Sciences In The Middle Ages

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Page 1 of 17 The sciences of the Middle-Ages were different from the sciences that came after the

seventeenth century. This is because the concept of science in any time period is shaped by the nature and purpose of sciences, as well as the conditions under which it is taught and practiced in. The environment that the sciences were taught and practiced in as well as the purpose during the Middle-Ages was different from the conditions in which science was taught and practiced during and after the seventeenth century. The time frame in which medieval science was taught and practiced in was predominately an orthodox society based that put great authority on the voices of the past. The prevalent philosophy during the Middle-Ages was Aristotelian philosophy and the main objective of the scholars was to discover the truth and reconcile Aristotle’s philosophy with Christian theology. On the other hand, after the Scientific Revolution, the focal point of science was to use science in a manner that would benefit mankind the most and to discover truth for oneself and to not rely solely on the views the ancients. Likewise religious thought was taken out of science and intellectuals did not focus on trying to reconcile what they discovered and learned with Christian theology. Despite the fact that the purpose of science was different in both eras, the earlier form of science evolved into the later, modern science as ideas merged into one and others were rejected to become what we know today as modern science. The typical science studied during the Middle-Ages was what we call today natural science.

Yet, during medieval times, it was not called this; instead it was called natural

philosophy or physics. Natural philosophy and physics looked at the fundamental principles that governed the changes in nature and tried to discover the truth about these changes. The concept of medieval natural philosophy goes as far back as Ancient Greece. Greece was the

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cultural and intellectual hotspot of its time. Many diverse ideas flourished here. For example, speculations about the nature of the world first started in antiquated Greece according to Elspeth Whitney. These speculators beget a multitude of viewpoints and concepts regarding the nature of the world. Some of these perspectives and ideas came from some of the greatest philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, and many others. Their ideas and viewpoints proliferated via the Roman conquest of Europe and the Arab world. The works of these philosophers became incorporated into the curriculum of the Middle-Ages as they were discovered and became an integral part of scholarly thought process during the Middle-Ages. This is especially true of Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle’s works were prominent in medieval times more so then any other philosopher of Ancient Greece largely due to the availability his numerous compositions. Additionally Aristotle’s philosophy and works provided a more comprehensive working body of scientific principles and knowledge for scholars to labor over as compared to others, like Plato.1 Aristotle’s philosophy incorporated scientific ideas within a broader outlook in which metaphysical principles largely determined the approach to the study of the natural world. He was a major proponent of deductive reasoning and believed that reality was embedded in and inseparable from the concrete and specific and that sense perception subjected to a logical analysis was the beginning of knowledge.

According to Whitney, Aristotle was a great

advocate for careful observations of natural phenomena as a basis for scientific thinking.2 Due to Aristotle’s advocacy of careful observation, more emphasis was put on qualitative data, like how hot or cold an object was, or how wet or dry an object was, then precise quantitative data. 1 2

Whitney, pp. 19 & 45 Whitney, pp. 1-3

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This led to a lack of usage of mathematics in most aspects of natural philosophy, excluding astrology, astronomy, optics, and mechanics.

The use of subjective observations led to

imprecise data and skewed results in the Middle-Ages. A major problem with the physics of the medieval era was the lack of complete knowledge on mathematical proofs and theories. Most of the understanding of mathematics had come from the Ancient Greeks. Unfortunately, this knowledge was lost during the time of the invasions of the barbarians. In the twelfth and thirteenth century, intellectuals were slowly regaining the lost knowledge of the Greeks and gradually practicing them in regards to astronomy, optics, and mechanics. The mathematics was not advanced enough in its progress of restitution and thus they did not have all the required material needed to understand completely astronomy, optics, and mechanics. Academics in the Middle-Ages especially had a tough time dealing with motion and its cause due to the ineffectiveness of the mathematical models of the time. While Aristotle did create a philosophy that encompassed all, some of his views were flawed. Due to these flaws, medieval scientists faced numerous problems trying to incorporate these defective thought with their knowledge and Christian doctrine. As mentioned before, Aristotle viewed projectile motion as unnatural and violent. He believed that the hand that there the object, propelled it and then once the object was released, the surrounding air would cause it to move due to a rippling effect in the air. Due to this faulty view, scientists had a difficult time calculating the motion of the projectile and the only way this could be done was to rethink Aristotle’s idea and create a different model that would work better.

