Science



Science

Science is often taught with little reference to those who contributed to its development. If reference is made to the origins of the knowledge we have, it is presented as originating in Ancient Europe with the major advances since ancient times occurring in modern Western Europe. A study of the history of science shows the body of science knowledge draws on contributions from around the world.

When teaching units of study we should endeavour to include references to some of the origins of that field of science. The information below could be used for posters describing various areas of science, the diverse possibilities of careers in science and scientists from around the world. Posters for Scientist of the Month could be displayed in the classroom. | |

|Ancient Egypt |

|Advances in were made in science and technologies in Ancient Egypt in the [pic][pic] [pic][pic]fields of Astronomy and |

|Medicine and irrigation. Their practice of preserving bodies led to knowledge of anatomy and advances in medicine. One of the |

|earliest surviving medical documents, the Edwin Smith papyrus is an early attempt to describe the brain. Ancient Egyptian |

|medicine had some effective practices but also some ineffective or harmful practices. The Ancient Egyptian approach to |

|treating the sick was: examination, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Scientific methodology was not a developed concept in |

|Ancient Egypt though there is evidence of emerging empiricism. Egyptian scientific and mathematical knowledge spread |

|throughout the region into the Middle East, the Mediterranean and further afield. |

| |

| |

|. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|History for Kids |

| |

|Ancient Greece |

|In Ancient Greece, as in China, Egypt and elsewhere he search for scientific knowledge was driven in large part by practical |

|considerations for example to heal, to have an accurate calendar. In Ancient Greece there is also good evidence of the search|

|for abstract knowledge. Some of the main areas of important advancement in scientific knowledge were in anatomy, astronomy, |

|botany zoology and mineralogy. There were important advancements in methodology including the recognition of the importance |

|of empiricism. |

|In the medieval world many of the works of Greek scientists (natural philosophers) were lost, the rise of Islam was |

|accompanied by a quest for knowledge. Arabic scholars collected all the available works of Greek scholars, they translated |

|these into Arabic spreading the knowledge through the Muslim world. There was contact between the Muslim world and Europe. |

|Through contact with Europe this learning re-entered Europe contributing hugely to the Renaissance. |

| |

|History for Kids |

| |

| |

|Thales |

|In Europe Thales is seen as the father of science. He is seen as the first European who tried to explain the natural world |

|without reference to supernatural forces, mythology or the gods. |

| |

| |

| |

|Aristotle |

| |

|In Europe Aristotle is credited as having laid the foundations of the scientific method, of empiricism, of arriving at |

|universal truths by observation and induction. |

| |

|History for Kids |

| |

|Arabic Science |

|The Golden Age of Muslim or Arabic Science and Maths saw major advances in scientific knowledge and methods. The Islamic |

|world drew on ancient texts, in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. Greek texts that had long been ignored were translated, texts |

|from China, India and elsewhere were translated and their knowledge spread through Islamic countries and to regions adjoining |

|the Muslim world. Not only did the spread of existing knowledge take place but in the quest for further knowledge there began |

|a synthesis of knowledge from different sources and then came innovation, new discoveries and the development of new branches |

|of science and new methodologies. One of the major differences between Ancient Greek science and science in the Mulsim world |

|was a greater emphasis on experiments. |

| |

|BBC4 Science and Islam - on the golden age of Arabic science, the period of history where the greatest advances of scientific |

|knowledge were taking place in the Muslim, Arabic scholarly world. Episodes are available on Youtube: |

| |

| |

|The House of Wisdom |

|The House of Wisdom was a library in Baghdad where major works in science, maths, geography, philosophy and other disciplines|

|were translated into Arabic to be made available to Arabic scholars throughout the Muslim world. Scholars from around the |

|world were invited to share ideas. This is credited as the beginning of the Islamic golden age. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization by Jonathan Lyons A review of this book usefully gives |

|general details about the House of Wisdom |

| |

| |

|Muslim Heritage |

|Interesting and informative website on the contribution of Muslim scholars to science |

| |

| |

|1001 inventions exhibition |

|An exhibition in the Science Museum in London in 2010 |

| |

|Babylonian Science |

|Astronomical periods identified he Babylonians are still in use today. Babylonians made highly accurate and numerous |

|recordings of the movement of stars, planets and the moon. Their observations and calculations aloowed them to accurately |

|predict eclipses of the sun and moon. The Babylonian numerical system was Sexagesimal (Base 60)and we have inherited the 60 |

|minute hour and the 360 degrees in the circle from the Babylonians. Babylon also made significant contributions to medicine. |

| |

| |

| |

|China |

|China has a long history of scientific and technological innovation. In ancient China science was generally more practical |

|rather than theoretical. Paper was first invented in China as was the magnetic compass and gunpowder. Block printing and |

|moveable type were also invented by the Chinese. The earliest recordings of solar eclipses, comets and supernovae were made in|

|China. |

| |

| |

| |

|Children’s website on Ancient Chinese Science |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Pulmonary Circulation |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|The Renaissance saw a flowering of learning in Europe but histories of that period often suggest the development of human |

|knowledge that took place had no influences from outside of Europe. Trade with the Muslim world brought contact with ideas |

