LESSON 1.

0 – HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS OF STS

(PART 1)

OVERVIEW

In this module, the discussion will be on the historical development of science in other parts of the world aside from Europe: in
Asia, Mesoamerica, and Africa. Science provided different ancient civilizations the means to survive and understand the natural
and physical world. It also enabled human beings to develop various technologies that helped them in their everyday tasks.

This module will also discuss the influence of science and technology in the development of the Philippines as a country from way
before the Spanish colonization up to the modern times. Contributions of famous Filipinos in the field of science will also be
discussed. Now, let us look at the learning objectives of this lesson.

1.1 ANCIENT, MIDDLE, AND MODERN AGES

The first major part of this module is … Science and Technology in the Ancient, Middle & Modern Ages …Under this topic are
science development, first, in ancient Mesoamerica & South America; second, science development in Asia; and finally, science
development in Africa.

(a) Development of Science in Mesoamerica & South America

The term Mesoamerica is derived from the Greek word which means "Middle America." Mesoamerica includes the entire area of
Central America from Southern Mexico up to the border of South America. There is no doubt that the Mesoamerican region is rich
in culture and knowledge prior to the arrival of its European colonizers.

Southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador comprised of Maya. It
is a Mesoamerican civilization commenced in around 2600 B.C. and known for its hieroglyphical script – the only familiar fully
developed writing system of the pre-Columbian American. The Maya people survived in farming villages on the Yucatan Peninsula
and the highlands to the south. It was ruled by prince and priests and was not abolished like other cultures, but moderately
disappeared.

Around the year 1200, Inca started settling in the Valley of Cuzco in the Andes Mountains of central Peru. It was the largest empire
that developed and extended approximately 2500 miles from north to south and included around 16 million people. The Incan
united its empire by building a huge road network through mountains and across rivers. The Inca was famous for stonework and
build stone temples without using mortars.

Meanwhile, in the Valley of Mexico, a big high-elevation basin in the Sierra Madre Mountains was the center of Aztec from the
period of 1300 to 1521. The valley was appropriate for agriculture since it had a moderate climate and there was also an abundance
of natural resources. Tenochtitlan was the largest and the capital city of the Aztecs which was built on an island in Lake Texcoco.
Aztecs became well-known farmers, warriors, and temple builders. Finally, the Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes
conquered Tenochtitlan and overpower the Aztec in 1521.

Let us now take a look at the first great Mesoamerican civilization of Mayans. What monuments did they leave to us? How can we
describe their traditions, arts, and culture? How is science development back then?
The Maya Civilization existed approximately from 2600 BC to 1697 AD. Its territories were located in Central America in a region
that is today made up of southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, and northern El Salvador. The Maya
civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples and noted for its Mayan hieroglyphics—the most
sophisticated and highly developed writing system in pre-Columbian Americas—as well as for its art, architecture, mathematics,
calendar, and astronomical system. Let us now discuss them in detail.

The Maya civilization is one of the famous civilizations in Mesoamerica. These people are known for their works in astronomy.
They incorporated their advanced understanding of astronomy into their temples and other religious structures. This allows them
to use their temples for astronomical observation. For example, the pyramid at Chichen Itzá in Mexico is situated at the location of
the Sun during the spring and fall equinoxes.

Mayan knowledge and understanding about celestial bodies were advanced for their time, as evidenced by their knowledge of
predicting eclipse and using astrological cycles in planting and harvesting. The Mayans are also known for measuring time using
two complicated calendar systems. These calendars were very useful for their life especially in planning their activities and in
observing their religious rituals and cultural celebrations

The Mayans also developed the technology for growing different crops and for building elaborate cities using ordinary machineries
and tools. They built hydraulics system with sophisticated waterways to supply water to different communities

Furthermore, the Mayans used various tools and adapt themselves to innovations especially in the field of art. The Mayans built
looms for weaving cloth and devised a rainbow of glitter paints made from a mineral called mica. They are also believed to be one
of the first people to produce rubber products 3,000 years before Goodyear received its patent in 1844.
The Mayans are considered one of the most scientifically advanced societies in Mesoamerica. They are also famous as one of the
world's finest civilizations to use a writing system known as the Mayan hieroglyphics. They were also skilled in mathematics and
created a number system based on the numeral 20. Moreover, they independently developed the concept of zero and positional
value, even before the Romans did.

