science: The Scientific Revolution

Science, in the modern sense of the term, came into being in the 16th and 17th cent., with the merging of the craft tradition with scientific theory and the evolution of the scientific method. The feeling of dissatisfaction with the older philosophical approach had begun much earlier and had produced other results, such as the Protestant Reformation, but the revolution in science began with the work of Copernicus, Paracelsus, Vesalius, and others in the 16th cent. and reached full flower in the 17th cent.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Promise and Problems of Modern Science
• Modern Science and Technology
• Astronomy beyond the Visual Spectrum
• The Abstraction of Mathematics
• Biology Becomes an Interdisciplinary Science
• Advances in Chemistry
• Quantum Theory and the Theory of Relativity
• The Impact of Elementary Particles
• Revolutions in Modern Science
• Science and the Industrial Revolution
• New Ideas in Biology
• Birth of Modern Geology
• Advances in Astronomy
• Innovations in Chemistry
• The Evolution of Mathematics and Physics
• The Age of Classical Science
• The Impact of Sir Isaac Newton
• Improved Communication of Scientific Knowledge
• The Rejection of Traditional Paradigms
• The Scientific Revolution
• The Craft Tradition and Early Empiricism in Europe
• Muslim Preservation of Learning
• Scientific Progress in China and India
• Influence of the Alexandrian Schools
• Early Greek Contributions to Science
• Practical Applications in the Ancient Middle East
• The Beginnings of Science
• Branches of Specialization
• Role of Measurement and Experiment
• The Scientific Method
• Bibliography

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