SUMMARY OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE SECTION A:

PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND CONCEPTS

 Knowledge is the product of active learning i.e. knowledge and learning are mutually defined  Science teachers strive to share their external knowledge with learners  There is mutual relevance of the history and philosophy of science for one another  History and philosophy of science are not complementary, they inter penetrate and illuminate each other  “INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNIFIED SCIENCE” was written by “Tom Kuhn”  Tom Kuhn said history can be viewed as a repository for more than anecdote and chronology  “Herbert Feigl” founded the Minnesota center  Herbert Feigl counseled philosophers of science to take history serious  History of science w/o philosophy of science is “BLIND”  Philosophy of science w/o history of science is “EMPTY”  Aristotle is to DEMONSTRATION as newton is to INDUCTION  Philosophy of science is EXPLICIT in the work of authors and IMPLICIT to their scientific practice  History speaks loudly to its philosophy and in return Philosophy illuminates history  Philosophy of science studies Philosophical foundations, implications, assumptions, natural sciences, social sciences and other sciences.  Philosophy of science is closely related to epistemology and philosophy of language.  Philosophy of science considers the character and development of concepts and terms, propositions, hypotheses and arguments  Science draws conclusions from evidence from experimentation, logical deductions and rational thoughts DAMI – DAVE 1

 Science is the application of a logical frame of reference to a set of objects of situations  Duhem – Quine thesis says that theory can be made compatible with any empirical observation by addition of ad – hoc hypotheses  Karl popper accepted Duhem – Quine thesis and lead him to reject naïve falsification in favor of survival of fittest  Karl Popper said any hypothesis that does not make testable hypothesis or prediction is not Science  W.V Quine developed Confirmation Holism, which states that empirical data are not sufficient to make a judgment between theories  Specialists in the philosophy of Science believe it is easy to agree on observations of Physical phenomena harder for them to agree on observations of Social or Mental Phenomena  Empiricism is of the view that knowledge is derived from our Experiences  Scientific hypothesis are derived and tested via Empirical methods consisting of observations and experiments  Observations are Cognitive Acts and involve Perceptions  A well designed experiment will produce Identical Results when carried out in an identical fashion  Observation is not useful and objectivity is lost if the social context of the observer is a factor in the observation  Realism is of the view that the universe really is as explained by the scientist  Instrumentalism holds that our perception, scientific ideas, and theories do not necessarily reflect the whole world accurately but, are useful instruments to explain, predict and control our experiences  Instrumentalism is of the view that empirical method is used to do no more than show that the theories are consistent with observations  Constructivism is of the view that all knowledge is constructed in as much as it is contingent on convention, human perception and social experience  Constructivism originated in Sociology under the term Social Constructivism  Analysis is the breaking down of an observation or theory into simpler concepts to understand it DAMI – DAVE 2

 It is impossible to describe the motion of a projectile without separating the force of gravity, angle of projection and initial velocity  Analysis is as essential in Science as it is to all National Enterprise  Daniel Dennett invented the term Greedy Reductionism  An Historical Event might be explained in Sociological or Psychological terms, which in turn might be described in terms Human Philosophy, Chemistry and Physics  Greedy Reductionism describes the assumption that such reductionism(scenario when an historical event is implied to be nothing after been reduced to a physical event, and then denying the existence of the emergent phenomena) was possible  Daniel Dennett claims that it is not just “BAD SCIENCE”, seeking explanations which are appealing rather than those used in predicting natural phenomena……there is no such thing as Philosophy Free Science.  Daniel Dennett(1995) wrote on Darwin’s dangerous ideas and arguments against reductionism  Information Theory can be used to calculate the magnitude of information loss and is one of the techniques applied to “CHAOS THEORY”  Newton’s third law states that “For every ACTION there is an opposite and equal REACTION”  Inductive Reasoning maintains that if a situation holds in ALL Observed Cases, the situation holds in ALL Cases  Deductive Reasoning is the process of moving logically from premise to conclusion  Syllogism is a form of reasoning consisting of 2 premises and a Conclusion  Induction allows on to formulate a General truth from a Specific truth while, Deduction allows one to formulate Specific truth from a General Truth  Pseudoscience consists of Astronomy(science of heavenly bodies) and Astrology(pretended art of foretelling the future event from the stars)  Falsifiability defined by Karl Popper(1919 - 1920) states that in order to be useful, a scientific statement(fact, law, theory, principle) must be falsifiable