Another

problem medieval intellectuals faced with Aristotelian science dealt with Astronomy and religion. Aristotle believed that all matter resides in our world and that any other world does

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not exist. This view conflicted with religion because theologians believed that God’s power was absolute and that because he had absolute power, he could create more worlds if he desired. An additional problem encountered by philosophers in the Middle-Ages was whether the Earth was stationary or if it rotated on its axis. The former was believed by Aristotle and the latter believed by some of the thinkers of medieval times.

There were other problems

medieval scientists faced besides the ones mentioned, but once one of Aristotle’s ideas came under attack, it did not take long for the Aristotelian philosophy to crumble. This is because, according to Andrew Fix, Aristotle’s philosophy is an all encompassing philosophy that explained all and once a single part was rejected, the entire model failed.3 During the Middle-Ages, there were many experimentations and observations that took place, but scientists of the time solely believed in the works of their ancestors and their deductive skills. Crombie states, “Medieval science remained in general within the framework of Aristotle’s theory of nature, and deductions from that theory were by no mean always rejected even when contradicted by the results of new mathematical, logical, and experimental procedures.”4

Thus if an experimental procedure or mathematical one went against the

hypothesis of the classical philosophers, scientists in the Middle-Ages would fudge with the results so that their results in the end would match that of the classical philosophers. These experiments and observations, despite their crudeness, were the precursor to modern day science. Some of the prominent intellectuals of the time were Michael Scot, Albertus Magnus, and Roger Bacon. All three were great advocates of Aristotelian philosophy. These pupils of learning were highly influenced by Aristotelian philosophy, magical or supernatural views, and Fix, pp. 6-10 of “Science in 14th Century” 4 Crombie, pp. 11 3

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religion. Religion was highly important to the scholars due to the society they resided in. Many of the scholastic writers sought to coordinate Aristotelian science with the Christian doctrine. Their inclination towards these beliefs can be seen in their work in one form or another. Michael Scot was a clergyman and an astrologer. He served under the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II as a truthful diviner. The fact that Michael Scot was a clergyman and an astrologer showed the tolerance of Medieval Church. As long as someone did not practice magic outright, the Church accepted the person without labeling him/her a heretic. Thorndike believes that Scot was exemplary of the failings of the learning of his time. According to Thorndike, Michael Scot was “…curious, credulous, and uncritical. He seems to have collected a mass of undigested information and superstition with little regard to the consistency or system.” An example of this is his thesis on Introduction to Astrology. In his thesis, Scot deviates from his argument constantly, adding facts that do not seem to belong in his work and adding information concerning magic and the supernatural. For example, in his work, Scot has a discourse on theology as well as an accounting of astrology for beginners. He makes other statements concerning magi and magic such as differentiating between astrology and astronomy and the prohibited arts of magic and divination, stating that the latter is the corrupter of morals and the destroyer of religion, while the former is a philosophy.5 Albertus Magnus was in the Dominican order as well as an intellectual. His works follow closely Aristotle’s natural philosophy according to Thorndike. His work is a scattering of different philosophies of the various methods to use in natural philosophy. In his works on 5

Thorndike, pp. 319

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plants, little experimentation is done and he has confidence in the works of his ancestors, on the other hand, his works on animals include various rudimentary experimentations done on animals and his observations.

