Chapter 12 Part III The World at the Time of Western Occupation Dominance, 1763-1914 (Part 1)

Less than 400 years, or about 6 average lifetimes, separated Copernicus' work from that of Einstein's.In this short period of time, however, science has grown from a secret sideline of a few enthusiasts to what may rightly be called the dominant force of modern civilization.Today, science is primarily characterized by its ever-increasing pace of development. In 1899, the famous British naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace published a book entitled "The Wonderful Century".He was referring to his nineteenth century, which, in his view, had experienced more scientific progress than all previous centuries of mankind had experienced.Today, however, we can boast that more scientific work was done in the first half of the 20th century than in all previous history.

In retrospect, it seems that the scientific revolution was even more significant than the Neolithic agricultural revolution.The Agricultural Revolution made civilization possible, but once this giant step was made, agriculture made no further contribution.Science, on the other hand, develops steadily and steadily precisely by means of its methods of investigation.Science itself contains the possibility of infinite progress.If we remember the achievements of science over the past few centuries and the accelerating pace of its development today, then we can properly appreciate, if not understand, the amazing possibilities and significance of science.Furthermore, science is universal to all mankind; and since science is based on objective methods of research, proposals for science have gained general approval.Science is a product of Western civilization that is generally respected and pursued by non-Western peoples.In fact, it was science and its associated technologies that made possible European domination of the world in the nineteenth century.Thus formerly subordinate peoples are now seeking to redress the imbalance by unraveling the secret of the West's great and unique contribution to humanity.

This is why scientific revolutions are of fundamental importance to the study of world history.This chapter explores the development of this major scientific revolution from its early stages in the early modern period until just before World War I. The roots of science go back to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, classical Greece and the medieval Muslim world.The Scientific Revolution, however, is a unique product of Western civilization.The reason seems to be that it is only in the West that science has become an integral part of society in general.Or to put it another way, it is only in the West that philosopher-scientists and artisans are united and mutually reinforcing.Therefore, it is this combination of science and society, between scientists and artisans, that has greatly contributed to the unprecedented prosperity of science in the Western world.

Artisans in all human societies developed some technique for hunting, fishing, farming, and working wood, stone, metal, grasses, fibers, roots, and hides.Through observation and experimentation, they gradually improved their technology, sometimes to a very high level, as in the case of the Eskimos.There were, however, clear limits to the extent of progress achieved by all pre-modern societies.The reason is that artisans are only interested in making pots, or building houses, or building boats, and don't bother with underlying chemistry or mechanics.They do not explore the relationship between causal phenomena.In conclusion, it is clear that the artisan is concerned with technical factual knowledge, not with scientific underlying causes.

The significance of this is shown by James Bryant Conant's definition of science; Conant defines science as "a series of interrelated processes developed by experiment and observation and giving rise to further experiment and observation. Conceptual systems." According to Conant's definition, "conceptual systems" form the basis of science.Obviously, craftsmen lack a "conceptual system".Rather, such systems have historically been the concern of philosophers (intellectuals were often called philosophers in the pre-modern era).However, these philosophers are notoriously ignorant of, and incapable of dealing with, the problems of everyday life.They see themselves as detached from the world, spending their time contemplating eternal truths or trying to make a fragmented world comprehensible to the human mind.There is no doubt that philosophers and craftsmen did work together at some point in time to produce complex calendars, navigational devices, and ancient daily rituals.The fact remains, however, that until modern times the tendency of development has been towards separation—toward the separation of the thinker from the worker.

The great achievement of the West is to unite the two.Knowing what actually is, combined with understanding underlying causes, laid the foundations of science, advanced it, and made science the dominant force it is today. Why did this epoch-making development appear in the West?One reason lies in the humanist scholarship of the Renaissance.Scholars and artists strongly opposed the whole way of life of the Middle Ages, striving to create a new way of life as similar as possible to the life style of the classical age.They no longer wished to see the ancients through the distorted glasses of Muslims and Scholastics, but turned directly to the original sources, digging up statues and reading the original texts themselves.They had access not only to Plato and Aristotle, but also to Euclid and Archimedes; scholars who had advanced the study of physics and mathematics.What is more important is the inspiration from the various biological sciences.Physicians studied the entire writings of Hippocrates and Galen, and naturalists Aristotle, Dioscoris, and Theophrastus.It should be emphasized, however, that there was an anti-scientific side to the Renaissance, exemplified by the revival of witchcraft and the study of demons (see Chapter 2, Section 2).