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 Karl Popper described Falsifiability using the observations from a 1963 Essay on “CONJECTURES AND REFUTATIONS”  Confirmations are significant only if they are results of risky predictions  Good scientific theories include prohibitions...The more a theory Forbids , The better it is  A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is non – scientific… IREFUTABILITY IS NOT A VIRTUE OF A THEORY  Foundationism claims there are some basic statements that require no justification  Induction and Falsification are forms of Foundationism , they both rely on basic statements derived directly from observations  Observation is a Cognitive act(it relies on our existing understanding or our set of beliefs  Coherentism claims that statements cannot be justified by their been part of a coherent system  William Ockham (1295-1349) , an influential nominalist, a great logician whose fame lies solely on the maxim known as Ockham’s razor  Ockham’s Razor:  ENTIA NON SUNT MULTIPLICANDA PRAETER NECESSITATEM(entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity)  NUMQUAM PONENDA EST PLURALITAS SINE NECESSITATEM(plurality should not be posited without necessity)  The acceptance of scientific knowledge as if it were absolutely true and unquestionable is called Scientism  Ockham’s Razor was not originally a principle of science, but of theology … Parsimony comes not from science, but from “the vow of poverty”

SECTION B:

RENAISSANCE SCIENCE

 Scientific Renaissance was coined by Marie Boas Hall to designate the early phase of Scientific Revolution(1450-1630)  Peter Dear argued for a 2 phase of modern science:

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Scientific Renaissance(15th and 16th century), focused on restoration of natural knowledge of the ancients DAMI – DAVE 4

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Scientific Revolution(17th century), focused on the shift of scientists from recovery to innovation  During the renaissance, great advances occurred in geography, astronomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics, manufacturing , engineering and anatomy The rediscovery of ancient scientific texts was accelerated after the fall of Constantinople(1453) Scientific Renaissance is seen by some as Scientific backwardness George Sarton and Lynn Thorndike criticized how the renaissance affected science by its slow progress Humanists favor human centered subjects like politics and history rather than study of natural philosophy or applied mathematics Galen’s physiological and anatomical studies and Ptolemy’s geography were rediscovered in the latter half of the 15th century by a Humanist faith in classical scholarship As a result of the study of ancient texts, botany, zoology, magic, alchemy and astrology were developed Leonardo da Vinci(15th April 1452-2nd may 1519)  Italian polymath, painter,sculptor,architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer  Thrown or shot projectiles move in one curved trajectory path, not two  Metallurgical techniques that allowed him make great sculptures  Anatomical observations that increased the accuracy of his drawing  He was the archetype Renaissance man, a man of unquenchable curiosity and feverishly inventive imagination  He painted Mona Lisa, the last supper and others Nicolaus Copernicus(1473-1543)  Polyglot, polymath, diplomat, economist, governor, mathematician and astronomer  he wrote De revolutionibus, a work that placed the sun at the center of the universe and the planets in orbits around it  he created the heliocentric model, which says that the distance of the planets from the sun bore a direct relationship to the size of their orbits DAMI – DAVE 5

 he was the initiator of the Scientific revolution  In 1517 he derived a quantity theory of money, in 1519 he formulated the Gresham law  Galileo Galilei  His most famous was the telescope through which he observed the heavens and recorded his findings in Sideriusnuncius(starry messenger) 1610

 Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus(27th October 1466- 12th July 1536)  He is also known as Erasmus of Rotterdam  Dutch renaissance humanist, catholic priest, social critic, teacher and theologian

 He enjoyed the sobriquet Prince of Humanists, he is also called the crowning glory of the Christian humanists

 He prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the new testament  He wrote on free will, the praise of folly, handbook of a Christian knight, On civility in children, copia and others  Sir Isaac newton(25th December 1642 – 20th march 1726)  English physicist, mathematician, natural philosopher, one of the most influential scientist  His book philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica(mathematical principles of natural philosophy) 1687 laid the foundations for classical mechanics  His Principia formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation  He validated the heliocentric model of the cosmos, he also built the first practical telescope and developed a theory of color  He formulated an empirical law of cooling, studied the speed of sound and introduced the notion of Newtonian fluid  Johannes kepler( 27th December 1571 – 15th November 1630)  German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer

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 He is known for his laws of planetary motion, based on his works Astronomia nova, harmonices mundi and epitome of Copernican astronomy.  A mathematics teacher at a seminary school in Graz, Austria, an associate of prince hans Ulrich, assistant to astronomer tycho brahe, imperial mathematician to emperor Rudolf II  He invented the improved version of the refracting telescope(keplerian telescope)

