The Place of Science in Western Culture Lectures in the cultural history of science Geert Somsen, History Department, Fa

1. The Place of Science in Western CultureLectures in the cultural history of scienceGeert Somsen, History Department,Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

2. before we start: nature of the lecture series: • Thematic, historical • place science in culture

3. This lecture: • General Introduction • The Rise of Modern Science

4. Introduction • the association of science to modernity • the association of science to the West

5. Introduction Herbert Butterfield (1900-1979) on the rise of modern science: “it outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere episodes (...) [It is] the real origin both of the modern world and of the modern mentality”

6. Introduction George Sarton (1884-1956): “The history of science is the only history which can illustrate the progress of mankind. In fact, progress has no definite and unquestionable meaning in other fields than the field of science.”

7. Introduction • the association of science to modernity • the association of science to the West

8. Introduction Butterfield again: “The scientific revolution we must regard (…) as a creative product of the West – depending on a complicated set of conditions which existed only in western Europe.”

9. Introduction Geoffrey Barraclough (1908-1984), general historian, trying to explain European world dominance in modern times: “[A]ll the things which made Europe the focal point of historical events (…) – its science, its technology, its industrial strength – sprang in the end from the Scientific Revolution.” “The great change in outlook, the great change in intellectual climate, the change which ushers in the modern world, comes not with the Renaissance or the Reformation but with the Scientific Revolution (…) when the scientific spirit, which was the mark of Europe in modern times, really took shape.”

10. Introduction What still varies are: • Evaluations (positive and negative) • Associations, meanings of modernity

11. Auguste Comte (1798-1857) stages of society: • theological • metaphysical • scientific

12. Thomas Campbell, ‘To the Rainbow’ (1820): When Science from Creation’s face Enchantment’s veil withdraws, What lovely visions yield their place To cold material laws!

13. Max Weber (1864-1920)

14. Zygmunt Bauman (born 1925) the holocaust as a possibility of modernity

15. John Desmond Bernal (1901-1971) “science is communism”

16. Karl Raimund Popper (1902-1994) Science and the Open Society

17. Michael Polanyi (1891-1976) Science as conservative

18. Henry Kissinger (born 1923) “[The West] is deeply committed to the notion that the real world is external to the observer, that knowledge consists of recording and classifying data – the more accurately the better.” “Cultures which escaped the early impact of Newtonian thinking have retained the essentially pre-Newtonian view that the real world is almost completely internal to the observer. (…) [E]mpirical reality has a much different significance for many of the new countries than for the West because in a certain sense they never went through the process of discovering it.”

19. Barack Obama (born 1923)

20. The Rise of Modern Science

21. The Rise of Modern Science • idea Scientific Revolution • aspects SR: • mathematization • empiricism (observation and experiment)

22. core of classical story SR: • developments in astronomy and mechanics • from geocentric to heliocentric world picture • from qualitative to mechanical explanation • all together in Newton’s gravitational theory

23. mathematization • main aspect of Scientific Revolution: introduction of mathematics in the ways in which the world is understood • Alexandre Koyré: mathematization of nature, mathematization of science • but maths was not new—see ancient and medieval geometry and astronomy (accurate too) • what changed was ontology mathematics Galileo: “The book of nature is written in the language of mathematics.”

24. mathematization • not everybody agreed: Boyle, Buffon • hard to combine with empiricism: • in terms of observation: mathematical reality is reality behind observable phenomena (Platonic notion) • in terms of authority: mathematics is privileged domain experts, not easily susceptible to public scrutiny

25. mathematization why mathematization? • seems self-explanatory: mathematics is more accurate • but is this so? Koyré: Aristotelean physics is closer to experience than modern phycics • accuracy was not what convinced people • new ontology related to who speaks for nature

26. mathematization • in universities: hierarchy natural philosopers / mathematicians • at noble courts: new relations possible • —e.g. Tycho Brahe in Denmark —e.g. Galileo at Medici court: “mathematician-philosopher” • new science develops outside of universities, at (court) academies

27. mathematization

28. empiricism • Aristotelian philosophy was empirical, but new empiricism more radically so • Francis Bacon: collect many observations • do not trust authority • do not rely on texts • new scientific institutions based on Baconian ideals (Royal Society, Académie des Sciences, Encyclopédie)

29. empiricism • empiricism seems even more self-explanatory: “seeing is believing” • refusers (Cremonini) seem mad • new science was empirical • yet in what way needs to be qualified

30. empiricism • fundamental objections: senses deceive, experiments deform, instruments can play tricks • practical problem: believing only what one sees?

31. empiricism • knowledge not just based on one’s own observation • importance witnesses and witness assessment: who is reliable source? • example 1: Galileo’s telescope witnesses • example 2: Boyle’s reports from captains and divers • rejection authority was specifically targetted against scholasticism

32. empiricism • authority now: • in research • in education • in court • in news reporting • Barry Barnes: necessity and danger

33. empiricism • rejection texts was equally qualified: ancient and renaissance texts • example: natural history (Buffon, Darwin)

34. empiricism

35. empiricism • texts today: • in science • in humanities