History of science:
who, when, how, for whom
Introductory lecture
17 February 2022
DE*00w
Organisation of this subject
• „Mark will be awarded on the basis of a short presentation on a given
topic and active participation in class discussions.“
• „Alternative ways to pass the course may be agreed upon
individually.“
But:
• This is a lecture, which are by definition NOT compulsory
• „reasonable participation“ --- two classes may be missed without any
need to excuse oneself.
What is science?
• system of knowledge
• describes physical world and its phenomena
• unbiased observation
• systematic experimentation
• Sometimes confused with research
• Are humanities also sciences?
• Are social sciences also sciences?
Relation of science to philosophy, society, …
• Most of those called scientists until 1800 were also philosophers
• Reminder: philo-sophia, love of wisdom
• Change: early modern era --- 16th to 18th century
• (Timeline: Middle Ages 500 – 1500, beyond: modern era)
• Modern sciences: emancipation, since 1800
• Emancipation brings the need to tell the history of the field
• i. e. first historians of physics were physicists, etc.
• History of medicine and history of technology
George Sarton (1884-1956)
• Belgian-American historian of science
• Founder of the History of Science Society (1924), US-based
• Annual meetings since 1924
• Journal: Isis
• Why are historians of science so rare?
• Those who understand science look down on history
• Those who write history fear science
• A need for history of science, not divided geographically or on a
disciplinary basis
Syllabus
1. Science and society.
2. Science in the early modern era.
3. Science and technology in the modern era.
4. Science, technology and society in the 19th and 20th century.
5. Communicating science to the public.
6. Scientists as public figures.
Ancient observations: studying the planets
known from Ancient times:
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
discovered since the 18th century:
- Uranus: 1781
- Neptune: 1846
- Pluto: 1930 (until 2006)
Astronomy and astrology
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
German astronomer
Laws of planetary motions:
1. Planets move in elliptic orbits
2. „area law“
3. „harmonic law“
- made his living as an astrologer
- Snowflakes
- Tycho Brahe
Mysterium Cosmographicum
Five regular solids:
Tetrahedron (4 triangles)
Cube (6 squares)
Octahedron (8 triangles)
Dodecahedron (12 pentagons)
Icosahedron (20 triangles)
„scientific community“ over the centuries
Anceint and medieval world:
Egyptian scribes
Library of Alexandria
House of Wisdon
Monasteries
Correspondence
…
Universities – not like ours…
Early modern:
Key invention: book printing
Lenses / Optics
Telescope
Observation – no longer relying
only on the human eye
Learned societies
Learned men at the court
What do we want to achieve?
Harmony – easy model
- four or five elements;
- everything in small numbers
- …
Predictions
- regularities
- when will the planets be in the
same position?
- predicting eclipses (lunar / solar)
Another take on cosmology
- Spheres
- „cloud nine“
- Heaven beyond these spheres
Going beyond the sphere
Prague astronomical clock (courtesy Ant. Vrba)
Prague astronomical clock: the whole
Calendarium: pictorial represenation (Oct.)
Dates and astrolabium
New design - astrolabium
Positions of the clock hands on the clock face
What time is it?
European horologia
Padua, 1344(1571
(Jacopo de‘Dondi)
Missing: the sign Libra in Zodiac
(perhaps he was not paid enough?)