These smattering of different scientific approaches used by

Magnus are exemplarity of the typical scientific approaches of other scholars of the time. There was no one approaches; some scientists believed in mathematical models, while others believed in observation, and others believed in the past. Like Scot, Magnus constantly refers to magic and the supernatural in his theses. He believes in an association between experimental methods and his concept of magic.6 This is because the magician has to deal with trial and error in an effort to discover the hidden meaning behind a magical item or incantation. Roger Bacon, like the previous two, was also involved with the clergy. Bacon strongly emphasized the usage of mathematics to better gain an understanding of the natural world. Another aspect he highly stressed was that scientists should rely on a combination of reason and empirical experience. According to Whitney, Roger Bacon was greatly influenced by Arabic and Latin writings on alchemy and astrology, as well as a work on natural magic that was falsely credited to Aristotle.7 One common denominator between all three philosophers was their interest in alchemical and astrological works. The experimental and practical side of science was evident in alchemy and astrology. John Henry describes alchemy as: An ancient art aimed at producing perfection (manifested by turning base metals into gold) by exploiting the ways in which different substances can be made to react with one another to produce new substances. In many ways, it

6 7

Thorndike, pp. 548 Whitney, pp. 154

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was the precursor to chemistry, but because of its search for perfection, it was usually overlaid with mystical significance.8 Alchemy had its origins in the ancient world, which was later brought to Europe through Arabic Spain. The ultimate aim of alchemy, according to Whitney was to discover the elixirs that could either prolong human life or transmute metals into gold. The theoretical basis of alchemy came from Aristotle’s idea that matter had no quality until a form was imposed on it and that the four elements could be transformed into each other. The importance of alchemy in the Middle-Ages was that in the hands of some practitioners, alchemy represented one of the earlier attempts to understand scientific methodology in terms of creating a science that would allow human technology to improve on nature.9 Astrology and astronomy were closely linked to each other. Astronomy in medieval times was used mainly to predict the movements of the celestial and physical bodies as well as keep track of time and date. On the other hand, astrology was used to predict the future. These two sciences were closely related because they both dealt with the celestial bodies and predicted movement of some form. Astronomy was one of the more mathematically intensive sciences in the Middle-Ages.

Astrology was

controversial largely due to the fact that many believed that it had close association with the demonic magic. Natural philosophy underwent major change from the Middle-Ages to after seventeenth century.

In between these two eras, the Renaissance was important in introducing many

classical works to the public. The humanists played a significant role in introducing these antiquated works. One of the main goals of the humanists was to return to the golden age of

8 9

Henry, pp. 139 Whitney, pp. 91

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learning and rhetoric which existed during the time of Aristotle and Plato. The humanists believed that the medieval ages, also known as the dark ages, had been sullied and thus the knowledge and language were corrupted. The only way return to the golden age was to study the classical works according to the humanists. The problem with this was during the beginning of the fourteenth century, there were not many classical works present and the only way to reintroduce the ancient works to society was to rediscover them. Humanists put great effort into searching through many nooks and crannies to rediscover the works of the antiquated philosophers. Due to the efforts of the humanists, many other ancient philosophers as well as their philosophers on natural philosophy were reintroduced to society.

During this time, dozens of antiquated works and writings were

discovered and translated by the humanists. An example of a writing that had a key role in changing the course of natural philosophy and magic was the Hermetic Corpus. Due to the increase in literature of different philosophers during the Renaissance, Aristotelian authority which had resided at the top during the Middle-Ages, on the subject of natural philosophy, gave way to other approaches and philosophical systems.

An example of this is during the

Renaissance more ancient treaties written by Plato were revived. This caused fierce debates between those that believed in Aristotelian philosophy, called Aristotelians, and those that believed in Plato’s philosophy, called Platonists. The main argument between the two camps was which was to be believed, the senses or the thoughts. Aristotelians believed that the senses were real and that ideas did not matter, while the Platonists believed that ideas were real and that the senses were illusory.10 Other approaches and method that were relooked at included 10

Capra, pp.148

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magic and mathematics. Owing to the influx in contradictory methods and ideas, the sense of discovering truth for oneself as a result of one’s own experiences and efforts flourished in the Renaissance, according to Henry.11 Another important aspect that greatly affected the scholars during the Renaissance was the invention of the printing press. With the discovery of typography, the art of printing from movable type, and engraving, the art of printable pictures, the distribution of text changed fundamentally.

