Benefits of Scientific Knowledge on Health and Behavior

On the brink of discovery there is a thrilling glow of hope and promise. The hope of a betterment of life as it is and the promise of something new and exciting. The turn of the twentieth century was this threshold of opportunity and anticipation, and a booming era for scientists and inventors alike. Between 1900 and 1920 a plethora of modern day conveniences and concepts were brought to life. Without this unique period in time civilization might have had to do without escalators, Gillette’s double edged safety razor, modern vacuum cleaners, air conditioning, the Teddy Bear, crayons, airplanes, E=mc2, automobiles, Life Savers candy, and the bra, just to name a few.1 Along with the glitter of innovation can come an unintentional (and sometimes

During this time of enlightenment and exploration however, the standards of Christianity and ethical thought challenged science and its moral reasoning. Despite the large progress in society, the church's vast power led the people to fear science. However the church's fear was not just for the salvation of their church, but that science would disprove the proof of God and take God's place in

Over the course of the years, society has been reformed by new ideas of science. We learn more and more about global warming, outer space, and technology. However, this pattern of gaining knowledge did not pick up significantly until the Scientific Revolution. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Scientific Revolution started, which concerned the fields of astronomy, mechanics, and medicine. These new scientists used math and observations strongly contradicting religious thought at the time, which was dependent on the Aristotelian-Ptolemy theory. However, astronomers like Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton accepted the heliocentric theory. Astronomical findings of the Scientific Revolution disproved the fact that humans were

The Scientific Revolution was a time of scientific questioning in which tremendous discoveries were made about the Earth. It has been referred to as “the real origin both of the modern world and the modern mentality” (Mckay, 596) and caused the foremost change in the world-view. This revolution occurred for many reasons. Universities were established in Western Europe in order to train lawyer’s doctors and church leaders and philosophy became a major study alongside medicine, law, and theology. The Renaissance stimulated scientific progress because mathematics was improved, texts were

Copernicus discovery was a revelation and it undermined the system of hierarchy in the universe that gave order to the world, which was central to the Christian faith. (7) It was believed that God had created the universe for man, and that he had given the central position in his creation to man, giving people a profound sense of security however Copernicus theory took away man’s central position in the universe. (7) The new scientific discoveries were detrimental to authority as they fostered doubt uncertainty, anxiety and threated belief in the faith (*), however the full implications of these discoveries were not fully understood by people during the scientific revolution. The enlightenment further built on this decreasing belief in political and religious authority, and an increasing belief in the power through human reason (8). Critical reason was believed to be able to be used to combat both ignorance and tyranny. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) viewed the enlightenment as man emerging from a self-imposed state of immaturity. He believed that with critical reasoning man would be enlightened with the truth, further building on the discoveries of the scientific revolution, the enlightenment enabled was the start of people questioning, what they believed with critical reason. The so called age of reason’ targeted religion and the old way of Aristotelian logic.(8) The discoveries of the scientific

3. Relationship to theme: Scientific discoveries led to a more secularized view of the world. People no

The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, which spanned from the late 1500’s to 1700’s, shaped today’s modern world through disregarding past information and seeking answers on their own through the scientific method and other techniques created during the Enlightenment. Newton’s ‘Philsophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica’ and Diderot’s Encyclopedia were both composed of characteristics that developed this time period through the desire to understand all life, humans are capable of understanding the Earth, and a sense of independence from not having to rely on the nobles or church for knowledge.

New discoveries in science significantly changed everyone’s worldview in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the beginning, everyone’s perspective was very much based off of religious beliefs. Humans were mad in God’s image, God created everything just the way it is, and God is in charge. However, the new scientific views and discoveries changed that in the late nineteenth century. Possibly the most controversial and influential scientific theory that greatly impacted people’s worldview would be Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and Survival of the Fittest. Darwin’s ideas influenced everyone to have a new way of thinking, as well as a new perspective on human life. This also influence some to broaden their horizons in a way, and

There was a time in history when people used science as an everyday issue; there was a time when it was almost legitimate to provide a practical explanation, and when people preferred to ignore the subliming side of nature; people called this time in history the Age of Enlightenment (otherwise known as, the Neoclassical Period). This generation was based on the growth of scientific scrutinizations overwhelming people minds and (in a way) erasing the traditional teachings. It was particularly well-educated individuals who relied upon logic to explain the world and its resources, enabling greater evidence and certitude, which, in return, allowed matters to be more convincing. To support this philosophical movement was the Industrial

Another conspicuity, besides the circles function as “inspirer”, was that “By the turn of the 19th century, it was common knowledge among the educated classes that scientists were trying to fathom the

In today's world, the real meaning of technology is not understood and known by all. Technological innovations do not worry people, unless of course, they are done to things we eat or use as medications or ones that affect our lives in any way. Often we do not think of things such as seedless fruits and antibiotics as technology. However, if we look deep into the meaning of technology, it is bought about my human beings and changes the environment so our goals can be met and in such a case even fruits become technology. (Cowan 301-326)

Douglas J. Futuyma on the limits of science: [[S]cience seeks to explain only objective knowledge], [knowledge that can be acquired independently by different investigators if they follow a prescribed course of observation or experiment]. [Many human experiences and concerns are not objective] and (so) [do not fall within the realm of science]. (As a result), **[science has nothing to say about aesthetics or morality]**….[The functioning of human society, then, clearly requires principles that stem from some source other than science.]

The “scientific mind”, or how people think about the world, has changed multiple times throughout history. Before the 1700s, people had a more religious-based point of view on life; the church was considered to be far more important than it is today. With the church’s iron grip over society and its people, it came with a shock as the 1700s passed by and more and more people started to think for themselves. The acceptance of having more freedom, when it came to religion and change, changed the world forever.During the scientific revolution, Isaac Newton, Rene Descartes, and Francis Bacon all came up with principal scientific

Through the constant pursuit of knowledge, people began to put a greater emphasis on empirical evidence rather than religion and its faith in the unobserved, and parts of these sacred texts began to be ignored and upon the discovery of new contradicting information, even re-interpreted. In the Age of Enlightenment (1600-1800), there was shift from accepting traditional beliefs to challenging them. This raises the knowledge question, to what extent has knowledge in the natural sciences become more objective and less dependent on religious knowledge over time?

Science is an important part of our every day lives. We wake up each morning because we hear the ringing of our alarm clocks and turn on our faucets to wash our faces with warm water. We turn on the lights in our rooms to see our clothes and get dressed and we put our breakfast in the toaster and sip coffee from our mugs. All these things we do in the short time we are rushing to get ready for work or school, are due to the advancement of science and technology.