A History of Western Science

A History of Western Science: The Basics offers a short introduction to the history of Western science that is accessible to all through avoiding technical language and mathematical intricacies. A coherent narrative of how science developed in interaction with society over time is also provided in this comprehensive guide. The first part discusses the period up to 1700, with a focus on the conceptual shift and new ideas about nature that occurred in early modern Europe. Part two focusses on the practical and institutional aspects of the scientific enterprise and discusses how science established itself in Western society post 1700s, while part three discusses how during the same period modern science has impacted our general view of the world, and reviews some of the major discoveries and debates. Key topics discussed in the book include: - Natural philosophy, medicine, and mathematics in the ancient and medieval worlds - The key figures in the history of science-Galileo, Descartes, Isaac Newton, Darwin and Einstein-as well as lesser-known men and women who have developed the field - The development of scientific instruments, the transformation of alchemy into chemistry, weights and measures, the emergence of the modern hospital and its effects on medicine, and the systematic collection of data on meteorology, volcanism, and terrestrial magnetism - The big questions - the origins of humans, the nature of reality and the impact of science. As a jargon-free and comprehensive study of the history of Western science, this book is an essential introductory guide for academics and researchers of the history of science, as well as general readers interested in learning more about the field.

Rienk Vermij is a Professor at the Department of the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology of the University of Oklahoma. His research topics include early ideas on earthquakes, the reception of Copernicanism, and the Enlightenment. He has published several books and many articles.

Contents Introduction Part I. The Scientific Revolution1. Antiquity and the Middle Ages       Greek philosophers and nature       Greek mathematics       Medicine in antiquity       The classical tradition in mediaeval Europe2. The sixteenth century: the Aristotelian worldview in decline       New intellectual currents: humanism and hermeticism       Natural history and medicine       Mathematics and 'natural magic'       Astronomy       Philosophy of nature3. The seventeenth century: a new worldview       Galileo and a new view of the heavens       Descartes and mechanistic science       The emergence of an experimental tradition       Mathematization of science       The mathematical science of Isaac Newton       A revolution in the prevailing worldview? Part II. Autonomous science: methods, theories and researchers 1700-20004. The eighteenth century: disseminating the idea of science       Knowledge and practice: instruments       Collecting and classifying: natural history       From alchemy to chemistry       Newtonian mechanics and its problems5. The nineteenth century (i): science at the service of the rationalization of society       A 'scientific' system of measurement       The modern hospital       Observatories, measuring stations and a global science       Science and Western imperialism6. The nineteenth century (ii): professional science       Universities and professors       Women in science       Laboratories       Classification and conferences       The rise of the experiment: physiology       Measuring and experimenting in the study of nature       Further mathematization       Statistics7. The twentieth century: industrial science       The rise of industrial science       The science of measurement       Research institutes       Control and modelling       Independence under pressure Part III. The scientific worldview8. The origin of the world       The Bible and the new image of the world       The development of geology       The origin of the universe9. The nature of life and the origin of human beings       Early scientific ideas about humankind and its place in the world       The idea of evolution       Darwin's contribution       Descent       The mysteries of the mind       The mechanism of heredity       Heredity and evolution       A science of human beings?10. The nature of reality       A rational world?       The building blocks of real