Science in the 21st century can be defined as a body of knowledge, a range of methods for increasing that knowledge and a way of thinking about it (see Nature of science – introduction). In the same way that art or religion have meant different things to people in different times and places, science as a human endeavour has changed – and been changed by – society across time.
A desire to know more
Observation and investigation are key scientific techniques and are natural human urges.
As you read through this article, see if you can identify the tenets of the nature of science.
Science as a search for knowledge
The English word ‘science’ derives from the Latin ‘scientia’ or ‘scire’ (to know). Predecessors of this word include the Ancient Greek ‘skhízō’ (to split) and the Proto-Indo-European ‘skey’ (to distinguish). These meanings inform the conception of science as a means of telling one thing from another and to increase our knowledge of the world. As a linguistic concept dating back to the earliest civilisations, we can also see how the basic principles of science have been fundamental throughout human history.
Oral transmission of knowledge
Māori and many other cultures have used word of mouth to pass on intergenerational knowledge.
It’s also important to note that science, as a systems-based pursuit of knowledge, isn’t unique to the histories of European peoples. Pūtaiao is the reo Māori word usually used for science, but indigenous knowledge systems have long been used to gather and work with knowledge in epistemologies distinct from Western science. These include mātauranga Māori, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ of the West African Yoruba.
Nature of science
Epistemology – thinking about how we know what we know – is central to the nature of science. Comparing different conceptions of scientific inquiry helps strengthen students’ epistemic agency.
Ancient systems of inquiry
The first technologies were created by pre-human hominins like Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
Archeological records from China and southern Africa show early Homo sapiens’ use of fire, minerals and animal products in elementary forms of chemistry. As far back as 3000–2000 BCE, systems of mathematics, astronomy, chemistry and medicine were in use in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Read more about ancient uses of biotechnology here.
Ancient Egyptian winemakers
Steps in the science of winemaking are depicted in this decorative painting dated between 1401–1391 BC. About 4,000–8,000 years ago, humans began using microorganisms to make products like wine, yoghurt, cheese and bread.
Ancient Egyptians applied practical mathematical knowledge in construction and agriculture – another example of science developing where society finds a use for it. Systems of scientific inquiry from this time often developed within contexts that might now be seen as magical or superstitious. Much early scientific knowledge – including data still used today – developed within systems of divination such as astrology and haruspicy (the study of dissected animals).
Classical and natural philosophy
The School of Athens
Raphael’s painting The School of Athens depicts many of Western history’s early natural philosophers and mathematicians.
The roots of the systems of knowledge underpinning Western science are often traced back to ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. Inquiries into the elements making up the world, the nature of matter and the theoretical levels of mathematics were developed by figures like Anaximander and Pythagoras. These thinkers’ practice is now known as philosophy, but they used to be called physicists, from the Greek ‘physis’ (nature).
Deductive reasoning, a crucial technique of scientific inquiry, was developed by Socrates in his studies of the universe. Much of what we know of his methods comes from the writings of his pupil Plato – who in turn taught Aristotle, the originator of the empiricist viewpoint that would be key to the epistemology of Western science.
Plato and Aristotle
The philosopher Plato shown speaking with his pupil Aristotle in a detail from Raphael’s painting The School of Athens.
Thinkers like these conducted early studies in what would be known as natural philosophy. They used the key scientific techniques of observation and induction (if this, then that) to develop theories about the world and cosmos. Similar practices were in use in India, China and Mesoamerica, contributing to developments in sciences like mathematics, astronomy and chemistry.
Search for the first cause
The fall of the Roman Empire during the early Common Era saw a decline in European standards of education and literacy, which widened the gulf between scholars, monks and the ‘ordinary people’. Within monasteries, scholarly inquiry continued, often investigating questions of natural science within a theological framework.
William of Ockham
William of Ockham (centre) argued that explanations should require as few elements as possible – a principle known as Ockham’s razor.
Detail from Andrea di Bonaiuto’s Via Veritas.
The philosophers theorised a ‘first cause’ or ‘prime mover’ from which the universe began. For theological scientists like Thomas Aquinas and William of Ockham, understanding this prime mover was a way to better understand God.
The writings of the Classical philosophers had been preserved in Byzantine and Islamic libraries alongside the work of those regions’ own scholars. As trade between different hemispheres increased, cities like Damascus and Constantinople became hubs of learning.
Visitors in Damascus
Painting by an anonymous artist depicting the arrival of a Venetian delegation in Damascus, Syria. Cities like this were hubs of learning for travellers from the European, Asian and Arabic worlds.
The translated work of Aristotle and his contemporaries, as well as that of scientists across the Arabic and Asian world, spread throughout the literate classes of Europe. These would inform the growth of sciences like mathematics, astronomy and natural philosophy.
