Republic of the Philippines

Carlos Hilado Memorial State College

Talisay City, Negros Occidental

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY

(GEC STS)

INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTIONS

It has been tackled how historical antecedents have affected the course of science and technology. It has been
established that most, if not all of the discoveries and inventions in science and technology during each time period
were due to human needs and wants. Brilliant minds responded to the call of the times and created things that could
make life easier for the people.
There have also been instances when advancements in science and technology changed people’s perceptions
and beliefs. Much of these events happened in a period now known as the Intellectual Revolutions.
Human beings have embarked in scientific activities in order to know and understand everything around them.
They have persistently observed and studied the natural and the physical world in order to find meanings and seek
answers to many questions. They have developed noble ideas, later known as philosophy, to provide alternative or
possible explanations to certain phenomena. Humans also used religion to rationalize the origins of life and all lifeless
forms.
The idea of scientific revolution is claimed to have started in the early 16 th century up to the 18th century in
Europe. Why in Europe? The probable answer is the invention of the printing machine and the growing number of
intellectual activities done in various places of learning, and does not mean, however, that science is a foreign idea
transported from other areas of the globe. Anyone who can examine the history of science, technology, medicine, and
mathematics is aware that all great civilizations of the ancient world had their own sophisticated traditions and activities
related to these disciplines.
Scientific Revolution was the period of enlightenment when the
developments in the fields of mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology
and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature. It
explained the emergence or birth of modern science as a result of these
developments from the disciplines mentioned. The ideas generated
during this period enabled the people to reflect, rethink, and reexamine
their beliefs and their way of life. There is no doubt that it ignited vast
human interests to rethink how they do science and view scientific
processes.

Scientific Revolution was the golden age for people committed to scholarly life in science but it was also a deeply
trying moment to some scientific individuals that led to their painful death or condemnation from the religious
institutions who tried to preserve their faith, religion, and theological views. Some rulers and religious leaders did not
accept many of the early works of scientists. But these did not stop people especially scientists to satisfy their curiosity
of the natural and physical world.in the

Scientific revolution is very significant in the development of human beings, transformation of the society, and in
the formulation of scientific ideas. It significantly improved the conduct of scientific investigations, experiments, and
observations. The scientific revolution also led to the creation of new research fields in science and prompted the
establishment of a strong foundation for modern science. It many ways, scientific revolution transformed the natural
world and the world of ideas.

COPERNICAN REVOLUTION

In the early times, people questioned what created days, and nights.
They wanted to understand what heavenly bodies like stars, moons, and
planets are. The invention of the telescope allowed the people to take a
peek at the outer space, but more importantly, it also intrigued them to know
what was actually out there.

Many Greek philosophers and intellectuals wrote about planets in an

attempt to explain the movements of heavenly bodies and their effects on
the world as they knew it. Many of these philosophers agreed that planets
moved around in circular motion, and that these movements created days
and nights among them. A famous philosopher and astronomer, Claudius
Ptolemy, stated that the planets, as well as the sun and the moon, moved in
a circular motion around the Earth. The sun and moon’s revolution explained the existence of days and nights. He
believed that the Earth was at the center –a concept known as geocentrism. Ptolemy’s geocentric model was widely
accepted by the people and was one of the greatest discoveries of that time.

In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish mathematician and astronomer, challenged the Ptolemaic
model. He introduced a new concept known as heliocentrism, which suggested that the center of the Solar System was
not the Earth but actually the sun. This idea was rejected at first by the public. It appalled many since their religious
belief had taught them that the Earth was created first before all other things. Copernicus was even persecuted as a
heretic because his teachings were against what was widely accepted by religion. After some time, astronomers realized
that the Copernican model simplified the orbits for planets. It also answered issues that could not be explained using
the geocentric model. The publication of his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolution of the
Heavenly Spheres) in 1543 is often cited as the star of the scientific revolution. Other works that supported this model
started to emerge as well. It was eventually accepted by the people in a period which was called the birth of modern
astronomy. This era began what was known as the scientific revolution which resulted in the transformation of society’s
thoughts and beliefs.

In his book, he wanted a model of the universe in which everything moved around a single center at unvarying
rates. Copernicus placed the Sun to be the centerpiece of the universe. The Earth and all the planets are surrounding or
orbiting the Sun each year. The Moon, however, would still be seen orbiting the Earth. Copernicu’s model of the Earth
orbiting around the Sun automatically positioned the planets into a logical sequence. In this model, Copernicus outlined
two kinds of planetary motion: (1) the orbits of Venus and Mercury lay inside the orbit of the Earth, thus, closer to the
Sun; and (2) the orbits of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter lay outside the Earth’s orbit, thus, farther from the Sun. From this
model, he would work on the length of time it will take for each planet to orbit once around the Sun. The result would
form a sequence from Mercury, with a shortest year, through Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn with the longest
year. He place planets in order of increasing distance from the Sun. One of the great problems in the Copernicus model,
however, was the position of the stars. The stars cannot be placed in a fixed position like crystals in a distance sphere.