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SECTION C: MENDEL AND GENETICS Gregor Johann Mendel(20th July 1822-6th January 1884), German speaking Silesian scientist, central European monk He was the founder of the modern science of genetics Mendel’s pea plant experiments conducted between 1865 and 1863 established the laws of Mendel inheritance he worked with seven characteristics of pea plants: height, pod shape, pod color, seed shape, seed color, flower position, flower color Mendel coined the term recessive and dominant in reference to certain traits In the 1890s the invention of better microscopes allowed biologists to discover the basic facts of cell division and sexual reproduction Mendel observed 7 traits:  Flower color is purple or white  Flower position is axil or terminal  Stem length is short or long  Seed shape is round or wrinkled  Seed color is yellow or green  Pod shape is inflated or constricted  Pod color is yellow or green Mendel picked common garden pea plants(pisum sativum) because they can be easily grown in large numbers and their reproduction can be easily manipulated

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 Pea plants have both male and female reproductive organ, so they can selfpollinate  Mendel’s conclusions from his experiments are as follows:  Inheritance of each trait is determined by units(genes) passed unto descendants unchanged  An individual inherits one such unit from each parent for each trait  A trait might not show up in an individual, but can still be passed on to the next generation  Mendel’s observations can be summarized into 2 principles:  Principle of Segregation(mendel’s first law), for any particular trait, the pair of alleles of each parent separate and only one allele passes from each parent on to an offspring, this occurs during the process of sex cell formation(meiosis)  Principle of Independent Assortment (Mendel’s second law), different pair of alleles are passed to offspring independently of each other. Genes for independently assorted traits are located on different chromosomes  Principle of segregation, independent assortment, unit inheritance and dominance were the beginning of our modern science of genetics  One of Mendel’s major innovations was Pure line(population that breeds true for a particular trait)  Genetic terms:  Phenotype: means “the form that it is shown”, outward physical appearance of a trait, the f1 generation shows only one parental phenotype, but possess information to produce both parental phenotype. The f2 generation produced a 3:1 where the dominant trait is present three times as often as the recessive trait  Dominant: allele that expresses itself at expense of alternate allele  Recessive: allele whose expression is suppressed by the dominant allele, phenotype that disappears in f1 generation and reappears in f2 generation  Genes: hereditary determinants  Allele: one alternative form of a given allelic pair DAMI – DAVE 8

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Homozygote: individual containing only one allele at the allelic pair Heterozygote: individual containing one of each member of gene pair Genotype: specific allelic combination for each gene Backcross: cross of an F1 hybrid to one of the homozygous parents Testcross: cross of any individual to a homozygous recessive parent, used to determine if the individual is homozygous or heterozygous dominant  Monohybrid cross: cross between parents that differ at a single gene pair  Monohybrid: offspring of 2 parents that are homozygous for alternate alleles of a gene pair  Dominance: ability of one allele to express itself at the expense of an alternate allele  Punnett square helps determine specific genetic ratios  Mendel’s laws are referred to as LAWS  Fruit flies reproduce in about 2wks from birth, Bacteria reproduce in 3-5 hrs.

SECTION D:

SCIENCE AND ITS HISTORICAL EVOLUTION

 Theory: explanation of some aspect of nature that has been well supported by observations  Thomas Kuhn portrays that science includes intellectual, cultural, economic and political themes outside science  History of science is the study of the historical development of science and scientific study including natural and social sciences  Science is a body of empirical, theoretical and practical knowledge about the natural world  The recent English word SCIENTIST coined by William Whewell in the 19th century, previously people investigating nature were called Natural philosophers  Scientific revolution (16th and 17th century Europe)  Charles Darwin is the father of Evolutionary Thoughts  Darwin had NO KNOWLEDGE of genetics  Individuals change over time due to environmental influences and these acquired characteristics are passed on to offspring…. Jean Baptiste Lamarck DAMI – DAVE 9

 Alfred Russell Wallace developed the theory of natural selection  Historical sciences like Darwinian evolution and intelligent design[ID] rely on the principle of UNIFORMITARIANISM which holds that “the present is the key to the past”, which means that present experiences based knowledge of cause and effect relationships typically guides the assessment of the plausibility of proposed causes of past events  Experience affirms that information routinely arises from the activity of INTELLIGENT AGENTS  In our present day experience, we observe that intelligent agents alone generate systems with high levels of specified complexity such as codes and languages  ID is invoked when something is positively KNOWABLE , when we have positive reasons to understand that intelligence is the best scientific explanation of a phenomenon  Materialists wrongly accuse ID proponents of adopting position A[everything is designed and we should never invoke material causes], while they adopt position B[nothing is designed and we must always invoke material causes]  Biological theories have been argued long and hard in socio-political arenas, Evolution is the binding force of all biological research. Evolution is the unifying theme

