History of Science
What does the word "science" means?
The english word "science" is used to describe the study of nature. For me science is the study of matter and everything present in the universe.It's all about making observations and doing experiments to find facts and knowledge and then using your knowledge for the welfare of human beings.
History of Science in the begining
The history of science is the study of the development of science and scientific knowledge, including both the natural and social sciences. In ancient history the study of science was known as "Protoscience". In early times, people gain knowledge and advice from their ancestors by listening to them. That's how knowledge transferred generation to generation. Further, development like writing used to save knowledge.At that time there were no computers or copies or registers to write therefore, cave paintings were used by people. Cave paintings are painted drawings on cave walls.
The Oldest Science and Advances made in science:
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Astronomy : Astronomy is the oldest science because our ancestors first observed the motions of the stars, planets and the moon. Ancient people had no knowledge about real structures of planets, stars and moon. Everyone give his on view about things, there were very few techniques which performed.
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Significant advances : According to the need of time significant advances were made, to be saved from floods and to preserve farmlands from losses. 1. Ancient Egypt made advances in astronomy, mathematics and medicine. The attempts were made to describe and analyse the brain: it might be seen that as the very beginnings of . However, at that time Egyptian medicine had some effective practices, it was also included ineffective and harmful practices. 2. Mesopotamian people in Iraq began to attempt to record some observations of the world with numerical data. 3. Babylonian recorded the motions of stars, planets, and the moon.There is significant work done by ancient people that we use even today to identify astronomical periods.
However, Egyptians, Mesopotamian and Babylonians had collected observations and fact but i think science is something more than observing things its all about collecting information and then experimentally proving your words. After doing this you have to implement all the stuff in the real world and get benefits out of it. Well the ancient people had very little knowledge and facilities to use those facts to develop explanations of the world around them. Well nothing happened until the 6th century B.C.
Science in the Middle Ages
Islamic Golden Age: When in the middle east, Arab Empire was newly created with the spread of Islam in 7th and 8th centuries which made Muslims aware. That was the time when Muslim scholars made progress in scientific world. That's why this period is known as Islamic Golden Age which was ended in 13th century. Especially Muslims made progress in methodology. The proof of this is that "Ibn al-Haytham(Alhazen) did experiments in Optics". He was amazing because he also gave empirical proof of the "Intromission Theory of Light". Actually, that is the reason he is regarded as Father of Optics. Well there were many Muslim scholars like Muhammad Ibn Musa who gave his name to the concept of Algorithm, while the term Algebra is derived from the term Al-jabr. However, many other scientists played a significant role in the development of science it's tough to describe. At the end of this I must say Muslim scholars gave strong base to study science. This period tend to finished in the 13th century.