These achievements in anthropological learning alone could not have given rise to the scientific revolution without the favorable social circumstances of Western Europe which narrowed the gap between craftsman and scholar.The craftsman was not so despised during the Renaissance as he was in the Classical and Medieval ages.The practical arts of spinning, weaving, pottery, glassmaking, and especially, increasingly important, mining and metallurgy were respected.In Renaissance Europe all these trades were run by freemen and not by slaves as in classical times.These freedmen were not so far removed from the ruling group in social and economic status as the medieval artisans.The elevated status of the artisan during the Renaissance allowed the strengthening of a bond between artisans and scholars that had been tenuous since the dawn of civilization.They each made important contributions.Artisans take old techniques from antiquity and add to them new inventions developed during the Middle Ages.Likewise, scholars offer facts, speculations, and traditions about rediscovered antiquity, about medieval science.The fusion of these two pathways is slow, but eventually they lead to an explosive union.

Closely connected with this union of artisan and scholar is the corresponding union of labor and thought of each scholar or scientist.In ancient times, there was a strong prejudice against combining creative learning with manual labor.This prejudice probably arose from the ancient association of manual labor with slavery; it persisted in medieval Europe even after slavery had all but disappeared.Medieval scholastics drew a line between "free" art and "slave" art, between work done by the mind alone and work that changed physical form.For example, poets, logicians, and mathematicians belong to the first category, and sculptors, glazers, and ironworkers to the second.The pernicious effects of this dichotomy are evident in the medical field.The work of a physician does not change physical form and is therefore considered "free," while that of a surgeon is considered "slave" by the same standard.As a result, experimentation was looked down upon and vivisection considered illegal and repulsive.

William Harvey (1578-1657) was able to make his great discoveries about the motion of the heart and blood because he resolutely ignored this contempt for manual labor.For decades, he has been conducting various painstaking experiments.He cut through the arteries and veins of everything from large animals to small insects, carefully and patiently observing and recording the flow of blood and the motion of the heart.He also uses the new magnifying glass to observe ants, bumblebees and flies.This step, which seems practical and obvious today, was certainly neither reasonable nor obvious in Harvey's day.According to the eminent theologian of the time, Richard Hooke, reason, not experiment, is the means by which "man acquires knowledge of things both rational and irrational."Hooker's words are beyond our comprehension; it shows how fundamental and pervasive the scientific revolution has been on the way we think and live.But for Harvey, working in the early seventeenth century and insisting on experimental methods, was an excruciating intellectual ordeal that required courage and dedication.

The great geographical discoveries and the opening up of overseas regions also promoted the development of science.New plants, new animals, new stars and even new people and new human societies were discovered one after another, all of which challenged traditional ideas and assumptions.It is worth noting that in the writings of the great British science advocate Francis Bacon (1561-1626), there are many places where he borrows the metaphor of voyage exploration.Bacon expressed his desire to be the Columbus of the new intellectual world.Sail across the hanging rocks on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar, symbols of old knowledge, into the Atlantic Ocean in search of new, more useful knowledge.In fact, he explicitly stated, "Through voyages and travels over such distances, which our age has come to take for granted, many things in nature have been revealed and discovered which throw new light on philosophy."

