How old is modern science

Why is it important to re-examine this revolution and its legacy? What relevance does it have for us today? First, science has made our world, and ours is the first culture to be engaged in a continuous process of intellectual and technological revolution as a result of our commitment to the scientific enterprise.

If we want to understand how our world was constructed we need to understand the origins of modern science. Second, we are now caught up in a revolution which is likely to prove every bit as important as the printing revolution - the digital revolution.

If we want to understand how our own world is changing it helps to have a comparative perspective, to look at a previous information revolution. But third, understanding science is part of the process of defending reason, something that all humanists are committed to. There is a central paradox about the values that rationalists defend: those values develop in very particular cultural contexts, but as rationalists we have to argue that despite their local, imperfect origins they should be generally recognized as superior and universally adopted.

This is the puzzle that lies at the heart of multiculturalism: we need to respect other cultures, but not at the expense of abandoning fundamental principles of rationality and justice. Any rationalist or humanist, therefore, must be committed to defending the principle that some values and some forms of knowledge are superior to others, and that involves defending the idea of progress, which is at the heart of my book.

Two astronomers have stunned the scientific community with their claim that another world circles beyond the eight known worlds. Your email address is for our use only. We will never sell your details to anyone else. We are supported by our members.

Why did you decide to write this book? You examine the discovery of America — why was this such a seminal moment? The search for a new planet Two astronomers have stunned the scientific community with their claim that another world circles beyond the eight known worlds. Read more. Russo is entitled to his own opinions but not to his own facts. There are some errors and bold exaggerations: caveat lector.

Ptolemy actually provided a beautiful, original, rationally organized description of all the key parameters, including how to derive them from observation, and how to obtain these observations under minutely specified conditions. Indeed, much of the history of science referred to by Russo resides in standard works published over the past 50 or so years. It seems he has not recently renewed his acquaintance with the subject through the technical literature, although he has read widely among the popular works.

Try using Google to track down a Greek name — Aristarchus of Samos, say — and you'll see what I mean. Russo's book left me feeling that I would have loved to live and might well have found a good job in third-century Alexandria. The copious, informative and useful illustrations in this beautifully produced volume intensify the sense of what was lost when this great civilization went into decline and perished.

Would we be travelling to the stars? You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Reprints and Permissions. Greene, M. The birth of modern science?. Galileo's Effects on Science Today.

Five Characteristics of the Scientific Method. How to Tutor Science. Examples of Applied Science. What Are the 8 Steps in Scientific Research? Research Methods in Science. Instruments Used by Astronomers.

Stephen Engstrom Philosophy Metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, with a focus on Kant and other modern philosophers, including Descartes, Leibniz, and Hume. Marian J. Nicholas Rescher Philosophy Leibniz and his intellectual and social context; early modern philosophy. Adam Shear Religious Studies Jewish intellectual and cultural history, particularly in early modern Italy and Western and Central Europe; the history of Jewish-Christian relations, the history of reading and writing and the transmission of learning in early modern Europe; the status of canonical and classical works in particular communities and their role in the formation of intellectual, cultural, and religious identities.

John Twyning English Epistemological connections between English literature, landscape and architecture: English drama and Dutch painting; London underworlds; politics and poetics in England as Arcady; the Protestant princess in her place.