Cradles of Early Science PDF

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Cradles of Early Science Meso-American Civilization      

consists of four culture namely: Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca the manufacture of rubber ball in the ball game tlacht a game played by Meso-American civilizatons from earliest tmes among the plants originated in Meso-America are corn, papaya, avocado and cocoa All Meso-American peoples shared the calendric and astronomical informaton of the heavens as a critcal part of their sculpture, art and architecture The Mesoamerican contributon to the high civilizaton of the world was their creaton of the calendrical systems and sophistcated writng as a direct result of their need to be in harmony with the celestal cycles

FOUR CULTURE OF MESO-AMERICAN CIVILIZATION 1. Olmec civilization: The mysterious Olmec civilizaton, located in ancient Mexico, prospered in Pre-classical (Formatve) Mesoamerica from c. 1200 BCE to c. 400 BCE and is generally considered the forerunner of all subsequent Mesoamerican cultures including the Maya and Aztecs.  Monumental sacred complexes  Massive stone sculptures  Ball games  The drinking of chocolate  Animal gods 2. Mayan Civilization  One of the famous that lasted for approximately 2,000 years  Mayans believed that stars and constellatons, the planets and the moon were living beings who interacted with the cycles, natural and social middle or physical world  Mayan architects built large, elaborate palaces and pyramid shaped temples for astronomical observaton like Chicken Itza in Mexico  The Mayans are known for using two complicated calendar systems (260-day calendar and the 365-day calendar)  They built hydraulics system and looms for weaving cloth and devised a rainbow of glittery paint  They are also believed to be the first people to produce rubber products  Mayan knew how to make paper and had a pictorial script known as Mayan Hieroglyphics which made them famous as one of the world’s first civilizaton to have a writng system  Mayan Hieroglyphics - this allowed Maya to record all knowledge on long strips of paper, which they folded harmonica-style into books  Dresden Codex – one of the rescued Maya books, which is believed to be produced in 10th century and contains predictons to be produced in 10th century and contains predictons of solar eclipses for centuries and a table of predicted positons of Venus and bears testmony to the advanced knowledge of Mayan civilizaton on Astronomy  They also used advance numbering system that included the concept of zero which is the greatest scientfic achievement of Maya 3. Inca Civilization  Incas are famous for roads paved with stones  Incan engineer designed the Temple of the Sun in Cuzco (the capital city) which is a complex structure that was strong enough to survive centuries of earthquakes and hard weather  They developed improved methods of terrace farming and irrigation system and technique for storing water for their crops to grow in all types of land

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They also developed the calendar with 12 months to mark their religious festvals and prepare them for plantng season  They created the first suspension bridge  Incan scholars developed a record keeping system that used colored, knotted string known as Quipu which might have been used for accountng, keeping statstcs and to record dates and events  Inca textles since cloth was one of the specially prized artstc achievements 4. Aztec Civilization  Mandatory Educaton  Chocolates  Antpasmodic medicaton  Chinampa  Aztec Calendar  Inventon of the Canoe Development of Science in Asia 1. India  They are known for iron and metallurgical works  Ayurveda system – one of oldest system of medicine, based on the belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit  Sushruta Samhita’s most well-known contributon to plastc surgery is the reconstructon of the nose, known also as rhinoplasty; also the use of cheek flaps to reconstruct absent ear lobes, the use of wine as anesthesia, and the use of leeches to keep wounds free of blood clots  Ancient India is notable for developed theories on the configuraton of the universe, the spherical self-supportng Earth and the year of 360 days with 12 equal parts of 30 days each  Siddhata Shiromani – covered topics such as mean of longitudes of the planets; risings and settings; the moon’s crescent; conjuncton of the planets with each other; conjunctons of the planets with the fixed stars; and the paths of the Sun and Moon (Sama, 2008)  Indus Valley Civilizaton tried to standardized measurement of length to a high degree of accuracy and designed a ruler, the Mohenjodaro (Bisht, 1982)  Aryabhata introduced a number of trigonometric functons, tables and techniques as well as algorithms of algebra (Clifford, 2008; Bose, 1998)  Brahmahgupta suggested that gravity was a force of attracton; zero as a place holder and a decimal digit along with Hindu-Arabic numeral system (Clifford, 2008; Bose, 1998)  Madhama of Sangamagrama is also considered as the founder of Mathematcal Analysis (Joseph, 1991) 2. China  Silk road, a great trade route linking China to other Roman Empire where it allowed transport and exchange of goods in these regions  Acupuncture, a family procedures involving stmulaton of points in the body using a variety of techniques that has been most often studied scientfically involves penetratng the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or electrical stmulaton  Famous discoveries and inventons include compass, papermaking, gunpowder and printing tools (Davies, 1995)  Chinese civilizaton is also known for inventon of iron plough, wheelbarrow and propeller; design for different models of bridges (Zhongguo ke xue yuan, 1983)  Invented the first seismological detector and developed a dry dock facility (Needham et. al, 1971)

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Chinese also made significant records on supernovas, lunar and solar eclipses and comets which were carefully recorded and preserved to understand better heavenly bodies and their effects to our world (Mayall, 1939)