The printing press allowed for a rapid diffusion and standardization in

literature, which hand never been seen before. With the standardization of literature, scholars from any region of the world could read the same contents on the same page if they so desired. The standardization of texts allowed for copies of specific pages to be reliable and dependable, which had not been possible with hand-copied medieval manuscripts. Also the regulating of illustrations became highly valuable for scholars. With the reproduction of the illustration of plants, anatomical details, mechanical devices, scientific devices, and mathematical diagrams becoming more accurate, it was easy for scholars to refer to. This allowed for ideas to be spread quicker because it took less time to understand and diagrams were the same, thus no error in drawing them during the copying of a text as before. The Corpus Hermeticum was a series of fifteen treatises which the people of Renaissance believed was written by an ancient Egyptian wise man called Hermes Trismegistus a thousand years before Moses. The intellects believed that the early Church Fathers had admired the works of Hermes Trismegistus and incorporated his ideas into their theology. Scholars believed this because Hermetic Corpus contained early Christian and Judaism 11

Henry, pp. 12

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theology. It was later discovered that the Hermetic Corpus was not written before the time of Moses, but in the fourth century, C.E and that there was not a single author, instead there were several authors with several different theological perspectives that were popular at the time like popular Greek philosophy like Platonism and Stoicism combined with Jewish and Persian influences.12 The Hermetic Corpus begins with the central character, Hermes, having a vision in which blinding light appears, followed by a thunderous voice that dictates to him the creation of the world similar to Genesis. In this narration, the work states that, “…god created man in his own likeness…delivered over to man all things that had been made…He is immortal…and has all things in his power.” These statements emphasized a role of ruling as opposed to merely observational roles. The other Hermetic writings include the ascension of the soul through the spheres of the planets to the divine world above them as well as an ecstatic description of the process of regeneration by which the soul casts off the chains which bind it to the materialistic world and becomes filled with divine powers and virtues13. There is a recurring theme in Corpus Hermeticum in that man is both mortal and divine and that he is intended to both admire the creation of God and to use them. According to… this encouraged a new and active understanding of astrology because astrologers can not only use their knowledge for predictive purposes, but they can also use it to intervene in the world and accomplish goals for their own means. Another facet examined in the Hermetic Corpus is the explanation of the cause of motion. This explanation goes against Aristotle’s thesis and states that the cause of motion resides outside the physical world that is alive and self moving. This explanation is similar to Plato’s explanation of motion. Popularity of the hermetic doctrines can be seen in the number of copies published. “The first printed copy was in 1471 which later 12 13

Yates, pp. 3 Yates, pp. 3

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went through sixteen editions by the end of the sixteenth century.”14

The Hermetic texts

promoted a non-Aristotelian tradition of natural magic, mathematics, and experimentations. The Hermetic manuscripts did not directly influence the foundations of modern science, instead natural magic, mathematics, and empirical traditions flourished by virtue of connection with the Hermetic scripts. Natural magic was based upon the assumption that certain things in the world have hidden powers that affect other objects and thus an inexplicable phenomenon is accomplished. In Ficino’s De Vita Coelitus Comparanda, Ficino defends the use of natural magic and states that it is different from demonic magic. Ficino describes natural magic as a type of magic that captures the beneficial powers of the heavenly bodies to bring good fortune to men.15 Natural magic was empirically based because what other way besides experimentations could a natural magician discover the hidden, or occult, nature of objects and use that knowledge for their own gain or that of a client’s. An example of a natural magic that had empirical traditions was alchemy. Alchemy was grounded in direct observation of nature and in the development of laboratory procedures.16 Another type of magic that gained more interest was real artificial magic, also known as mathematical magic.