Spreading knowledge
In the centuries 1000–1500 CE, the first Pacific peoples were navigating the region by applying their sophisticated knowledge of the natural world and stars. Their observations of the sky and the taiao where they settled were preserved in mātauranga Māori. One of the first recorded scientific practices in Aotearoa was the work of Whakaotirangi of Tainui. She cultivated plants brought from Hawaiki and adapted the growth of kūmara for the colder conditions of the Waikato.
Mātauranga Māori was preserved and handed down through oral traditions such as pūrākau. Narratives about the atua and the spirits inhabiting nature were used to transmit observed facts about the world.
Tātai arorangi – Māori astronomy
Tātai arorangi – detailed astronomical knowledge – is used to navigate the ocean, plant crops, harvest mahinga kai and tell the time.
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This was also a time of gathering and spreading knowledge in Europe. This role was played by travelling friars, whose schools of followers gave rise to the ‘collegia’ and ‘universitas’ – institutions whose names English-speakers will recognise today. A similar process was under way in the Arabic world where mosques and later madrasas (centres of learning) offered study in the Quran, law, medicine, logic and natural philosophy.
Alchemy – a protoscience
An alchemist and his assistants at work in the laboratory.
Illustration from the manuscript The Ordinal of Alchemy by Thomas Norton.
Advances in the chemical knowledge and practices of the protoscience known as alchemy were informed by study of preserved Classical wisdom and the free trade of ideas flowing from China, India and the Far East. Considered art as much as science, alchemical scholarship was often communicated in the language of spiritual practice, even while advancing knowledge that would lead directly to modern chemistry.
Revolutions in science and technology
The European Renaissance refers to changes in European society during the years spanning 1500–1700. For many, the term suggests art such as that of Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci, who emerged within this period of profound cultural renewal. European scientific understanding was advancing so rapidly in the Renaissance that many histories refer to this time as the Scientific Revolution.
Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man
Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man depicts the human form in proportions intended to convey Renaissance mathematical ideals.
The artistic innovations driving Renaissance cultural expression – advances in the understanding and depiction of perspective, nature and anatomy – are inseparable from this revolution in the Western scientific understanding of the world. Leonardo’s sketches of imaginary machines and idealised proportions drew on the latest science and mathematics of the time. Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the movable-type printing press changed the way information was recorded and spread in the West. The impact of this technology on everyday people was comparable to that of the internet in our own time.
Re-examinations of Classical ideas about the nature of matter and the cosmos inspired scientists like Copernicus and Galileo to theorise a universe not centred on the Earth. New optical technologies allowed exploration and testing of these theories. Classical atomism – envisaging a world made up of tiny particles moving in three-dimensional space – was revived to help explain this centreless conception of the universe. New lensing technologies allowed scientists to explore this microscopic world and artists to depict it.
Kepler’s model of the Solar System
Johannes Kepler’s model of how he theorised the Solar System to be structured. Nested polyhedral orbs of mathematically calculated sizes are used to represent the orbits of the six then-known planets.
Advances in the European scientific method prioritised quantitative measurement over qualitative observation. Aided once more by technological advances like the mechanical clock and magnetic compass, the physics of time and space could now be represented with mathematical precision.
The discoveries of the Renaissance drove Western ideas of an objective science, set apart from the world it sought to understand. European explorers used the new technology to navigate and chart regions unknown to them, furthering the sense of Western science as a conquering human endeavour.
The scientific story continues
This conquering spirit was less than entirely positive. The colonial project as it would be practised in the ensuing centuries was fuelled in part by this spirit of Western scientific conquest. The journey of Western science – and that of science as a greater whole – would take many more steps throughout history. Find out where the story goes next in Science through time: Age of Enlightenment and beyond.
Related content
Science over time: Standing on the shoulders of giants curates the Hub’s timelines, heritage scientists and profiles on outstanding scientists through history.
Learn about the scientific and cultural histories of sulfur, cobalt, gold, mercury, lead and rutherfordium.
Mātauranga Māori and science looks at some of the cross-overs between the two knowledge systems.
Timelines are an interesting way to see how science knowledge has changed over time. The following timelines reflect some of the advances featured in this article.
Useful links
Delve more deeply into the history of science with these resources:
Early humans used fire to permanently change the landscape – PBS
A history timeline about ancient mathematics and astronomy – History Timelines
Libraries in the Islamic Golden Age is a collection of images and short supplemental texts – Bayt Al Fann
Is there such thing as Māori science? ‘It depends’ – E-Tangata
Scientific Revolution – World History Encyclopedia
How alchemy paved the way for chemistry – HowStuffWorks
The most important invention in history – Gutenberg’s printing press – Euronews
China pioneered the use of metal movable-type – Wikipedia
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