The scientific revolution in Europe owes much to a parallel economic revolution.In the early modern period, commerce and industry in Western Europe developed rapidly.Trade among European nations grew enormously with the opening of new overseas markets in the Far East, East Indies, Africa, and North and South America.Industry also made significant gains, especially in Great Britain; the development of British coal mining and ironmaking laid the foundations for the Industrial Revolution.These economic advances lead to technological advances; the latter in turn promote and are facilitated by science.Sea-going trade created a huge demand for shipbuilding and navigation.To make compasses, maps, and instruments, a new class of ingenious, mathematically trained craftsmen arose.Schools of navigation were opened in Portugal, Spain, Holland, and France, and astronomy was seriously studied for its obvious practical value.Likewise, the needs of the mining industry have led to advances in power transmission and pumping.This proved to be the starting point for a renewed concern with mechanics and hydraulics.Likewise, metallurgy was a major cause of remarkable advances in chemistry.Expanding mining operations revealed new ores and even new metals such as bismuth, zinc and cobalt.Techniques for separating and processing these new ores and metals had to be found by analogy and corrected by painful experience.But in doing so, the general principles of chemistry began to emerge, including those of oxidation and reduction, distillation and mixing. These achievements have given scientists, that is, philosophers, self-confidence and confidence that they are the heralds of a new era.As early as 1530, Joan Fenier, physician to the King of France, wrote: A century later, this self-confidence has grown to such an extent that it is intuitively excited to look forward to the future achievements of human beings. In 1661, Joseph Grande began by referring to "those eminent heroes"—Descartes, Galileo, Harvey, and others—and proceeded to presciently praise the new world they were creating: In 1662, King Richard II of England issued a charter to establish the "Royal Society of London for the Advancement of Natural Knowledge".The members of the Royal Society have recognized the advantages of co-operation between technicians and scientists, encouraging and coordinating the efforts of the various professions across the country in order to collect all kinds of data that may advance scientific knowledge. "All districts are busy and eager for this work: we find many wonderful curiosities handed to (institutions) every day, not only from the hands of learned and dedicated philosophers, but from the workshops of artisans, the voyages of merchants , the farmlands of the peasants, and the various sports of the gentlemen, fishponds, hunting parks, and gardens.  …” In the first place science derived much more from mines and workshops than mines and workshops derived from science.At this early stage, science was not an integral part of economic life, and its use was infrequent and sporadic.This was true even in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.However, by the end of the 19th century, the situation had fundamentally changed.Science is no longer in a subordinate, consultative position: it has begun to transform old industries and even create entirely new ones. It is understandable that the most important advances in modern science have taken place in the field of astronomy, which is closely connected with geography and navigation.Since Italy in the 15th century was the most advanced country in Europe economically and culturally, it is understandable that Italy was where this progress took place.Thus we find that the great Mikko Kopernik (1473-1543), better known by the Latinized name Copernicus, left his native Poland to attend university in Bologna.After six years of study, he returned to Poland and began an active career in the Church.However, he also continued to analyze the problems of astronomy which he had already engaged in while in Italy, especially since there was widespread interest in devising a more accurate calendar.He takes the idea of ​​certain ancient philosophers that the sun, rather than the earth, is the center of the universe, and then argues that this idea provides a simpler explanation for the motions of celestial bodies than the traditional Ptolemaic system. In 1530 Copernicus published a short synopsis of his work; in 1543, the year of his death, the complete Discourse on the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres was published.Although Copernicus was a famous mathematician and astronomer, his