Who is the Founder of Science Part-04
We are slowly getting ideas about science.
What do you want to know about what you study yourself?
If you want to know then you are welcome.
Not everyone wants to know. Among 80-85% of students
the only goal is to get good marks in exams.
But does not want to know or is not at all interested in researching something new.
Let’s get to the bottom of it!!!
Early Science:
We need to remember that the practice of science in the Middle Ages began in the second
century AD, that is, from the time of the fall of the Roman Empire. But something more
needs to be said about the ancient technology we are discussing here. Just as we mean
the invention and use of different types of tools by technology, we mean the period of
human use of tools, that is, the era called the Old Stone Age in history. This era
ended five thousand years before the birth of Christ. During this time, the people of
that era used axes, spears, knives, and bows made of animal bones, wood, and flint. And
five thousand years before Christ, the Neolithic age began on earth. Even in this era,
people used stone weapons. However, along with eating the meat of hunted animals, people
also started farming. They also become conscious of wearing something on the body.
Leaving animal bark or leaves, they started wearing cloth. In this Neolithic age
spinning and weaving machines were invented.
These two tools are the oldest among the tools invented by the man during this Neolithic period.
Bronze Age Man:
Around 3000 BC, people started to discover and use metals. They started making copper by
burning a kind of stone in coal and mixing it with a small amount of tin to make bronze, a
harder metal. The Sumerian civilization developed in the Euphrates valley in the Bronze Age.
The Samaritans invented a writing system using triangular letters on soft clay tablets.
They discovered the general rules of arithmetic and began to use geometry for surveying work.
For example, they determine right triangles and their values. They were the first to divide a
circle into 360 degrees. From this, the concept of seconds, minutes, etc. was developed and the
calculation of time was invented. The Sumerians were the most advanced in astronomy.
They calculated the position of the stars in the sky mainly for the purpose of prediction and
especially for sowing and farming they calculated the seasons by determining the position
of the stars. With its help, they discovered the calendar and calculated the duration of a year.
They do this calculation from the comparative calculation of the position of the stars with the
position of the sun. In this way, the difference between the time they set for one year and the modern time of this time is only four and a half minutes.
About the Iron Age:
After the Bronze Age, the use of iron began. This age is known as Iron Age. Greek civilization is the
contribution of the Iron Age. The beginning of Greek civilization is about 1400 years before the birth of Christ.
We have discussed a little about this Greek civilization earlier. The period from the rise of the
Greek civilization to the fall of the Roman Empire is also called the Hellenic Age. The center of
Greek science was in the ancient city of Athens. Later, after Egypt was annexed by the Roman
Empire at the hands of Thomas, the city of Alexandria in Egypt became the center of learning.
But in the discussion of ancient science, we see that as early as the development of technology,
in the end, this technology recedes from science. Slavery was widespread in the Greek and Roman empires.
These slaves did all the hard work. As a result, their masters kept them away from all these physical labors.
Slaves were readily available and the invention of Jandra ceased. And the wise people were
limited to their knowledge practice, their theories, and their theoretical debates.
The inevitable result of this is scientific ignorance. Therefore, Alexandria, which is the center of science,
was exiled from Alexandria one day. Due to these reasons, talented scientists did not appear in the Roman Empire.
Golden Age of Arab Civilization:
Arabs became the holders and bearers of science after the progress of Greek science was stopped.
But in between, there was a dark age of about 500 years. In the seventh century, that is, between six
and seven hundred AD, Arab domination spread over Asia Minor, Persia, North Africa, and Spain.
During the ninth to eleventh centuries, Islamic civilization spread to Western and Christian civilizations.
It should be remembered here that Prophet Muhammad was born in Arabia about 500 years after the birth
of Jesus Christ and preached Islam. And under the influence of Islam, its wonderful renaissance was
created in the entire Arab world. This renaissance was not only limited to religion, but the practice
of knowledge and science was also a direct result of the renaissance. Hazrat Muhammad passed
away in 632 AD. Then in just 10 years, the victory flag of Islam spread to Syria in the north, Egypt
in the west, and Persia in the east. Within a hundred years the Arabs dominated all of
North Africa, passing through Spain and reaching southern France. And the east
extends to Samarkand in Central Asia. Due to the development of various centers
of knowledge and science in this vast area, these regions have become the
center of knowledge and culture of the world for several centuries.
Long before the advent of Islam, the progress of Greek civilization was halted.
Athenian academies were overthrown by primitive and fanatical rulers. In 529
Emperor Justinian famously banned Plato’s academics. As a result, Western Europe
was completely deprived of the opportunity to practice knowledge and science.
Meanwhile, during the reign of the Umayyads and the Abbasids, attempts to practice
new knowledge began in Damascus and Baghdad. The responsibility of preserving the
knowledge tradition of the Greeks fell into the hands of the Muslims. A Greek scholar
expelled from Athens appeared in the city of Jundishapur in Persia. They translated
many books written in Greek and Sanskrit into Syriac and Pahlavi.
