development of science in modern conditions

• Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel” presents a theory that Europe advanced more than other civilizations because it had more opportunities to advance: better plants, more domesticated animals, more connections with other important civilizations. However, this theory has holes.
  • Europe didn’t become more technologically advanced than other regions until the Industrial Revolution.
  • The reasons for why Europe became more advanced are complicated but may include factors such as Europe’s lack of a single ruler, access to land and resources, and interesting problems in need of solving.
• One commentator believes that the discovery and conquest of the Americas was the single cause that allowed for Europe’s advance.
  • The amount of gold and silver that was plundered from the Americas funded future development and the acquisition of capital from the East.
  • It was precisely because gold and silver were so plentiful that room was opened in European economies for another class, the bourgeoisie, to rise and subsequently lead the industrial revolution.
• Another commentator argues that Europe wasn’t more technologically advanced than other civilizations until about the 17th century and asserts that the discovery of the Americas was crucial.
  • European weaponry was important in the conquest of the Americas.
• In the case of the Aztecs, the nature of their Empire provided the means of its ultimate conquest.
  • Cortez did not lead a European conquest but rather a native uprising.
  • Following the collapse of the Aztec Empire, Cortez and the fledgling government of New Spain continued to rely on native power structures and rulers for support.
• The Inca built their empire through the homogenization of conquered peoples and extremely coordinated statework.
  • Pizarro arrived in the Empire as it was gripped by civil war.
  • Pizarro’s ultimate victory came from an ambush on the Incan ruler’s unarmed celebratory procession and his subsequent execution.

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• The webpage discusses whether hyper specialization is the only way to contribute to science in modern conditions.

– The cutting edge of scientific research is much deeper now and requires years of study just to understand the current knowledge.

– Collaboration is important, even for those who are polymaths, because it is difficult to contribute to multiple scientific fields by oneself.

– James Lovelock is considered one of the last polymaths who could make contributions at the cutting edges of very different fields of study.

– Multidisciplinary work can be done by specialists; combining people with different specialties can be very powerful.

– Success in drug discovery requires relatively deep knowledge in multiple fields like molecular pharmacology.

– With enough work, it is still possible to contribute independently to unrelated fields, but it would be challenging to secure funding, take a lot of time, and require being engrossed in multiple research communities.

– The accumulation of more and more knowledge over time has contributed to the difficulty of being versatile in modern science.

– Fields like theoretical physics and pure mathematics require hyperspecialization.

– Altruistic ways of contributing to science indirectly include being a science educator, administrator, or politician fighting anti-intellectualism.

• Joseph Needham asked why modern science only took its meteoric rise in the West, and not in China or India.
  • Needham claimed that modern science is uniquely Western in origin, but culturally universal.
  • Technical innovations from China spread, but underlying theoretical systems could not spread, being built on local, ethnic-bound categories.
• Chinese culture hindered the emergence of mercantile and industrial capitalism, which is a sine qua non in his view for the emergence of mathematical rationality; the bedrock of modern science.
  • Mathematics and philosophy allowed for connecting all the strands to modern science possible in Europe.
• Science is universal, but this idea is contested.
  • Needham’s answer could be read by some contemporary historians of science as very Eurocentric.
• The idea of a unified scientific method is a heavily contested thing
  • There were many intellectual, philosophical, theological, and metaphysical practices in Europe and world-wide that through a lot of time and change resulted in what we today recognize, more or less, as a scientific method.
  • The development of scientific thinking in Europe is a consequence of many contingent factors, among which are: social and political context, religion, radical breaks and continuities in philosophical thinking, etc.

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What specific inventions triggered a snowball effect in Europe?

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• Science has made great progress in the last 150 years, with new technologies, powerful data analysis techniques, and more diverse participants.
  • Modern scientific practices have been transformed by increasing knowledge, changing societal concerns, and advances in communication and technology.
  • The process of science itself may evolve, but science will always look for explanations and test those explanations against evidence from the natural world.
• Today, scientific results can be publicized more rapidly because of the internet.
  • Journal articles are often made available online even before they are printed.
  • Peer review is extended through online forums, with many more scientists providing feedback on a particular article.
• Some journals have made original scientific articles open to the public.
  • Scientists (especially young ones) are beginning to change the way they communicate, more freely sharing information.
  • New media, like video, are also playing an increasingly vital role in modern science.
• Science has become more specialized as scientific knowledge has expanded.
  • Modern scientists tend to focus on narrower topics, and cross-disciplinary collaboration is more frequent and crucial.
  • The most massive projects make their raw data publicly available via the internet.
• As both the scientific community and the broader society have become increasingly concerned about safety, environmental protection, and the treatment of animal and human study participants, new limits have been placed on how research is carried out.
  • Few guidelines and rules were followed to regulate the ethics, safety, and environmental impact of scientific research in the past.

• “Why did Modern Science develop in Europe?”
  • Discussion on the development of science in Europe compared to other regions
  • “Modern science” is a perspective-driven view
  • Historians view Europe as being conducive to intellectual change due to a combination of factors:
    • Religion & Philosophy
      • Christianity was more encouraging to investigation of the world than religions elsewhere during this period
    • Politics
      • Political goals and structure of nations and how those with intellectual interests fitted inside nations, or not
    • Key Inventions
      • Certain key inventions triggered a snow-ball like effect in Europe
        • The moveable-type mass printing press would probably be the most central example of this
    • Exploration
      • The discovery of the new world by European powers came at a convenient time to trigger interest in and a need for science and technology
  • Freedom of the press was central to the dissemination of ideas in Europe for scientific publication programs
  • The proliferation of printed material, both intellectual works and widely-read drivel seems to suggest a situational interest in capitalise upon it for propaganda purposes, see Protestantism

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What are the best conditions for the development of science in modern times?