hypothesis was initially scorned.When he stated that the earth revolves on its axis every day and the sun every year, he was heresy, because according to the Christian Bible, Joshua had made the sun stand still in the sky.Furthermore, his hypothesis is inconsistent with common sense.If the earth is spinning, doesn't its motion create strong winds?Wouldn't a body thrown upwards lag behind the surface of the spinning Earth?Copernicus' new astronomy necessitated new physics.This need was met by the wealthy Florentine Galileo (1564-1642). Galileo's method was strictly empirical.He argued against the tradition of Aristotle and the scholastics with experimental, verifiable facts.He started out as a physicist concerned with finding the laws of motion on the ground to solve problems in military engineering and civil engineering.He made further experiments in mechanics; in them he invented more precise methods of measuring minute intervals of time, found means of estimating air resistance, friction, and other resistances existing in nature, and conceived Pure or absolute motion, force and speed expressed in abstract mathematical terms. At the time, Galileo's work in astronomy was more influential, if not quite as fundamental and original.He made use of the telescope, which had just been invented in Holland as a by-product of making eyeglasses.According to legend, around 1600, a child on a Dutch ship first looked out of the window through two lenses and found that things outside seemed to be magnified.In any case, Galileo, who had become a faithful disciple of Copernicus, enthusiastically used the new instrument to see what was actually going on in the sky.Even in these days of astonishing scientific discoveries, one is aware of Galileo's dramatic words and deeds, as he discovered a whole new world and rightly appraised the significance of what he observed: Galileo was particularly impressed by the discovery that Jupiter has several satellites, orbiting Jupiter like the moon orbits the Earth.All this evidence convinced him of the correctness of Copernican's theory.It shows that the celestial body may have the same substance as the earth, which is a mass of matter rotating in space.The traditional distinction between the earth and the sky began to raise doubts.It was a crushing and startling blow to philosophy and theology.Galileo was convicted by the Inquisition and forced to feign an admission of guilt.But the impact of his discoveries on thoughtful people was irresistible.Poets have repeatedly compared him to Columbus and other discoverers. John Donne expressed this unsettling, disturbing influence of the new astronomy when he wrote, "Everything is broken, everything is out of tune." However, two intellectual leaders during this period did not Not distraught by this apparent confusion.They were the prudent Descartes (1596-1650) and Francis Bacon; they pointed out the potential of science and raised it to a status comparable to literature in high society.They were seers and propagandists in essence—they had seen the promise of this new discipline, and it was their duty to teach the world. Descartes and Bacon saw things in completely different ways.Descartes was a great mathematician and the inventor of analytic geometry.In a sense, it can be said that he united the geometry he had learned from the Greeks with the algebra he had learned from the Muslims.From then on, it was possible to explain geometry with algebraic methods, and to develop various new mathematics.Descartes was so fascinated by the prospect of mathematical method that he made it the basis of his entire philosophy.He insisted that the only correct way to know was to rely on mathematical reasoning and abstraction.In his view, experiment is only an auxiliary means of deductive reasoning.He believed that by thinking clearly, anything rationally knowable could be discovered. By the end of the century, Descartes's disciples had increased enormously, beyond count.In the words of one historian: "The universities believe in Cartesian philosophy, the Marquis, the amateurs of science, Colbert and the king are followers of Cartesian philosophy. France turns the verb 'to be Cartesian' into Europe eagerly emulated." The significance of this popularization is that rational inquiry and judgment are extended to various fields.All traditions and authorities must be subjected to rational scrutiny. Instead, Bacon uses induction; induction begins with facts and proceeds to general principles.In order to know the fundamental causes, Bacon said, we must study the natural history of phenomena, collect all observations about them, tabulate them, note which phenomena are