Exploring the Impact of Humanities on Technological Advancements

IMPORTANCE OF HUMANITIES TO TECHNOLOGY (cont..) Scientific progress in China and India In the east some accomplishments in science had been made paralleling the early developments in the west. Many societies were quick to adopt the fruits of technology. They discouraged the development of science on the classical model. In china scientific theories were subservient to the main schools of philosophy and theology, particularly those of Confucianism, Taoism and later Buddhism. The agricultural society encouraged the separation of theory and experiment. Astronomy and mathematics were used for practical purposes. In India alphabetic script was developed. A numeral system based on place value and including zero was also developed. Latter Hindu contribution was adopted by the Arabs. Science in middle Ages Muslim preservation of learning With the eclipse of Greek and roman cultures many of their works passed into the hands of Muslims. All the Greek works were translated into Arabic, and commentaries were added. Important developments from east were also transmitted and the Hindu numeral system was introduced, as well as the manufacture of paper and gunpowder, learned from Chinese. Scholars gathered at cities like Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo, at one end of the Mediterranean, and at Cordova and Toledo, in Spain, at the other end. The craft tradition and early empiricism in Europe The introduction of papermaking and printing made possible the recording of craft traditions that has been handed down orally in previous centuries. This served to reduce the gap between the artisan classes and scholar classes and contributed to the development of certain individuals who combined elements of both traditions, the artists-engineers such as Leonardo da Vinci, whose studies of flight and other technological problems were far behind their time and the artist mathematics, such as Albrecht D. rer, who examined the laws of perspective and wrote a text book on geometry. Many artists came to study anatomy in detail. The scientific Revolution One of the most important developments in the western intellectual tradition was the Scientific Revolution. The scientific revolution was nothing less than a revolution in the way the individual perceives the world. As such, this revolution was primarily an epistemological revolution, it changed man’s thought process. It was an intellectual revolution – a revolution in human knowledge. The age of classical Science

The history of science during the 18th and 19th century is largely the history of the individual branches as they developed into the traditional forms by which they are still recognized today. The evolution of mathematics and physics In mathematics the calculus invented by Newton and G.W.Leibniz was developed by Bernoullis, Leonhard Euler and J.L.Lagrange into a powerful tool that was to be used only in mathematics. Other branches of physics came into existence. The study of electricity expanded to include electric current and magnetism. The wave theory of light was reviewed in the beginning of 19th century by Thomas Young and others. Maxwells theory was also reviewed. Innovations in Chemistry Chemistry became increasingly quantitative and experimental during the 18th century. Joseph Priestly and other English scientists made a number of discoveries which served basis for A.L.Lavoisier’s explanation of the role of oxygen in combustion and respiration. John Dalton proposed the modern version of atomic theory. Dmitri Mendeleyev in his periodic table shows how chemical elements described by the atomic energy be arranged in a systematic view. Advances in Astronomy Astronomy progressed on the theoretical level through the contributions of celestial mechanics of P.S Laplace and others, and on the observational level through the work of many Scientists. It includes William Herschel, who built telescopes and discovered Uranus. His son extended fathers observations. Birth in modern Geology Modern geology may be said to date from the work of James Hutton, who postulated that the geologic processes and the forces that shaped the earth were still in operation and could be observed directly. George Curvier founded the field of comparative anatomy. New Ideas in Biology In biology Carolus Linnaeus instituted a system of classification of animals and plants and improvements in this system which helped scientists to arrange different forms of life according to complexity. K.E.VonBaer founded the field of embryology. The treatment of diseases by the introduction of small pox vaccination by Edward Jenner. Science and the Industrial Revolution Some of the greatest changes were in the area of technology in the development of new sources of energy and their application in transportation, communications and industry. Important aspects of Industrial Revolution was the Invention of steam engine by James Watt and its use in factories, mines, ships and rail road engines ,Development of the

internal combustion engine and invention of agricultural machineries and its increased productivity. Promise and Problems of Modern Science In much of modern Science the idea of progressive change or evolution has been of fundamental importance. In addition to biological evolution, astronomers have been concerned with stellar and galactic evolution, astrophysicists and chemists with nucleo - synthesis. The technological advances of modern science, which in the public mind are often identified with science itself, have affected every aspect of life. The electronics industry has advanced to the point where a complex device such as a computer have filed an entire room can now be carried in an attachEcase. The electronic computer has become one of the key components of modern industry. Modern science holds out a number of promises, as well as number of problems. Future researchers may solve the riddle of life and create life in a test tube itself. Most diseases may be brought to control. Among the challenges faced by modern science are practical ones such as the production and distribution of enough energy to meet increased demands and elimination or reduction of pollutants in the environment. Some of the problems are political and sociological as well as scientific. There are even other issues such as control over nuclear and other forms of weapons.