Post on 23-Dec-2015
description
Albert EinsteinIn 1905 German-born American physicist Albert Einstein published his first paper outlining the theory of
relativity. It was ignored by most of the scientific community. In 1916 he published his second major paper on relativity, which altered mankind’s fundamental concepts of space and time.
Culver PicturesMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
SocratesSocrates (shown here in a copy of a bust originally attributed to the Greek sculptor Lysippus) was a Greek
philosopher and teacher who lived in Athens, Greece, in the 400s bc. He profoundly altered Western philosophical thought through his influence on his most famous pupil, Plato, who passed on Socrates’s teachings in his writings known as dialogues. Socrates taught that every person has full knowledge of
ultimate truth contained within the soul and needs only to be spurred to conscious reflection in order to become aware of it. His criticism of injustice in Athenian society led to his prosecution and a death
sentence for allegedly corrupting the youth of Athens.Giraudon/Art Resource, NY
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
PlatoPlato, one of the most famous philosophers of ancient Greece, was the first to use the term philosophy, which means “love of knowledge.” Born around 428 bc, Plato investigated a wide range of topics. Chief
among his ideas was the theory of forms, which proposed that objects in the physical world merely resemble perfect forms in the ideal world, and that only these perfect forms can be the object of true
knowledge. The goal of the philosopher, according to Plato, is to know the perfect forms and to instruct others in that knowledge.
SEF/Art Resource, NYMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
AristotleA student of ancient Greek philosopher Plato, Aristotle shared his teacher’s reverence for human knowledge but revised many of Plato’s ideas by emphasizing methods rooted in observation and
experience. Aristotle surveyed and systematized nearly all the extant branches of knowledge and provided the first ordered accounts of biology, psychology, physics, and literary theory. In addition, Aristotle invented the field known as formal logic, pioneered zoology, and addressed virtually every major
philosophical problem known during his time. Known to medieval intellectuals as simply “the Philosopher,” Aristotle is possibly the greatest thinker in Western history and, historically, perhaps the single greatest
influence on Western intellectual development.Corbis
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Saint Thomas AquinasDuring the 13th century, Saint Thomas Aquinas sought to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with
Augustinian theology. Aquinas employed both reason and faith in the study of metaphysics, moral philosophy, and religion. While Aquinas accepted the existence of God on faith, he offered five proofs of
God’s existence to support such a belief.Hulton Deutsch
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Galileo Facing the InquisitionThis painting from the 19th century depicts Italian scientist Galileo at the Vatican in Rome in the 17th century. Galileo was forced to stand trial for his belief in Copernicanism, or the idea that Earth moves
around the Sun. The Roman Catholic Church forced Galileo to publicly denounce Copernicanism and spend the the rest of his life under house arrest.
Peter Willi/Bridgeman Art Library, London/New YorkMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Immanuel KantEighteenth-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant explored the possibilities of what reason can tell
about the world of experience. In his critiques of science, morality, and art, Kant attempted to derive universal rules to which, he claimed, every rational person should subscribe. In Critique of Pure Reason
(1781), Kant argued that people cannot understand the nature of the things in the universe, but they can be rationally certain of what they experience themselves. Within this realm of experience, fundamental
notions such as space and time are certain.Hulton Deutsch
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
John LockeEnglish philosopher John Locke was a founder of empiricism, a school of philosophy based on the belief
that knowledge comes from everyday experience, scientific observation, and common sense, rather than from the application of reason alone. Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) portrays
each individual as a blank slate. The person’s experiences become notations on the slate and make each individual distinct from other people.