related to each other in different ways, and then , to discover the cause of a known phenomenon by mere mechanical methods of elimination.As a remedy to the scholastic method of the Middle Ages, Bacon's work is of greatest value in the history of thought.It should be noted, however, that scientific discoveries are rarely or never made by purely Baconian methods.There are so many phenomena in any problem that it cannot be successfully studied without resorting to hypotheses conceived by scientific imagination.Facts are gathered to prove or refute inferences deduced from assumptions, and thus the number of facts to be examined is manageable. Bacon is also excellent in emphasizing the utilitarian value of science: In order to obtain the greatest benefit from science, Bacon strongly advocated the creation of societies to promote scientific research.As early as 1560, Naples had established the Academy of Naturology. In 1603, Rome established the Linqin Academy of Sciences. In 21661, Florence established the Academy of Scientific Analysis.Meanwhile, in England, a scientific body that had met sporadically under the name of the "Philosophical Academy" or "Invisible Academy" was reformed in 1662 as the Royal Society.In France, a corresponding Academy of Sciences was founded by Louis XIV in 1666; similar societies were established in other countries.These institutions promoted the development of science, especially since most of them soon issued periodicals to replace the older method of correspondence between individuals. The most prominent figure in the early stages of science was Newton (1642-1727), born the year Galileo died.As he was born in a farming family in England for generations, Newton overcame various difficulties to finish Cambridge University; when he was studying at Cambridge, he was good at mathematics.During a long, busy life he was Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, Master of the Mint and President of the Royal Society.Newton's contributions make him the greatest figure in science, comparable to Euclid and Einstein. In mathematics, Newton founded calculus, formulated the binomial theorem, developed most of the theory about equations, and introduced alphabetic symbols.In mathematical physics, he derived tables of numbers by which the future position of the moon among the stars could be predicted—a most valuable achievement in navigation.He created fluid dynamics, including the theory of wave propagation, and he made many improvements to fluid statics.In optics, he made important contributions to the understanding of light beams, the refraction of light, and the phenomena of color.But it was in the field of physics that Newton conducted his most significant research.In this respect he built on the work of Galileo, and developed the latter's work to a brilliant culmination.Whereas Galileo was primarily concerned with the motion of the earth, Newton discovered the laws of the universe itself. Galileo discovered that an object in motion moves in a straight line at a uniform speed unless there is a certain external force to turn it around; this discovery requires people to be able to explain: why the planets do not fly away in a straight line, but tend to fall toward the sun, resulting in their ellipse shaped orbit; why the moon also tends to fall toward the earth.A friend of Newton recounts how the great scientist was prompted to solve this puzzle while observing apples falling from trees in an orchard: Newton developed this idea into a law of constant gravitation; in his famous work Principia Mathematica (1687)—commonly called Principia, according to its Latin title—with A large amount of data demonstrates this law.According to this law, "every particle of matter in the universe exerts an attraction on every other particle; the attraction is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between two particles, and directly proportional to the product of their masses." The above is a blockbuster, revolutionary interpretation of ripping the veil off the sky.Newton had discovered a mathematically verifiable fundamental law of the universe; a law that applied to the entire universe as well as to the tiniest objects.In fact, nature appears to be one gigantic mechanism that operates according to certain laws of nature that can be ascertained through observation, experiment, measurement, and calculation.The branches of human knowledge seem to be reduced to a few simple and consistent laws that a rational man can discover.Thus, the analytical methods of Newtonian physics are now beginning to be applied not only to the material world, but to the entire field of thought and knowledge and human society.As Voltaire said, "The whole of nature, and all the planets, should be subject to eternal laws, and it is very strange that a little animal five feet high should ignore these laws and act according to its whims and whims." Strange." The search for these eternal laws that determine human affairs was the essence of the so-called Enlightenment that preceded the French Revolution. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, people were mainly concerned with formulating the social, political, and economic theories that made up the Enlightenment, without making any scientific discoveries comparable to those in the seventeenth century, only due to the application of new methods of research based on experiments , some areas of science have achieved remarkable results. For example, after conducting experiments to study static electricity, in 1746 two professors at the University of Leiden invented the so-called Leiden bottle for storing and rapidly releasing electrical energy.Benjamin Franklin realized that there was a similarity between the sparks generated in the Leiden bottle and the lightning in the sky, and he used a kite experiment to prove it.In typical practice, Franklin developed a lightning rod in 1753 to prevent lightning strikes; lightning strikes, which were especially common in the Americas, cost people dearly.He also went on to develop the earliest comprehensive theory of electricity, which is still used in practical circuits today. At the beginning of the eighteenth century there was also great interest in the natural world, in what was then called natural history.The natural world is regarded almost as a god, as something of the utmost importance that can be studied forever, and can always give moral and true guidance.Clear evidence of the mania for natural history is to be found in the natural history exhibits, collected by all who can afford the time and money.They diligently collected and cataloged minerals, insects, fossils, and other objects.Some overseas countries have also promoted interest in this area with their exotic specimens.The collections of some, such as that of the wealthy Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), reached enormous size, and they formed the nucleus of the British Museum. This collection and cataloging allowed for a more fundamental elaboration of systematic botany and zoology.A pioneer in these fields was John Ray (1627-1705), author of a History of Plants, a History of Insects, and several Compendiums on Animals, Birds, Reptiles, and Fish.With regard to plants, for example, Ray used all their characteristics—fruits, flowers, leaves, and so on—in order to classify them according to their true, natural affinities.Throughout his work Ray rejects magic, witchcraft, and all superstitious explanations of phenomena, clinging to natural causes revealed by observation.In The Wisdom of God Seen in the Work of Creation, Ray rejects a view that recurred throughout the period from Augustine to Luther; that the natural world, while not hostile to religion, was Religion is irrelevant, the beauty of nature is a temptation, the study of nature is a waste of time.Ray wrote, "There is no occupation more worthwhile or more enjoyable than the careful observation of the wonderful works of nature, and the respect for the infinite wisdom and goodness of God." In systematic botany, Ray was followed by the Swedish professor Linnaeus (Carl von Linnaeus, 1707-1778), who developed the earliest and satisfactory method of classifying plants, and he also Divided into several outlines of mammals, birds, fish and insects.After Lin Zong, it became possible to study plants and animals systematically, and to develop methods for comparing various structures and functions.The further development of biology would not have been possible without this initial work of clarification. Another outstanding figure in natural history was the French nobleman Buffon (1707-1788). In 1739 he took over the Royal Gardens, now the Botanical Gardens, which he transformed into a vast institute where many of the leading French scientists had been inspired and trained.He also wrote the 36-volume masterpiece "Natural History", in which he tried to compile all available knowledge about the various natural sciences.Buffon rejects the ancient view that the Earth is about 5,000 years old, arguing that the Earth began as a molten mass that cooled and formed a crust on which plants and animals eventually emerged.He estimates the process took around 100,000 years; while that estimate is much lower than the 3 to 5 billion years established by modern science, at least Shifeng is starting to get on