Mathematics was considered magical when

combined with mechanics during the medieval age and Renaissance because the use of mechanical devices was considered the work of hidden or occult powers. John Dee is a good example of a hermetic magician using mathematical magic.

He made available the first

English translation of Euclid’s Elements, a book regarding various mathematical theories. 14

Yates, pp. 17 Olson, pp. 39 16 Olson, pp. 39 15

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Page 12 of 17 There was no such thing as the typical humanistic natural scientist during the

Renaissance. This was because by the mid-sixteenth century there were numerous philosophies that were mutually antagonistic of each other. But Paracelsus was a good example of the blend of mystical and superstition and science and reason that was rising during the Renaissance. Paracelsus was born as Phillipus Aureolis Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, who later claimed the title of Paracelsus because he felt he was great than Celsus, the Roman medical writer.17 Paracelsus was a self-styled doctor of medicine and theology. According to Philip Ball, “Paracelsus acted as a prism for his time.

He separated the paradoxes, terrors, and

tensions that existed among natural philosophy, religion, humanist, and politics.” Though his works began and ended in magic and were colored with religious beliefs, Paracelsus had modern scientific roots in them. For example, Paracelsus believed that things happened for a reason and that nature is mechanistic and follows rules, and that humankind could deduce and understand mechanistic nature by studying and experimenting on them. 18 As explained before, during the Middle-Ages, the prevalent philosophy was Aristotelian philosophy which emphasized deductive reasoning and observations. The Scientific Revolution on the other hand stressed inductive reasoning and experience.

The only way natural

philosophy could transit from medieval thinking to modern science was to completely abolish Aristotelian philosophy and introduce a new metaphysical approach.

This occurred in the

Renaissance with the introduction of various antiquated works, especially the Hermetic texts, and different ideas being introduced to society. Before natural magic was stimulated through the Hermetic doctrines, interest in the occult virtue and forces of nature, such as magnetism, 17 18

Olson, pp. 47 Ball, pp. 1-10

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gravity, electricity, were considered beyond man’s capacity to understand. Without the influx and popularity of natural magic, Sir Isaac Newton would never have been able to come to the conclusions he did pertaining gravity.19 From the Renaissance, the idea that natural knowledge could be used for the benefit of mankind, the increase in use of mathematics to understand the workings of the natural world, and the emphasis on empirical data and experimentation gave birth to the Scientific Revolution and the beginnings of modern science. The Scientific Revolution was the beginnings of a conceptual, methodological and institutional foundation of modern science. As magic was criticized from all directions, scientists and scholars also went along with the flow and censured it. While the intellectuals condemned magic, they also realized the importance of certain aspects of it and took these elements, like mathematics and experimentation, and discarded the rest as supernatural and unnecessary. The use of mathematics and measurements to give precise data to determine how the world and its parts worked were used more frequently and in conjunction with experience, observations, and when necessary, experiments to discover and gain a better understanding of nature.

In previous eras, scholars and intellectuals had kept experiments and mathematics

separated from natural philosophy for the most part. This growth in different methods and ideas took root increasingly more during the sixteenth and seventeenth century as Aristotle’s philosophy was debunked from its throne due to a proliferation of distinctive antiquated philosophers being reintroduced to Western Europe’s society.

20

Mathematics was undergoing a great expansion during this time frame. With the surge in mathematical theories being launched, mathematics became even more sophisticated to the 19 20

Ball, pp. 11 Henry, pp.1

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point that it resembled the mathematics used today in modern science. There were many discoveries in the field of mathematics. For example, Francois Viete rationalized and reduced the number of algebraic symbols to resemble the modern form. This allowed algebra to reach a much higher level of abstraction used in various mechanics and astronomy calculations. John Napier invented logarithms in 1614. This produced a shortcut to the complex calculations needed in astronomy. Rene Descartes also developed an analytical form of geometry that allowed for geometric problems to be solved in algebraic form. Finally, Leibniz and Newton independently invented calculus.