PREHISTORY, BABYLON, EGYPT, GREECE  In prehistoric times, advice and knowledge were passed from generation to generation in oral tradition  Ancient civilizations collected astronomical information in a systematic manner via simple observation  The Ancient people are considered the First Scientist  Around 3500BC, the MESPOTAMIAN people began to attempt to record some observations of the world in numerical data.  Pythagoras law was recorded as early as the 18th century, with records of Pythagorean triples dated 1900BC DAMI – DAVE 10

 Inn Babylonian Astronomy, records of the motion of the stars, planets and the moon are left on thousands of clay tablets created by scribes  Ancient Egypt made advances in astronomy, mathematics and medicine.  Egypt was a center of Alchemy for much of the Mediterranean  The EDWIN SMITH PAPYRUS, is one of the first medical documents still extant and earliest document to describe and analyze the BRAIN  The earliest Greek philosophers were known as Pre-Socratics  The pre-Socratic philosopher THALES is dubbed the FATHER OF SCIENCE , and the first to postulate non supernatural explanations for natural phenomena  Plato and Aristotle produced the first systematic discussions of natural philosophy … they also discovered Deductive Reasoning  Plato founded the platonic academy 387BC whose motto was “let none unversed in geometry enter here”  Aristotle introduced Empiricism and foundations of scientific method. He also produced many biological writings focusing on biological causation and diversity of life. He classified >540 animal species and dissected >50  Archimedes used method of exhaustion to approximate the value PI, Calculated the area under the arc of a parabola, foundations of hydrostatics, statics  “Men were weighing for thousands of years before Archimedes worked out the laws of equilibrium” ….Benjamin Farrington, former professor of classics at Swansea university  Astronomer Aristarchus of Samos was the first person to propose a heliocentric model of the solar system  Geographer Eratosthenes accurately calculated the circumference of the earth  Hipparchus produced first systematic star catalog  ANTIKYTHERA Mechanism : analog computer for calculating the position of planets  Hippocrates and his followers were the first to describe many diseases and medical conditions and developed the Hippocratic oath for physicians

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 Herophilos was the first to base his conclusions on dissection of the human body and to describe the nervous system  Galen performed many audacious operations including brain and eye surgeries  In Hellenistic Egypt, mathematician Euclid laid down the foundations of mathematical rigor and introduced the concept of definition, axiom, theorem and proof  Theophrastus wrote some descriptions of plants and animals, establishing the First Taxonomy  Pliny the Elder 77AD, produced the largest encyclopedia of the natural world  Evolutionary thought the conception that species change over time , has roots in antiquity, in the ideas of the ancient Greeks, romans, Chinese and Islamic science  Essentialism: belief that every specie has essential characteristics that are unalterable, developed from Aristotlelianmetaphysics  19th century, Jean Baptiste proposed his theoey of Transmutations of species, first fully formed theory evolution  Darwin proposed common descent and a branching tree of life, meaning that two very different species could share a common ancestor  The theory was based on the idea of natural selection and synthesized a broad range of evidence from animal husbandry, biogeography, geology, morphology and embryology

SECTION E:

THE AGE OF ALCHEMY

 Alchemy is the art of liberating parts of cosmos from temporal existence and achieving perfection which, for metals is gold, and for man, longevity, then immortality and finally redemption  Alchemy differs from Modern science in its inclusion of hermetic principles and practices related to mythology, magic, religion, and spirituality  Alchemy is recognized as a Protoscience that contributed to the development of modern chemistry and medicine  Relation to the science of Chemistry DAMI – DAVE 12

