessels, fountains, automata, and water raising devices.

o Other discoveries includes alchemy which is a taoist chemistry

INDIA

o Famous in medicine e.g. AYURVEDA. • AYURVEDA – a system of traditional medicine that originated in ancient India before 2500 BC. • Susruta Samhita

o Spherical self-supporting earth

o Year of 360 days with 12 equal parts of 30 days each.

o Siddhanta Shiromani – the interest in astronomy was evident in this book.

o Indus Valley Civilization – The people in this civilization tried to standardize measurement of length to a high degree of accuracy and a designed ruler. (Mohenjodaro Ruler)

o Aryabhatiya – Introduced a number of trigonometric functions, tables, and techniques as well as algorithms of algebra.

AFRICA

o Africa is known for the production of kola nuts and coffee in Ethiopia

o Kola nuts stimulant mostly found in West Africa and is the basis of the popular cola drink.

o Freudian revolution may be viewed as the discovery of a way of locating in the mind objective entities which can be studied like physical things.

o Freud described that the brain can be segmented into compartments.

o The technology involved experimentation in drainage, construction of polders, desalination, and irrigation. Evidence in 1978 suggests that they already mastered making steels.

How did the Revolution advanced modern science and scientific thinking at the time?

The scientific revolution was the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy), and chemistry transformed societal views about nature. The scientific revolution began in Europe toward the end of the Renaissance period, and continued through the late 18th century, influencing the intellectual social movement known as the Enlightenment. While its dates are disputed, the publication in 1543 of Nicolaus Copernicus ‘s De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) is often cited as marking the beginning of the scientific revolution.

The scientific revolution was built upon the foundation of ancient Greek learning and science in the Middle Ages, as it had been elaborated and further developed by Roman/Byzantine science and medieval Islamic science. The Aristotelian tradition was still an important intellectual framework in the 17th century, although by that time natural philosophers had moved away from much of it. Key scientific ideas dating back to classical antiquity had changed drastically over the years, and in many cases been discredited. The ideas that remained (for example, Aristotle ‘s cosmology, which placed the Earth at the center of a spherical hierarchic cosmos, or the Ptolemaic model of planetary motion) were transformed fundamentally during the scientific revolution.

The change to the medieval idea of science occurred for four reasons:

1. Seventeenth century scientists and philosophers were able to collaborate with members of the mathematical and astronomical communities to effect advances in all fields.

2. Scientists realized the inadequacy of medieval experimental methods for their work and so felt the need to devise new methods (some of which we use today).

3. Academics had access to a legacy of European, Greek, and Middle Eastern scientific philosophy that they could use as a starting point (either by disproving or building on the theorems).

4. Institutions (for example, the British Royal Society) helped validate science as a field by providing an outlet for the publication of scientists’ work.

During the scientific revolution, changing perceptions about the role of the scientist in respect to nature, the value of evidence, experimental or observed, led towards a scientific methodology in which empiricism played a large, but not absolute, role. The term British empiricism came into use to describe philosophical differences perceived between two of its founders—Francis Bacon, described as empiricist, and René Descartes, who was described as a rationalist. Bacon’s works established and popularized inductive methodologies for scientific inquiry, often called the Baconian method, or sometimes simply the scientific method. His demand for a planned procedure of investigating all things natural marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, much of which still surrounds conceptions of proper methodology today. Correspondingly, Descartes distinguished between the knowledge that could be attained by reason alone (rationalist approach), as, for example, in mathematics, and the knowledge that required experience of the world, as in physics.

Why intellectual revolution are necessary in understanding how society transformed by science and technology?

As we explore the society it is noticeable how far we progress; there were laws appropriate in every situation, there was gender and development awareness. Technologies and social media became the source of information and a bridge to connect people around the world.

The time we experience technologies we found that there were disadvantages regarding the use of it; with this, law-makers and communities collaborated to create actions that will address the problems. It shows the intellectual power of the people to determine dilemmas and apply accurate solutions to transform the societies in a more conducive place to live.

The intellectual revolution was a power to determine the essentials of a person; it was a continuous discovery of self-worth, determination, and knowledge to open one’s mind in the world of authoritarian leaders. It was a place for improvement, reconstruction, and a free-will to make self more valuable.

It will transform societies through critical-thinking, evaluation, and creating appropriate rules for equal opportunity. It is a continuous process of development to achieve the needs of society. The collaborations of great minds make the world peaceful and progressive.

The challenges of intellectual revolutions were the diversity of culture, religions, traditions, and philosophies. Fortunately, culture and traditions were now included in the curriculum of education; therefore, the conflict will be lessened. The consensus of all leaders, communities, and all the elements around the world must be reflected in every era to make the world a place of everybody.