Hulton DeutschMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Roger BaconEnglish philosopher and scientist Roger Bacon was a major advocate of experimental science during the
13th century. Bacon was condemned and imprisoned for his beliefs.Bettmann/Corbis
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Renaissance ScienceDuring the Renaissance, Belgian physician Andreas Vesalius experimented with the dissection of human cadavers in order to learn more about human anatomy. The spirit of curiosity and experimentation that characterized the Renaissance created a fertile climate for the development of science. Advances were
made in many fields including navigation, astronomy, mathematics and medicine.Archivo Iconografico, S.A./Corbis
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
William Harvey Explains Blood CirculationA groundbreaking work in the history of medicine, English physician William Harvey’s “Anatomical Essay on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals” named the heart as the organ responsible for pumping
blood. Although criticized when first published in 1628, Harvey’s work was soon accepted by scientists and laid the groundwork for modern physiology.
Science Source/Photo Researchers, Inc.Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Galileo’s TelescopesItalian astronomer Galileo made major discoveries about celestial objects in our solar system with newly-invented telescopes in the early 17th century. His discoveries helped turn cosmology into a science based
on observation, rather than philosophy. These telescopes are now in the Museo della Scienza in Florence, Italy.
Scala/Art Resource, NYMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Nicolaus CopernicusPolish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus revolutionized science by postulating that the Earth and other
planets revolve about a stationary Sun. Copernicus drew inspiration from classical sources, but embodied the spirit of curiosity and experimentation that characterized the Renaissance approach to science.
American Stock/Archive PhotosMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Copernican ModelIn the 16th century Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus proposed that the Sun was at the center of the universe instead of the Earth. This heliocentric (Sun-centered) model challenged assumptions held since the 2nd century when astronomer Ptolemy proposed a geocentric (Earth-centered) model of the universe that was used by astronomers and religious thinkers for many centuries. The Copernican model gradually
gained acceptance because it provided better explanations for observed astronomical phenomena.Mary Evans Picture Library/Photo Researchers, Inc.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Johannes KeplerThe contributions of German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler dramatically increased
scientists’ understanding of planetary motion; Isaac Newton drew upon Kepler’s work in formulating his theory of gravitation. Kepler also made detailed studies of a supernova.
Culver PicturesMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Sir Francis BaconWidely considered the most influential and versatile English writer of the 17th century, Sir Francis Bacon addressed a broad range of topics in his works, including ethics, philosophy, science, law, and history. He
also enjoyed a long political career.Hulton Deutsch
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
René Descartes
René Descartes’ rational examination of knowledge fomented the modern era of philosophy. He argued that reason, especially in the form of mathematics and science, explains the workings of the physical
world. In Meditations on the First Philosophy, Descartes extended his rational inquiry to metaphysics and offered a proof of God’s existence based on reason, not faith.
Hulton DeutschMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Sir Isaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton derived the law of universal gravitation, invented the branch of mathematics called
calculus, and performed important experiments dealing with the nature of light and color. The idea that people could unlock the secrets of the natural world helped to bring about the Age of Enlightenment.
Reason and education earned a higher status than religion in the society that emerged from this new age.Rex Features, Ltd.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Science, systematic study of anything that can be examined, tested, and verified. The word science is derived from the Latin word scire, meaning “to know.” From its early
beginnings, science has developed into one of the greatest and most influential fields of human endeavor. Today different branches of science investigate almost everything that can be observed or detected, and science as a whole shapes the way we understand the
universe, our planet, ourselves, and other living things.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Science develops through objective analysis, instead of through personal belief. Knowledge gained in science accumulates as time goes by, building on work performed earlier. Some of this knowledge—such as our understanding of numbers—stretches back to the time of ancient civilizations, when scientific thought first began. Other scientific
knowledge—such as our understanding of genes that cause cancer or of quarks (the smallest known building block of matter)—dates back less than 50 years. However, in all fields of science, old or new, researchers use the same systematic approach, known as the
scientific method, to add to what is known.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Athenian EmpireAthens dominated the Greek city-states in the 5th century bc, leading the Delian League and counting other city-states as allies. Rival Sparta led the smaller Spartan Confederacy. The two sides fought in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 bc), and Athens lost, leaving it temporarily weakened.© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.