After the Arabs conquered Persia, all these books were translated into Arabic.
Al Mansur, the second caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, founded the city of Baghdad in 762.
And within fifty years, Baghdad became the largest city of its time. Baghdad became the center of the
world at that time in terms of knowledge and science. Between 750 and 900 AD, most of the
books of Greek thinkers such as Aristotle, Galen, Plato, Ptolemy, Euclid, and Archimedes
were translated into Arabic. The famous fifth Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid and his son
the seventh Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun created immense enthusiasm for translations from Greek,
Indian and other languages. At the end of the 10th century, under the influence of Muslims, the
practice of knowledge and science also began in the distant country of Spain. Cordova is a
major center of learning. Apart from this, important centers of learning were also
developed in Granada, Seville, and Toledo. During this period many books of Greek and Arab
science were translated into Arabic, Latin, and Hebrew.
Unfortunately, from the 10th century onwards, knowledge began to decline in the Muslim world.
The huge Muslim empire was divided into smaller states. From the middle of the 11th century, the practice
of free intellect, independent scientific research, and general epistemology declined.
After the fifteenth century, Muslims began to practice science. Meanwhile, Europe passed the Dark Ages and began the Renaissance.
From Arabia to Europe:
The scientific practice of Bantu Arabs opened the door. Through Spain and Sicily, it spread again throughout Europe.
All Greek texts that were translated into Arabic were translated from Arabic into Latin.
Beginning in the twelfth century, this spirit of Greek science spread all over Europe, and thus the
groundbreaking practice of new science began in Europe at the end of the Middle Ages.
In the twelfth century, Europe adopted Arab knowledge, science, and technology.
But they did not accept Islam in that way. Similarly, in this modern era, the East has again
accepted the knowledge of the West, science, and technology, but in proportion
to that, the East has less interest in the religion and philosophy of the West.
Dark Europe:
A dark age began after the fall of the Roman Empire in Europe. We have said this before.
At this time there was an armistice across the continent of Europe, and there was immense
political unrest. This bad time lasted for five hundred years. Then slowly life becomes
more or less smooth again. Free trade begins. It was discovered that horses were used for farming. A new type of plough.
Dark Ages Churches and church-centered schools were centers of scientific practice.
And naturally, not all churches or church-centered schools could develop science or technology.
Rather, religious superstitions become prominent here. Instead of using thought or logic to
explore the mysteries of nature, people of that time believed that everything happens
by God’s will and that everything is pre-ordained. What is the need to think beyond this?
That is, there is no opportunity to think again or there is no urge to learn something new.
Renaissance of Europe:
Sociologists have analyzed the reasons for this dark age in the history of science.
They say the progress of any nation or country depends on the social system of that nation or country at that time. What do we mean by social system?
The social system refers to the customs of the society, the way of thinking of people, and
above all the method of economic production. For example, there are some fundamental
differences between an agrarian society in ancient times when agriculture was not
invented and when people lived by hunting animals. To put it quite simply, we
understand that the production process of human society governs the social system.
In the dark ages, this social system basically stood as a big obstacle in the way of the development of science.
At this time, the reign of the priesthood, that is, the priests who held the banner of religion were the masters of the society.
They were even more influential than royal power. The special factor behind the
passing of this barrier in the Middle Ages was the development of new
technologies to meet the needs of society. Here again, we need to remember that technology is
not truly pure. However, at the end of the Middle Ages, new developments in technology in
Europe opened the door to science and the possibilities of science.
At this time water mills were widely used. A water faucet is a device that operates
with the help of a stream of water. Various tasks could be done with the help of these calls.
And thus water mills came to be used for various purposes such as sawmills, pumping work in mines,
stone breaking, rolling of iron sheets, wire drawing, etc. And thus a new class was born for such work.
It was during this period that the use of gunpowder, glass, paper, etc. was introduced and windmills were built.
It was in the thirteenth century that experimental science flourished.
Roger Bacon (1214-84) conducted various experiments with lenses and gunpowder.
He said science can be practiced in two ways. One by argument and two by experiment.
Where logic ends, one can proceed with experiments by hand, but the society of the time did not spare him.
At the age of 64, he was accused of suspicious activities.
This is a summary of medieval knowledge practice. A new chapter in the history of science began in this century.
This fifteenth century is also the beginning of modern science. Science has freed you from the difficulty of philosophy.
Historians call this period the Renaissance of Europe. The importance of this renaissance in the history of science is undeniable.
A new war of mankind against superstition, superstition, and ignorance has begun.
That war is still not over. Through reading the history of science, we will gradually become familiar with this extraordinary battle of mankind.