The most reasonable explanation, according to historians, for the Classic Maya collapse is a combination of inter-connected
factors. Warfare, social disorder, over-population, and unfavorable climatic conditions combined, perhaps not all together and in
varying degrees and with different timing and sequence depending on location, brought an end to the established order of the
southern Maya lowlands.

Perhaps the most plausible cause, an enormous drought that swept across Mexico around 1,000 years ago triggered the demise
of one of the world's greatest ancient civilizations. Scientists studying the climate at the time of the ancient Maya found that rainfall
fell by up to 70 per cent at the time the region's city states were abandoned.

The Classic Maya collapse was not the end of the Maya culture. Northern cities and those in the highlands of Mexico and
Guatemala survived up to the Spanish Conquest, and even today seven million people speak Mayan in Mesoamerica. The Maya
culture suffered a terrible blow, but it did not disappear completely.

At its height, the Inca Empire from 1200 – 1533 AD included Peru, western and south-central Bolivia, southwest Ecuador and a
large portion of what is today Chile, north of the Maule River. The Incas were magnificent engineers. They built a system of roads
and bridges across the roughest terrains of the Andes. Through their system of collective labor and the most advanced centralized
economy, the Incas were able to secure unlimited manual labor.

The Inca civilization is also famous as an ancient civilization in South America. The Incas made advanced scientific ideas
considering their limitations as an old civilization. The following were scientific ideas and tools that they developed to help them in
everyday life:

1. Roads paved with stones.

2. Stone buildings that surmounted earthquakes and other disasters.
3. Irrigation system and technique for storing water for their crops to grow in all types of land.
4. The first suspension bridge:
5. Calendar with 12 months to mark their religious festivals and prepare them for planting season.
6. Quipu, a system of knotted ropes to keep records that only experts can interpret; and
7. Inca textiles since cloth was one of the specially prized artistic achievements.

The Inca Empire was mighty at its height, but it was defeated by the Spanish. There are many factors that led to its collapse. The
empire was defeated because of disease, advanced weaponry, and because they had internal problems. But the most important
factor, according to historians, that had the most influence on the Inca's empire collapse was disease. Smallpox killed over 200,000
people and weakened the rest. With the people weakened and a large amount of people killed, the Spanish were able to go in and
defeat the empire.

Now … do Incas still exist?

The Incas, an American Indian people, were originally a small tribe in the southern highlands of Peru. In less than a century, during
the 1400s, they built one of the largest, most tightly controlled empires the world has ever known. ... Roads, walls, and irrigation
works constructed by the Incas are still in use today.
The Aztec Empire, or the Triple Alliance was an alliance of three Nahua altepetl city-states: Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and
Tlacopan. These three city-states ruled the area in and around the Valley of Mexico from 1428 until the combined forces of the
Spanish conquistadores and their native allies under Hernán Cortés defeated them in 1521.

Following the Inca, the Aztec civilization has also made substantial contributions to science and technology and to the society as
a whole. Some of their contributions are the following:

1. Mandatory education. The Aztec puts value on education; that is why their children are mandated to get education
regardless of their social class, gender, or age. It is an early form of universal or inclusive education.
2. Chocolates. The Aztec in Mexico developed chocolate during their time. In the Mayan culture, they used it as currency.
The Aztec valued the cacao beans highly and made it as part of their tribute to their gods.
3. Antispasmodic medication. They used a type of antispasmodic medication that could prevent muscle spasms and
relax muscles, which could help during surgery.
4. Chinampa. It is a form of Aztec technology for agricultural farming in which the land was divided into rectangular areas
and surrounded by canals.
5. Aztec calendar. This enabled them to plan their activities, rituals, and planting season.
6. Invention of the canoe. It is a light narrow boat used for traveling in water systems.

Lacked food and ravaged by smallpox, a disease earlier introduced by one of the Spaniards, the Aztecs finally collapsed after 93
days of resistance on the fateful day of 13th of August 1521 CE. Tenochtitlan was sacked and its monuments destroyed.

Are there any Aztecs alive today?

Today the descendants of the Aztecs are referred to as the Nahua. More than one-and-a-half million Nahua live in small
communities dotted across large areas of rural Mexico, earning a living as farmers and sometimes selling craft work. ... The Nahua
are just one of nearly 60 indigenous peoples still living in Mexico.
(b) Development of Science in Asia

Asia is the biggest continent in the world and the home of many ancient civilizations. It is a host to many cultural, economic,
scientific, and political activities of all ages. In the field of science, technology, and mathematics, great civilizations have stood out:
India, China, and the Middle East civilizations. These civilizations were incomparable in terms of their contributions to the
development of knowledge during their time.