Copernicus is also a courageous man. Although the Copernican model make sense now, during those times, it
was judged to be heretic and therefore it was an unacceptable idea to be taught to Catholics. The Catholic Church
banned the Copernican model and was ignored by Rome for the rest of the 16 th century.

DARWINIAN REVOLUTION

The Darwinian Revolution was considered to be one of the most controversial intellectual revolution of its time.
In 1859, Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, biologists, and geologist, Charles Darwin is famous for his theory of
evolution. He changes our concept of the world’s creation and its evolution. Johnson (2012) described Darwin as a
genius who came from a line of intellectually gifted and wealthy family. He developed his interest in natural history
during his time as a student at Shrewsbury School. He would also spend time taking long walks to observe his
surroundings while collectio speciments and he pored over books in his father’s library (Gribbin, 2003). According to
Johnson, Darwin went to the best schools but observed to be a mediocre student. He struggeled in his study in medicine
and ministry, which his father has imposed to him. Darwin’s life soon changed when one of his professors
recommended him to join a five-year voyage through the HMS Beagle on the Islands of Galapagos.

Darwin published his book The Origin of Species in 1589. This

book is considered to be one of the most important works in
scientific literature. In this book, Darwin introduced the theory of
evolution, which posited that populations pass through a process of
natural selection in which only the fittest would survive. He stated
that organisms have the ability to adapt to their environment and
would gradually change into something that would be more
competitive to survive, a process known as evolution. Darwin
collected many significant materials inorder to present his theory
with overwhelming evidence. His book presented evidence on how
species evolved over time and presented traits and adaptation that
differentiate species. Like many other scholars, Darwin
accumulated many pertinent materials and data tha he could ever
possibly need to substantiate his theory.

Darwin’s observational skills as a scientist were extraordinary that move beyodn the realms of plants and
animals into the realms of humans. His book The Descent of Man was so impressive yet very controversial. He
introduced the idea of all organic life, including human beings, under the realm of evolutionary thinking. This replaced
the dominant views of a religious or biblical design that places human beings in a privileged position of having been
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created by God. Darwin’s theory of evolution scientifically questioned this view. Because of this conflict, the people
were divided – some believed that the theory explained the origin of life, but the religious and the faithful strongly
refuted it. It even sparked a massive debate between science and religion. It was only after some time that people
came to undeerstand that Darwin’s theory of evolution was not in fact against the teachings of the church and both can
coexist.

Darwin’s accomplishments were so diverse that it is useful to distinguish two fields to which he made major
contributions: Evolutionary biology and philosophy of science. More than these works, what made Darwin truly
remarkable was his courage to challege religious and unscientific ideas that are deemed to be prominent during those
days. His unorthodox way of pursuing science gave more value to the evidence-based science. Darwin provided a
different framework for doing scientific activities. It is a science marked by observation and experiment.

FREUDIAN REVOLUTION

In the past, the field of psychology was always classified under philosophy. Psychology was considered more of
an art rather than a science. Sigmund Freud is a famous figure in the field of psychology. In the late 19 th century, Freud
was able to change people’s perception of psychology with his revolutionary theory of psychoanalysis. Rosenfels (1980)
also describe him as a towering literary figure and a very talented communicator who did his share to raise the
consciousness of the civilized world in psychological matters. However, apart from these, Freud also made a significant
contribution in the scientific world through the development of an important observational method to gather reliable
data to study human’s inner life. The scientific hypothesis he formulated formed the essential fundamental version of
this method. For Freud, this method of psychoanalysis is a scientific way to study the human mind and neurotic illness.
It is no doubt that amidst all questions on his works that led to some sort of academic controversy, his method of
psychoanalysis had great impact on the scientific way of understanding human nature.

Psychoanalysis is the study that explains human behavior, In his

theory, Freud explained that there are many conscious and
unconscious factors that can influence behavior and emotions.
He also argued that personality is a product of three conflicting
elements, id, ego, and super ego. Science hardliners brushed off
the legitimacy of psychoanalysis as a science since its concepts
were more philosophical and supernatural. Many believed that
Freud’s theory had no scientific basis as no emperical or
experimental data could support.

Freud is not a traditional thinker. According to Weiner (2016),

his method of psychoanalysis was prove to be effective in understanding some neurological conditions tha were not
understood by medicine at that time. His method was unorthodox – focusing on human sexuality and the evil nature of
man. This posed immense challenges to scholars and ordinary citizens of his time. To some, they found his ideas not
easy especially in his explanation of human sexuality.

Despite criticisms, Freud still continue to work on refining his theory and in fact tried to explain how
psychoanalysis can be a clinical method in treating some mental disorders. Soon enough, people were able to
understand the concepts of psychoanalysis, which eventually resulted in classifying psychology as a science.

References:

 Mcnamara, DJ. et.al. (2018). Science, Technology & Society. Quezon City: C & E Publishing Inc.
 Serafica, JP. et.al (2018). Science, Technology & Society. 1st Edition. Quezon City: Rex Bookstore.
 Bunch, B. & Hellemans, A. (2004). The History of Science & Technology. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.