HPSC10001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Early Modern Europe, Theogony, Natural Philosophy
31 Jul 2018
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Lecture 1 wk 1: no tutorial this week. The modern notion of science didn"t emerge until the 19th century. Natural philosophy is a lot less mathematical. Context: material culture (technologies and materials available), religious,intellectual,institutional, social and cultural, political and economic. Technology often shaped scientific thought and theory development. Eg the steam engine appeared before modern thermodynamics. The rise of heliocentric astronomy (the planetary system with the sun in the centre) Theories and experiments on heat and electricity the quantification of nature. From forces to field"s new conceptions of light and gravity. Recorded observations of the sky date back to 4500bc. The transition from the mythical view of the world to a philosophical or rational view of the world the greek miracle . Some historians believe greeks invented the concept of nature itself. Examples of the greek mythological tradition: homer (850bce) the iliad and the odyssey.