|from the Ancient Greeks, many texts that were known of but thought lost began to be read in Europe (having been translated |

|into Arabic then into Latin for European scholars). Texts by Arabic and other Muslim scholars were translated into Latin and |

|were read in European universities, including the great British universities. Texts by Jewish, Indian, Chinese scholars, |

|physicians, astronomers, mathematicians, theologians and others also entered Europe. |

| |

|Despite this many previous discoveries were overlooked and credited to more modern European scientists. An example of this was|

|the credit given to the British physician William Harvey for the discovery of pulmonary circulation. A Syrian physician |

|al-Nafis had described the process some 350 years earlier. More recently historians have begun to recognise the contributions |

|of learned people from the world outside of Europe. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Scientists |

|Dmitri Mendeleev and the Periodic Table |

|Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev is best known for his work on the Periodic Table, something probably found in every chemistry|

|classroom in the world. He grouped the 64 then known elements by atomic mass and by their properties. He correctly predicted |

|the existence of yet undiscovered elements. His work revolutionised the understanding of the properties of atoms. |

| |

|Geoff Palmer |

|Professor Geoff Palmer is a world authority on cereals and fermentation. When he arrived in England from Jamaica at the age of|

|14 he was described as ‘educationally subnormal’. The story of his education and his innovative work is inspirational. |

|Professor Geoff Palmer now lives in Scotland, he has worked all over the world and has engaged in community work. He has won |

|numerous awards for his scientific and community work. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Gregor Mendel and Heredity |

|German Austrian monk and scientist Gregor Mendel theories of heredity were so revolutionary it took other scientists some |

|thirty years to recognise his brilliance. It was his love of nature, of plants that motivated his research. As a child he |

|lived on a farm, he went on to study and teach physics, he also studied astronomy and meteorology. He kept bees and designed |

|special beehives. |

| |

| |

| |

|Ibn al-Nafis |

|Ibn al-Nafis or Ala al-Din Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qurashi al-Dimashqi was born in Damascus, Syria. He later became|

|the head physician of a Cairo hospital. Al-Nafis was not only a physician but also a theologian, geologist, philosopher and |

|author. His work explaining pulmonary circulation predated William Harvey by some 300 years. Harvey is often credited as the |

|first person to describe this process. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Jang Yeong-sil |

|Jang Yeong-sil was a Korean scientist and inventor. He was born a serf, because of new policies of selecting officials based |

|on their talent not their wealth or social class the talented Jang Yeong-sil was able to work as a scientist in the king’s |

|court. He developed and refined several astronomical machines including a water powered celestial globe. He improved on the |

|Chinese printing press and developed the first Korean water clock. He developed Korea’s first rain gauge and the world’s first|

|water gauge, both very important for Korea’s agricultural based economy. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Jim Al-Khalili |

|Professor Jim Al-Khalili is a British theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He Profess |

|or of Physics at the University of Sussex. Born and brought up in Iraq, his mother was British and his father an Iraqi of |

|Iranian origin. |

| |

| |

| |

|BBC4 -The Atom A broadcast presented by Jim Al-Khalili, can be viewed on Youtube: |

| |

|Karl Linnaeus |

| |

|Carl von Linné was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist. He was one of the most important scientists of his time. He |

|is best known as the father of modern taxonomy, his system for naming, ranking and classifying organisms which is still widely|

|used today. He is considered as one of the founders of modern ecology. At a very early age Carl showed in interest in plants, |

|especially flowers. When he was upset he could be calmed by being given a flower. He traveled in Europe and corresponded with |

|the greatest botanists in Europe. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Marie Sklodowska Curie |

|Polish French scientist, she was the first woman to become a professor at the Sorbonne and the first woman to win two Nobel |

|Prizes in different fields of science; Physics and Chemistry. |

| |

|She married French scientist Pierre Currie when she went to France to continue her studies. Following the discovery of radio |

|activity Marie Currie began to study uranium, her husband then joined her in the investigations. They identified two new |

|elements radium and polonium and investigated radiation. They were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work on radiation. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Satyendra Nath Bose |

|Indian physicist and mathematician and multi-linguist. He is internationally recognised for his work on quantum mechanics, |

|Bose-Einstein statistics. Einstein recognised the importance of Bose’s work and translated it into German. Bose visited Europe|

|where he worked with leading scientis Albert Eistein, Marie Curie and Louis de Broglie. The hypothetical subatomic particle, |

|the Higgs boson is partly named after him. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Wangari Maathai |

|Wangari Maathai is a Kenyan scientist, political activist and environmental campaigner. She studied biology in the United |

|States and Germany and later gained a PhD in animal anatomy. She headed University College Nairobi’s Department of |

|Veterinary Anatomy. She founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental for environmental conservation, and women's rights. |

|In 2004 she became the first African woman to gain the Nobel Prize for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy|

|and peace.” |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Zhang Heng |

|Zhang Heng was an early Chinese scientist, inventor, geographer and mathematician. He also wrote poetry and was an artist. He |

|invented a water powered spherical astrolabe to represent the movement of constellations and he invented the first seismometer|

|which showed the direction of an earthquake. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download