 Robert Boyle is the father of Chemistry  During the 17th century, practical alchemy started to disappear in favor of its younger offshoot chemistry, as it was renamed by Robert Boyle  Relation to Hermeticism  The heart of alchemy is Spiritual  Transmutation of lead into gold is analogous for personal transmutation, purification an perfection ….termed spiritual/esoteric/internal alchemy  Zoismos of Panopolis highlighted the spiritual nature of the alchemical quest, symbolic of a religious regeneration of the human soul  Etymology  Alchemy derived from the old French alquimie, from medieval Latin alchimia, from Arabic al-kimia  Chemia from ancient Greek with addition of Arabic definite article al  Chemia may have been derived from a version of the Egyptian name of Egypt keme [khmi, black earth], it could have been derived from Greek chumeia[mixture]  History of Alchemy:  Alchemy in Greco-Roman Egypt: the start of western alchemy can be traced to Hellenistic Egypt[Alexandria was a Centre of alchemical knowledge]  The earliest records of alchemy in the west constituted of elements of technology, religion, mythology and philosophy  Zosimos of Panopolis wrote the oldest book on alchemy  Mary the Jewess in the first non-fictitious western alchemist  Mythology: Alchemical writers used classical figures from Greek, roman and Egyptian mythology to illuminate their works. The pantheon of gods related to classical planets, Isis, Osiris, Jason etc. the central figure in the mythology of alchemy is Hermes Trismegitus[thrice great Hermes]  Technology: the dawn of western alchemy is associated with with that of metallurgy [3500BC]. Many writings were lost when the DAMI – DAVE 13

emperor Diocletian ordered the burning of alchemical books after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria [292BCE]  Philosophy: an example of alchemy’s root in Greek philosophy, originated by Empedocles’ and Aristotle was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: earth, air, water and fire. Greco-Roman alchemists preceding zoismos are known only by Pseudonyms such as Moses, Isis, Cleopatra, Democritus and Ostanes. middle of 7th century alchemy was an entirely mystical discipline, it was at that time that Khalid Ibn Yazid sparked its migration from Alexandria to the Islamic world  Alchemy in the Islamic world:  In the 8th century Jabir Ibn Hayyan introduced a new approach to alchemy based on scientific methodology and controlled experimentation. He is considered by many to be the father of Chemistry.  The discovery that aqua regia [nitric acid + hydrochloric acid] could dissolve the noblest metal gold  Jabir’s ultimate goal was Takwin [artificial creation of life]. He analyzed each Aristotelian elements in terms of four basic qualities hotness, coldness, dryness and moistness. According to him, 2 of these qualities were interior and 2 exterior.  Jabir originated the elemental system in medieval alchemy, consisting of 7 elements: aether, air, fire, water, earth, sulphur[stone which burns] and mercury  Alchemy in Medieval Europe:  The introduction of alchemy to Latin Europe occurred on 11th February 1144, with the completion of Robert of Chester translation of the Arabic “Book of the Composition of Alchemy  Saint Anslem (1033-1109) put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context.

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 Roger Bacon (1214-1294) studied a wide variety of topics including optics, language, and medicine.  Dante, Piers the ploughman and Chaucer painted unflattering pictures of alchemists as thieves and liars  Nicolas Flamel: well-known alchemist, a good example of Pseud epigraphy[practice of giving your works the name of someone else usually more famous]  Alchemy in the Renaissance and Modern age:  In the late 15th century, Marsilo Ficino translated the corpus hermeticum and the works of plato to Latin  Esoteric systems developed that blended alchemy into a broader occult Hermeticism, fusing it with magic, astrology and christain cabala  Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus [Theophrastus bombastus von hohenheim] pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine and wrote ‘many have said of alchemy’, that it is for the making of gold and silver  Alchemists were contracted by the Elite for practical purposes related to mining, medical services, and production of chemicals, medicines, metals and gemstones.  Decline of European Alchemy:  The decline of European alchemy was brought about by the rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigorous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for ancient wisdom  Paracelsian alchemy led the development of modern medicine.  Koch and Pasteur uncovered the workings of the human body, such as blood circulation and traced diseases to infections with germs  In the 17th century alchemy and chemistry were used interchangeably , in the 18th century, alchemy was considered to be restricted to gold making  Robert Boyle pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations.  Modern science was founded in the 18th and 19th century based on the revolutionary discoveries of Lavoisier and Charles Dalton DAMI – DAVE 15

 In the 19th century revival of alchemy, the two most seminal figures are Mary Anne Atwood and Ethan Allen Hitchcock  Atwood claimed “no modern art or chemistry, notwithstanding all its surreptitious claims, has anything in common with Alchemy  Indian Alchemy:  The use of mercury for alchemy is first documented in the 3rd-4th century CE Artha-sastra.  the goals of alchemy in India included the creation of a divine body[Sanskrit divya-deham] and immortality while still embodied[Sanskrit jivan-mukti]  Sanskrit alchemical texts include much material on the manipulation of mercury and sulphur, that are homologized with the semen of the god siva and the menstrual blood of the goddess devi.

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