the right track.The French naturalist could not fail to notice the striking zoological resemblance between man and the lower animals.He has ventured to put forward the idea that if it were not for the clear statement in the Christian "Bible", people might be interested in finding the common origin of horses and donkeys, monkeys and humans.However, he later retracted this view. Around this time, great progress was also being made in geography.The earth began to be surveyed and studied systematically. In 1672, the French government sent Jean Rich to French Guiana "to make astronomical observations useful for navigation." In 1698, the British Admiralty commissioned William Dampier to explore "New Holland", that is, Australia.Dampier not only made precise observations and records of physical geography, flora and fauna, but also increased his original knowledge of hydrology, meteorology and geomagnetism.Interest in exploration grew steadily; on the proposal of the Royal Society, James Cook was sent to Tahiti in the South Pacific in 1768 to observe a transit of Venus.Cook's subsequent voyages aimed at finding an Antarctic continent were unsuccessful, but these voyages provided not only new knowledge of the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Ocean, but also other information of scientific value .Perhaps special mention should be made of the fact that more than a third of Captain Cook's men died of disease, chiefly scurvy, on his maiden voyage.By the time he made his next few voyages, medical knowledge had advanced so that citrus fruits were added to the sailor's diet, ending the dreaded scurvy. The Industrial Revolution, which began in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, had a profound impact on the economies of Britain and Europe, and ultimately the world.The Industrial Revolution also influenced, and was in turn influenced by, the Scientific Revolution.It should be emphasized, though, that throughout most of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the influence was almost exclusively in one direction—from industry to science.Many inventions in the textile industry were made by uneducated artisans; thanks to a favorable economic environment, they found opportunities to develop their natural talents.In these early years, science served industry in a subordinate capacity.For example, when the increased production of cloth exceeded the available supply of natural vegetable dyes, science was called upon to provide artificial substitutes.Likewise, when the transition from home brewing to large-scale winemaking resulted in catastrophic failure, science was called upon to find out why and how to fix it.Such demands on science contribute greatly to the development of science.The close relationship between industry and science is evidenced by the fact that most of the scientific progress of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries came not from Oxford, Cambridge, and London, as in the seventeenth century, but from Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Especially Birmingham. The case of the steam engine is an important exception. In 1769, James Watt adopted a separate condenser that was always kept cold, and shortly thereafter, he used a crankshaft to change the reciprocating motion of the steam engine into a rotary motion. In this way, he used a combination of technical ingenuity and scientific knowledge to increase the efficiency of the steam engine. raised to an appropriate level.Had it not been for the relatively unlimited power available to the steam engine, the Industrial Revolution could have petered out after merely increasing the rate of textile production, as happened in China, where similar technological advances had been made centuries earlier. One of the sciences that made the most progress in the first half of the 19th century was chemistry, partly because chemistry was closely related to the tissue industry, and the textile industry experienced very rapid development during those decades.Chemistry dates back to the earliest stages of human civilization, to the art of cooking and metalworking, the gathering of herbs and the extraction of medicines.From its inception, chemistry has been diverted by the search for a means of turning metals into gold, of discovering an elixir for all human ailments.Although these attempts were doomed to failure, they still revealed many chemicals and reactions.These things were later passed on to Western Europeans, mainly from China and the Muslim world. Before that time, the Greeks had developed a theoretical system that believed that there were four basic elements - earth, fire, air, water, which were