The history of science is a story of human discovery--intertwined with religion, philosophy, economics and technology. The fourth in a series, this book covers the beginnings of the modern world, when 16th-century Europeans began to realize that their scientific achievements surpassed those of the Greeks and Romans. Western Civilization organized itself around the idea that human technological and moral progress was achievable and desirable. Science emerged in 17th-century Europe as scholars subordinated reason to empiricism. Inspired by the example of physics, men like Robert Boyle began the process of changing alchemy into the exact science of chemistry. During the 18th century, European society became more secular and tolerant. Philosophers and economists developed many of the ideas underpinning modern social theories and economic policies. As the Industrial Revolution fundamentally transformed the world by increasing productivity, people became more affluent, better educated and urbanized, and the world entered an era of unprecedented prosperity and progress.

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Science is a living, organic activity, the meaning and understanding of which have evolved incrementally over human history. This book, the first in a roughly chronological series, explores the development of the methodology and major ideas of science, in historical context, from ancient times to the decline of classical civilizations around 300 A.D. It includes details specific to the histories of specialized sciences including astronomy, medicine and physics--along with Roman engineering and Greek philosophy. It closely describes the contributions of such individuals as Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Euclid, Archimedes, Ptolemy, Seneca, Pliny the Elder, and Galen.

This installment in a series on science and technology in world history begins in the fourteenth century, explaining the origin and nature of scientific methodology and the relation of science to religion, philosophy, military history, economics and technology. Specific topics covered include the Black Death, the Little Ice Age, the invention of the printing press, Martin Luther and the Reformation, the birth of modern medicine, the Copernican Revolution, Galileo, Kepler, Isaac Newton, and the Scientific Revolution.

Science is a living, organic activity, the meaning and understanding of which have evolved incrementally over human history. This book, the second in a roughly chronological series, explores the evolution of science from the advents of Christianity and Islam through the Middle Ages, focusing especially on the historical relationship between science and religion. Specific topics include technological innovations during the Middle Ages; Islamic science; the Crusades; Gothic cathedrals; and the founding of Western universities. Close attention is given to such figures as Paul the Apostle, Hippolytus, Lactantius, Cyril of Alexandria, Hypatia, Cosmas Indicopleustes, and the Prophet Mohammed.

This book presents an evolutionary theory of technological change based upon recent scholarship in the history of technology and upon relevant material drawn from economic history and anthropology. It challenges the popular notion that technology advances by the efforts of a few heroic individuals who produce a series of revolutionary inventions owing little or nothing to the technological past. Therefore, the book's argument is shaped by analogies taken selectively from the theory of organic evolution, and not from the theory and practice of political revolution. Three themes appear, and reappear with variations, throughout the study. The first is diversity: an acknowledgment of the vast numbers of different kinds of made things (artifacts) that have long been available to humanity; the second is necessity: the belief that humans are driven to invent new artifacts in order to meet basic biological requirements such as food, shelter, and defense; and the third is technological evolution: an organic analogy that explains both the emergence of novel artifacts and their subsequent selection by society for incorporation into its material life without invoking either biological necessity or technological progress. Although the book is not intended to provide a strict chronological account of the development of technology, historical examples - including many of the major achievements of Western technology: the waterwheel, the printing press, the steam engine, automobiles and trucks, and the transistor - are used extensively to support its theoretical framework. The Evolution of Techology will be of interest to all readers seeking to learn how and why technology changes, including both students and specialists in the history of technology and science.

This book provides science and technology ethos to a literate person. It starts with a rather detailed treatment of basic concepts in human values, educational status and domains of education, development of science and technology and their contributions to the welfare of society. It describes ways and means of scientific progresses and technological advancements with their historical perspectives including scientific viewpoints of contributing scientists and technologists. The technical, social, and cultural dimensions are surveyed in relation to acquisition and application of science, and advantages and hindrances of technological developments. Science and Technology is currently taught as a college course in many universities with the intention to introduce topics from a global historical perspective so that the reader shall stretch his/her vision by mapping the past to the future. The book can also serve as a primary reference for such courses.

Celebrates the creativity of humanity by examining the history of technology as a strategy to solve real-world problems.

From 1200 BCE to 900 CE, the world witnessed the rise of powerful new states and empires, as well as networks of cross-cultural exchange and conquest. Considering the formation and expansion of these large-scale entities, this fourth volume of the Cambridge World History series outlines key economic, political, social, cultural, and intellectual developments that occurred across the globe in this period. Leading scholars examine critical transformations in science and technology, economic systems, attitudes towards gender and family, social hierarchies, education, art, and slavery. The second part of the volume focuses on broader processes of change within western and central Eurasia, the Mediterranean, South Asia, Africa, East Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania, as well as offering regional studies highlighting specific topics, from trade along the Silk Roads and across the Sahara, to Chaco culture in the US southwest, to Confucianism and the state in East Asia.

History and Philosophy of Science and Technology is a component of Encyclopedia of Physical Sciences, Engineering and Technology Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on History and Philosophy of Science and Technology in four volumes covers several topics such as: Introduction to the Philosophy of Science; The Nature and Structure of Scientific Theories Natural Science; A Short History of Molecular Biology; The Structure of the Darwinian Argument In The Origin of Species; History of Measurement Theory; Episodes of XX Century Cosmology: A Historical Approach; Philosophy of Economics; Social Sciences: Historical And Philosophical Overview of Methods And Goals; Introduction to Ethics of Science and Technology; The Ethics of Science and Technology; The Control of Nature and the Origins of The Dichotomy Between Fact And Value; Science and Empires: The Geo-Epistemic Location of Knowledge; Science and Religion; Scientific Knowledge and Religious Knowledge - Significant Epistemological Reference Points; Thing Called Philosophy of Technology; Transitions from Function-Oriented To Effect-Oriented Technologies. Some Thought on the Nature of Modern Technology; Technical Agency and Sources of Technological Pessimism These four volumes are aimed at a broad spectrum of audiences: University and College Students, Educators and Research Personnel.