Science & Thought

1. Science & Thought Tina Phommasa, Andrea Garcia, Alex Penney, Christina Quesada

2. The Outbreak of Science • The major changes in Western science and thought accompanied with the progression of urban society. • There were two main reasons why the developments stood out: • 1.) Scientific knowledge expanded rapidly and was able to influence the Western-view. • 2.) The European literature converted from romanticism to realism between the 1840s and the 1890s. • The breakthroughs of the Industrial Revolution was the rise of science research and it resulted in scientist investigating into inventions to figure out how they functioned. • The curiosity began the growth of scientific discoveries form the 1830s and onwards. • The theory based discoveries were improved to benefit the general population. • E.g. Louis Pasteur’s process of pasteurization

3. Scientific Benefits • Thermodynamics – a branch of physics that includes the relationship between heat and mechanical energy. • Scientists began to formulate laws for thermodynamics as they researched more about it. • Because of the laws, the physical world was governed unchanging laws. • Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1904) • In 1869, the Russian chemist arranged chemistry in the periodic law and the periodic table. • He subdivided chemistry into many specialized branches such as organic chemistry. • Organic chemistry – the study of carbon. • Discovered ways to transform coal into expensive dyes for fashion. • Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) • His discovery of electromagnetism led to developments of the telegraph, electric light, ect. • The scientific research promoted economic growth between 1880 & 1913. • It showed the importance of science and spread Enlightenment. • Methods of science were soon honored after 1850.

5. SocialScience • From the 1830's onward, several thinkers attempted to apply the objective methods of science to the study of society. • Social scientists developed new statistical methods to analyze facts "scientifically" and supposedly to test their theories. • An extremely influential system builder was the French philosopher Auguste Comte. • Wrote the six-volume System of Positive Philosophy. • Claimed all intellectual activity progresses through predictable stages. • Noted that existing explanation of cosmic patterns had shifted, as knowledge of astronomy developed, from the will of God to the will of an orderly nature to the rule of unchanging laws. • Comte thought that by applying the scientific method, also called the positive method, his new discipline of sociology would soon discover the eternal laws of human relations.

6. Evolution • Comte's stages of knowledge, typical example of 19th c. fascination with idea of evolution and dynamic development. • Charles Lyell • His principle of uniformitarianism: same geological processes at work today slowly formed earth's surface over a long time. • Evolutionary view of biological development re-emerged in a more modern form in the work of Jean Babtiste Lamarck. • Lamarck asserted all forms of life had arisen through a long process of continuous adjustments to environments. • Charles Darwin • Came to doubt the general belief in a special divine creation of each species of animal. • Concluded all life gradually evolved from a common ancestral origin in an unending "struggle for survival" • On the Origins of Species by the Means of Natural Selection (1859)

7. The Tenets of Literary Realism • The focus of Literary Realism was the objective and scientific observation of everyday life. • Nearly the polar opposite of Romanticism, Realism sparked controversy for depicting various taboo subjects- strikes, violence, alcoholism- you name it. • Realists held that human actions were simply the results of the effect of the universe's unalterable laws governing human behavior. • Common subjects in Realist Literature were commonplace experiences of urban life. • Realists also often targeted specific societal classes, exposing fallacious reasoning surrounding them.

8. The Dissemination of Realism • Realism emerged in the 1840's in France. • It was popularized there by Emile Zola (1840-1902) and other writers, such as Honore de Balzac, (1799-1850) who wrote The Human Comedy. • Beyond France, Realism spread to: • England: Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880) under the pseudonym "George Eliot" and Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) • Russia: Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was famous for his novel War and Peace. Tolstoy's work came to defineRussian Realist Literature. • All of these authors sparked controversy over their often gritty and animalistic view of urban life, especially for the lower classes.

9. Realist Writers Emile Zola Honore de Balzac Mary Ann Evans Count Leo Tolstoy