A. Indian Civilization (4000 – 3000 BC)

India is a huge peninsula surrounded by vast bodies of water and fortified by huge mountains in its northern boarders. The Indians
creatively developed various ideas and technologies useful in their everyday lives.

They are known for manufacturing iron and in metallurgical works. Their iron steel is considered to be the best and held with high
regard in the whole of Roman Empire.

India is also famous in medicine. For example, Ayurveda, a system of traditional medicine that originated in ancient India before
2300 BC, is still practiced as a form of alternative medicine. They discovered some medicinal properties of plants that led them to
develop medicines to cure various illnesses. Some ancient texts, like the Susruta Samhita, describes different surgical and other
medical procedures famous in Ancient India.

Ancient India is also notable in the field of astronomy. They developed theories on the configuration of the universe, the spherical
self-supporting Earth, and a year of 360 days with 12 equal parts of 30 days each. Their interest in astronomy was also evident in
the first 12 chapters of the Siddhanta Shiromani, written in the 12th century. This ancient text covered topics such as: mean
longitudes of the planets, true longitudes of the planets, the three problems of diurnal rotation: syzygies; lunar eclipses, solar
eclipses, latitudes of the planets; risings and settings, the moon's crescent conjunctions of the planets with each other, conjunctions
of the planets with the fixed stars, and the paths of the Sun and Moon

Ancient India is also known for their mathematics. The earliest traces of mathematical knowledge in the Indian subcontinent
appeared in the Indus Valley Civilization. The people of this civilization tried to standardize measurement of length to a high degree
of accuracy and designed a ruler, the Mohenjo-daro ruler. Furthermore, Indian astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata (476-
550 AD), in his Aryabhatiya, introduced a number of trigonometric functions, tables, and techniques, as well as algorithms of
algebra.

In 628 AD, another Indian, Brahmagupta, also suggested that gravity was a force of attraction, and lucidly explained the use of
zero as both a placeholder and a decimal digit, along with the Hindu-Arabic numeral system now used universally throughout the
world. Another Indian named Madhava of Sangamagrama is also considered as the founder of mathematical analysis.

B. Chinese Civilization (1600 – 221 BC)

China Is one of the ancient civilizations with substantial contributions in many areas of life like medicine, astronomy, science,
mathematics, arts, philosophy, and music, among others. Chinese civilizations have greatly influenced many of its neighbor
countries like Korea, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and other countries that belong to the old Silk
Road

The Chinese are known for traditional medicines, a product of centuries of experiences and discovery of the Chinese people. They
discovered various medical properties and uses of different plants and animals to cure human illnesses. An example of these is
the practice of acupuncture.
In terms of technology, the Chinese are known to develop many tools. Among the famous discoveries and inventions of the Chinese
civilization were compass, papermaking, gunpowder, and printing tools that became known in the West only by the end of the
Middle Ages.

They also invented other tools like iron plough, wheelbarrow, and propeller, among others. The Chinese are also known in
seismology. This made them more prepared in times of natural calamities. They invented the first seismological detector better
known as the earthquake detector.

They developed a design of different models of bridges and developed ancient shipyard - a dry dock facility.

In the field of astronomy, the Chinese also made significant records on supernovas, lunar and solar eclipses, and comets, which
were carefully recorded and preserved to understand better the heavenly bodies and their effects to our world. They observed the
heavenly bodies to understand weather changes and seasons that may affect their daily activities. They used lunar calendars, too.

China made substantial contributions in various fields. The list of their discoveries and inventions is overwhelming. These
contributions were made along with mathematics, logic, philosophy, and medicine. However, cultural factors prevented these
Chinese achievements from developing into modern science. It may have been the religious and philosophical framework of
Chinese intellectuals that made them unable to accept the ideas of laws of nature.

C. Middle East Civilizations (700 AD – 1300 AD)

The Middle East countries are dominantly occupied by Muslims. With the spread of Islam in the 7 th and 8th centuries, a period of
Muslim scholarship, or what is called the Golden Age of Islam lasted until the 13th century. The common language of Arabic, access
to Greek texts from the Byzantine Empire, and their proximity to India were contributory to the intellectualization of the Muslims
and provided their scholars knowledge to create innovations and develop new ideas. But contrary to the Greeks, Muslim scientists
placed greater value on science experiments rather than plain-thought experiments. This led to the development of the scientific
method in the Muslim world, and made significant improvements by using experiments to distinguish between competing scientific
theories set within a generally empirical orientation. The following Muslim scientists in the ancient world, to name a few, came from
Middle East Civilizations.