Development of Science in Middle East 1. Muslims  Muslims Scientsts put a greater value on science experiments rather than plain thought experiments which led to the development of the scientific method in the Muslim world  Ibn al-Haytham, is also regarded as the Father of Optcs (proofs on Intromission Theory of Light)  Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, gave his name to the concept of algorithm  Ibn Sina, pioneered the science of experimental medicine and was the first physician to conduct clinical trials (Jacquart, 2008). Among his many contributons were the discovery of the contagious nature of infectous diseases and the introducton of clinical pharmacology (Craig & Walter, 2000) o Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine were two of the most notable books of Ibn Sina, these books were used as standard Medicinal texts Development of Science in Africa 1. Egyptian  Rules of geometry were developed to preserve layout and ownership of Farmlands along Nile River and build rectlinear structures, the post of lintel architecture of Egypt  Egyptan pyramids and early dams built to divert water from Nile River  Egypt is known to be the Center of Alchemy  Ancient Egyptans are good in the four fundamental mathematcal operatons and other mathematcal skills 2. African  Used three types of calendars: lunar, solar and stellar or a combinaton of the three  Metallurgy was also known in the African Regions  Lebombo Bone – oldest known mathematcal artfact which may have been a tool for multplicaton, division and simple mathematcal computaton Intellectual Revolution that Defined Society Scientific Revolution  

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period of enlightenment when the developments in the field of mathematcs, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature the golden age for people committed to scholarly life in science but it was also deeply trying moment to some scientfic individuals that led to their potental death or condemnaton from the religious insttutons who tried to preserve their faith, religion, and theological views is very significant in the development of human beings, transformaton of the society, and in the formulaton of scientfic ideas

Some Intellectuals and Their Revolutionary Ideas 1. Copernican Revolution a) Claudius Ptolemy (Lived c. 100-c.170/c.85-165 C.E.)  Lifetme of Selected Ancient Greek Scholars (300 BC-200AD) – Aristarchus, Archimedes, Erathosthenes, Hipparchus, Hero of Alexandria, Ptolemy, Galen

 He published a 13-volume treatse on mathematcs and astronomy called Megale mathmatike systaxis (“The Great Mathematcal Compilaton”), which is better known today as The Almagest  He described a model of the cosmos, including the solar system, that became the astronomical dogma in Western civilizaton for more than one thousand years  A concept known as geocentrism  The Almagest’s Universe 1) Ptolemy proposed a universe consistng of nested spheres containing the heavenly bodies 2) He incorrectly placed earth at the center of the universe 3) He correctly showed the stars as the bodies farthest from Earth 4) He incorrectly showed Mercury as the planet closes to the Earth 5) Ptolemy’s universe arrangement of planets closest to the earth: *Moon*, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn b) Nicolaus Copernicus (1474-1543)  Early Life and Education: Nicolaus Copernicus was born in the city of Torun, in the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, northern Poland on February 19, 1473. His name at birth was Mikolaj Kopernik. At university he started calling himself the Latn form of his name, Nicolaus Copernicus.  He caused great controversy when he published a book (De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium) proposing Sun was at the center of the solar system, not Earth  He reasoned that the simplest way to account for the observed motons of the sun, moon, and planets through the sky was to assume that Earth (and other planets) circle around the sun  For years he worked without making his thoughts for two reasons: first, he feared persecuton; second, he had graved doubts about himself.  Geocentrism vs. Heliocentrism o Geocentrism  Also known as the Ptolemaic Model of the Solar System  According to his model, Earth stands at the center of the universe, and is orbited by the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn  The stars in the sky are all positoned on a celestal sphere surrounding these other objects at a fixed distance from Earth o Heliocentrism o also known as Copernican Model of the Solar Sytem o according to this model, that the sun is statonary and that the Earth revolves around the sun 2. Darwinian Revolution a) Charles Darwin  a naturalist who sailed around the world from 1831 to 1836 to study Biology and Geology aboard HMS Beagle  He introduced the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection which posited that populatons pass through a process of natural selecton in which only the fittest would survive.  He proposed that natural selecton is a process by which organisms with characteristcs that are suited to a certain environment have a better chance of surviving and reproducing than organisms that do not have these characteristcs  His theory became controversial as people perceived as contradictory to the church’s teaching 3. Freudian Revolution a) Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)  Proposed the Theory of Psychoanalysis

 He explained that there are many conscious and unconscious factors that can influence behaviour and emotons  He argued that personality is a product of three conflictng elements *The Psyche go* 1) Id: Instncts 2) Ego: Reality 3) Superego: Morality  Psychoanalysis is a method of explaining and treatng mental and emotonal problems by having the patent talk about dreams, feelings, memories, etc.  Freud’s method of psychoanalysis focused on human sexuality and the evil nature of man  Freud believed that children are born with a libido – a sexual (pleasure) urge. There are number of stages of childhood, during which the child seeks pleasure from a different** o Psychosexual Stages I. Oral – mouth-sucking, swallowing, etc. (Ego develops) II. Anal – The anus – withholding or expelling faeces III. Phallic – The penis or clitoris masturbaton (Superego develops) IV. Latent – Little or no sexual motvaton present V. Genital - The penis or vagina – sexual intercourse...