Calculus made sophisticated mathematical investigations,

such as continuous motion, possible.21

With these advancements in mathematics, more

complex problems could be tackled and science reached closer to a form that approached modern science. With the increase in observation, experience and empirical traditions, new instruments were invented to help scientists with their works.

According to Fix, “Six new scientific

instruments were invented in the seventeenth century which made the scientific revolution possible.”22 The six instruments were the air pump, the pendulum clock, the barometer, the thermometer, the microscope, and the telescope. The air pump was created in 1650 by Otto von Guericke. With the invention of the air pump, analysts could study the properties of air. The pendulum clock was invented around 1650 by Christian Huygens and it made it possible for scientists to make exact measurements by small intervals of time, which was not possible before. The thermometer and barometer were invented in the early seventeenth century. The

21 22

Fix, pp. 8 of WC XV Pp. 10

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latter measured the pressure of air and its variations, while the former measured the temperature, which came in handy in chemistry. The microscope was invented in the late sixteenth century in Holland. With the microscope, tiny objects like insects, cells, and bacteria could be inspected. This greatly advanced biology and medical science. Finally the telescope was invented in 1608 and it made it possible for scientists to view astronomical observations. With these inventions, various forms of philosophy were changed and improved as more precise measurements and calculations could be made. With better equipment, procedures, and mathematics, scientists discovered more and more about their surrounding nature. With these discoveries, antiquated ideas about nature were discredited.

For example, Galileo Galilei exposed Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system of

planetary motion and geocentric theory with the help of Copernicus’s ideas. Galileo came up with the heliocentric theory in which the sun was stationary and the planets revolved around the sun in an elliptical like circle. Due to church opposition, Galileo was forced to retract his theory, but later scientists saw the validity of Galileo’s explanation and used it. Galileo used a combination of mathematics as well as observations from the telescope to discover his findings. In conclusion, science went through a phase of evolution from the Middle-Ages to the seventeenth century. Before the 1600’s, natural philosophy was mired in religion, antiquated views, and supernatural beliefs. During the Renaissance, as different philosophers and ideas became available, scholars began to gain more ammunition to fire against the outdated Aristotelian-Ptolemy philosophy of natural science.

With these constant debates over

theological and philosophical matters on who were right, scholars began to be frustrated and saw the concepts of Aristotelian philosophy, Ptolemaic philosophy, and theology in natural

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philosophy as a barrier between them and the true knowledge of reality. The concept that natural philosophers had to reconcile antiquated ideas with theological viewpoints dissolved in the later years of the seventeenth century. In the late 1600’s, the main goal of scientists was to discover new findings that had never been seen before.

Bibliography Applebaum, Wilbur. The Scientific Revolution and the Foundations of Modern Science: Greenwood Guides to Historic Events, 1500-1900. Greenwood Press. Connecticut. 2005. Ball, Philip. Devil’s Doctor. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. New York. 2006

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Capra, Fritjof. The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance. Doubleday. New York. 2007 Crombie, A.C. Medieval and Early Modern Science: Science in the later middle Ages and Early Modern Times: XIII-XVII Centuries. Volume II. Doubleday and Company, Inc. Garden City, New York. 1959 Fix, Andrew. Lectures. “Science in the 14th Century”. Pp. 1-10 Fix, Andrew. Lectures Hist. 222. “Scientific Revolution” pp. 1-18 Henry, John. The Scientific Revolution and the Origins of Modern Science. Second Edition. Palgrave. New York. 2002 Olson, Richard G. Science and Religion, 1450-1900 from Copernicus to Darwin: Greenwood Guides to Science and Religion. Greenwood Press. Connecticut. 2004 Thorndike, Lynn. History of Magic and Experimental Science: The First Thirteen Centuries. Volume II. Colombia University Press. New York. 1923. Whitney, Elspeth. Medieval Science and Technology: Greenwood Guides to Historic Events of the Medieval World. Greenwood Press. New York. 2004. Yates, Frances A. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago. 1964