A Muslim scientist named Ibn al-Haytham who lived from 965 – 1039 AD is widely regarded as the Father of Modern Optics for his
influential Book of Optics which also contains his empirical proof of the intromission theory of light. He was the first person to test
hypotheses with verifiable experiments, developing the scientific method more than 200 years before European scholars learned
it.
In mathematics, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi gave his name to the concept of the algorithm while the term algebra is derived
from al-jabr, the beginning of the title of one of his publications.

What is now known as the Arabic Numeral System originally came from India, but Muslim mathematicians did make several
refinements to the number system, such as the introduction of decimal point notation.

Muslim chemists and alchemists also played an important role in the foundation of modern chemistry. In particular, some scholars
considered Jabir ibn Hayyan to be the "Father of Chemistry". He perfected the use of various chemical processes used in the
modern chemistry laboratories such as distillation, crystallization, and sublimation. Using some of those methods, he produced
concentrated acetic acid from vinegar. He synthesized hydrochloric acid by heating salt and sulfuric acid and nitric acid by heating
saltpeter with sulfuric acid. By mixing hydrochloric acid with nitric acid, he invented a super acid called aqua regia which could
dissolve even gold. He also isolated citric acid from lemon and tartaric acid from the residue left after wine making.

In the field of medicine, Ibn Sina pioneered the science of experimental medicine and was the first physician to conduct clinical
trials. His two most notable works in medicine, the Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, were used as standard medicinal
texts in both the Muslim world and in Europe during the 17th century. Among his many contributions are the discovery of the
contagious nature of infectious diseases and the introduction of clinical pharmacology. His book also discusses neuropsychiatry,
the idea of a syndrome, and early cancer therapy.

There are numerous Muslim scholars who made significant contributions in the field of science, mathematics, astronomy,
philosophy, and even in the field of social sciences. The decline of this golden age of Islam started in the 11th to 13th century due
to the conquest of the Mongols whereby libraries, observatories, and other learning institution were destroyed

(c) Development of Science in Africa

Africa is blessed with natural and mineral resources. Science also emerged in this part of the planet long before the Europeans
colonized it. The history of science and mathematics show that similar to other ancient civilizations, the early civilizations in Africa
are knowledge producers, too.
The ancient Egyptian civilization has contributed immensely and made significant advances in the fields of astronomy,
mathematics, and medicine. For example, the development of geometry was a product of necessity to preserve the layout and
ownership of farmlands of the Egyptians living along the Nile River. The rules of geometry were developed and used to build
rectilinear structures, the post of lintel architecture of Egypt. These early science activities in Egypt were developed to improve the
quality of life of the Egyptians especially in building their early homes and cities. The great structures of the Egyptian pyramids and
the early dams built to divert water from the Nile River are some proofs of their advanced civilization

Egypt was also known to be a center of alchemy, which is considered as the medieval forerunner of chemistry. They tried to study
human anatomy and pharmacology, and applied important components such as examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis
for the treatment of diseases. These components displayed strong parallels to the basic empirical method of studying science.

Aside from Egypt, astronomy was also famous in other African region. For instance, documents show that Africans used three
types of calendars, lunar, solar, and stellar, or a combination of the three.

Metallurgy was also known in the African regions during the ancient times. North Africa and the Nile Valley imported iron technology
from the Near East region that enabled them to benefit from the developments during the Bronze Age until the Iron Age. They
invented metal room used in their homes, in agriculture and in building their magnificent architectures.

Mathematics was also known to be prominent in the life of early people in the African continent The Lebombo Bone from the
mountains between Swaziland and South Africa, which may have been a tool for multiplication, division, and simple mathematical
calculation is considered to be the oldest known mathematics artifact dated from 35,000 BCE. Ancient Egyptians are good in the
four fundamental mathematical operations and other mathematical skills. They have knowledge of the basic concepts of algebra
and geometry. The Islamic regions in Africa during the medieval period was also benefiting from mathematical learning, which is
considered advanced during those times, such as algebra, geometry, and trigonometry.