transformed in turn in a cyclical manner. During the 18th century, most of the attention was focused on the problem of combustion Top - What happens when matter burns?Since the matter disappeared in the smoke and flames, leaving ashes, it was concluded that, at any rate, something was released during the combustion process.This stuff was long called sulfur, and was given the name of phlogiston, the element of fire.This idea dominated chemical thought until the study of gases revealed that air was a much more complex substance than had been imagined.Scientists were drawn to the gas problem because of the presence in mines and swamps of flammable air that could be collected in gas bubbles and burned.As early as 1755, Joseph Blake of Edinburgh succeeded in separating carbon dioxide by heating limestone.Then, in 1781, Henry Cavendish proved that water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen.Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) then made another important advance; he isolated oxygen and demonstrated that it is the element oxygen that is consumed in combustion and respiration.He further demonstrated that, in sunlight, green plants break down oxygen from the carbon dioxide they absorb.Thus, he solved the problem of the carbon cycle caused by the balance of oxygen-producing plants and carbon-dioxide-producing animals. 从气体研究工作中引出完备结论的是杰出的化学家安托万·洛朗·拉瓦锡（1743 -1794年），他在法国革命期间牺牲于断头台。拉瓦锡的典型的氧化实验非常简单。他将汞放在一个装有空气的密封罐子里加热，发现他得到了氧化汞，并发现空气的量减少了五分之一，亦即失去了空气中氧的成分。然后，拉瓦锡加热氧化汞，再一次获得汞加氧。他极仔细地称其所有物质的重量，发现每道步骤后失去或获得的重量等于燃烧过程中增加或减去的氧的重量。因而，他能摒弃传统的燃索说，用其著名的平衡原理来取代。 这样，拉瓦锡使化学先前的所有混乱现象变为一条元素结合定律。他在自己于1789年出版的教科书《化学大纲》中，提供了至今仍被使用的全新的术语。拉瓦锡将化学安置在坚固的科学基础上，因此，他的后继者知道了他们正在做什么、正在朝哪里进发。 在拉瓦锡的后继者当中，杰出人物要数约翰·道尔顿（1766 -1844年）和瑞典化学家乔恩斯.雅各布.贝采利乌斯（1779-1848年）。道尔顿正式提出了有关物质的原子论（氧原子与氢原子结合而形成水);贝采利乌斯通过把电流应用于化合物、将它们电解（金属移向阴极，非金属移向阳极），分离出许多新元素。贝采利乌斯还将近代符号系统引入化学，从而极大地促进了化学工作。他利用诸元素的拉丁名字的第一个字母或前两个字母作为元素的符号。 19 世纪的另一重要进步是出现了有机化学。原来，化学家们认为有机化合物——由生物产生的碳氢化合物——是由一种“生命力”以某种方式控制的。但是，随着化学家们发现有机化合物能用合成法合成，这一看法被抛弃了。1828年，弗里德里希·维勒取得了第一个成功，合成了见于尿中的有机物质尿素。他没有借助于肾，是通过普通的化学方法从无机化合物中获得尿素。他的朋友贾斯特斯·冯·李比希（1803-1873年）做了非常宝贵的工作，他证明植物从土壤中摄取的养料是由氮、磷酸盐和盐组成的。因而，他能制备出他曾用来使一块荒地肥沃并成为多产的园圃的化合物，为大规模的肥料工业的发展扫清了道路。 对工业的另一重要贡献由英国化学家威廉·亨利·珀金（1838 -1907年）作出。1856年，他在寻找奎宁的代用品时，偶然发现了第一种人造苯胺染料——品红。他的发现在英国受到忽视；在英国，化学仍仅仅是少数人的业余消遣，化学行业以“注重实际”而自豪。然而，德国工业界较关心科学的厂长们看出，珀金的发现能为气体工业一向作为废品的煤焦油提供一条宝贵的出路。由于他们资助这项研究，许多合成染料给制造出来，提供了巨大的利润。到第一次世界大战时，德国人已拥有世界上最先进的化学工业，实际垄断了合成染料的生产。 对工业来说，同样重要的是法国杰出的化学家路易·巴斯德（1822 -1895年）的工作。他在里尔大学工作期间，当地酒厂老板曾纷纷向他请求帮助，因为他们在从甜菜中提取乙醇时遇到了麻烦——果浆往往莫名其妙地变坏了。巴斯德没有找到化学上的解释，就用显微镜检查麦芽浆，发现上面满是奇怪的、伸长的生长物，而未受损害的麦芽浆上则是圆的小球。通过实验室证明，他指出了如何才能控制这些有害的生长物、阻止它们妨碍发酵。由于这一经历，他做了进一步的实验，使他能驳斥传统的生物自然发生说，提出现在公认的生源论——生物只能通过生物的繁殖产生——来取代。为了证实生源论，他指出，通过排除空气中看不见的微生物，能够使肉体物质和植物性物质不腐败。这一点后来成为大规模的罐头食品制造工业的基础。 1865 年，巴斯德接受了一个更艰巨的任务。法国蒸蒸日上的丝绸工业由于蚕的一种神秘的疾病而正遭到毁灭的威胁。当巴斯德开始调查研究时，他并不知道蚕是什么东西，也不知道一条丑陋的毛虫以后会变成一只美丽的蛾。但是，经过一段时期的深入细致的探究，他发现疾病是由生活、成长在蚕体内的一种微生物引起的。他很快找到了治疗办法，丝绸工业得救了。巴斯德接着为家畜的炭疽病、特别惊人的是为人的狂犬病制备血清。此外，由于他的疾病病菌说的普及，人们采取了卫生预防措施，使有可能控制由来已久的灾祸——伤寒、白喉、霍乱、鼠疫和疟疾。这些医学上的进步产生了深远的影响，首先是在欧洲，然后是在全世界，导致人口迅速增长。 正如牛顿因发现支配宇宙中的物体的定律而统治17世纪的科学那样，查尔斯·达尔文（1809—1882年）因发现支配人类本身进化的规律而统治19世纪的科学。 然而，进化的思想对达尔文来说，决不是新的：在他以前，这思想已被提出并应用于科学的各领域。让·德·拉马克（1744 -1829年）较早时候就已向一种传统的观念挑战；这种观念认为，一度被创造出来、此后一直存在下去的物种具有不可改变的稳定性。拉马克想象有一种从蠕虫到人类的全面进化，并试图用获得性理论来解释这一进化过程。马由于需要迅跑而获得敏捷的腿，长颈鹿由于需要吃高处的树枝而获得长脖子。任何这类身体上的变化通过遗传过程被传下去，成为下一代的起点。 拉马克以后，还有查尔斯·赖统地出版了有名的《地质学原理，三卷（1830 —1833年），普及了有关地球表面的形成的“均变论”或渐变论。以往，人们一向认为地球表面是由过去的灾变如火山、地震和洪水等造成的。存在于高山地区的海贝被简便地认为是挪亚时的洪水留下的。相反，赖尔认为，现在的地球表面是亿万年间诸如冰蚀、风和水的侵蚀、冰冻和融化之类的地质力量活动的产物。 当时，进化的思想不但在自然科学中，而且在社会科学中也是突出的。从19 世纪40年代起，卡尔·马克思就写道，所有社会制度都处于不断的变化过程中。自人类有史以来，一种社会已让位于另一种社会——原始的部落制让位于古代的奴隶制、奴隶制让位封建农奴制、农奴制让位于现代资本主义制度，所以，他满怀信心地预言，资本主义制度将让位于未来的社会主义制度。那时，有影响得多的是赫伯特·斯宾塞（1820—1903年）提出的包括一切的进化学说。他将其学说应用于所有的事物，包括物质的、生物学的、文化的和社会的。斯宾塞在1857 年发表的《进步：其规律及原因》一书中写道，“无论是在社会的发展中还是在政治、制造业、商业、语言、文学、科学及艺术的发展中，这种由简单经过连续的变异而进入复杂的同样的进化始终保持着。” 这就是达尔文创立其划时代的理论时的环境。达尔文出生于一个在他以前已有两代人显露科学才能机他起又有两代人显露科学才能）的家庭。他上剑桥大学时，将时间更多地不是用在学习上，而是花费在收集和研究动物及昆虫方面。有位教授认识到他的潜力，推荐他到政府的即将开始环球科学考察的“比格尔号”船上当不拿薪水的博物学家。这次远航从1830年持续到1836年；远航期间，达尔文对在个别物种身上观察到的许多变异印象极深。例如，在与世隔绝的加拉帕戈斯群岛上，他发现了一些显然是起源于在大陆的祖先但不知怎么地已渐渐变得不同的物种。这一点粉碎了古老的物种不变论，但是，变异是怎么发生以及为什么会发生的问题仍未得到解答。 考察回来的两年后，他认托马斯·马尔萨斯写的一本书中得到了启示；马尔萨斯在那本书中提出了一种理论：如果不消除过剩的人口，人口要比食物增长得快。 达尔文以其通常的谨慎和不辞劳苦的细心发展这一学说。1839年，他开始拟草稿；3年后，它仍仅仅是一份用铅笔写成的35页的提纲。到1844年，他已将它扩展成230页的论文。那年，他给一位朋友写信说： 然而，达尔文仍不能使自己发表其研究结果。他继续进一步按集证据，直到1858 年收到另一位博物学家艾尔弗雷德·拉塞尔·华莱土（1823—1913年）的一封惊人的信时。华莱士曾居住巴西和荷属东印度群岛多年，在那些地方吸收了极大量的动物学知识。1858年2月，当他在摩鹿加群岛的特尔纳特岛上患疟疾卧床休息时，他想到了他也读过的马尔萨斯的著作，突然，最适者生存是实现进化的途径这一念头在他脑子里掠过。华莱士的脾性和达尔文完全不同，他立即将自己的思想诉诸文字。当天夜里，尽管仍受着发烧的折磨，他还是起草了自己的新学说。以后两晚，他将它写成文章，然后寄给了达尔文；他与达尔文是经常通信的。 1858 年6月，达尔文收到了这份手稿；他因读到的是一份他已写成的东西的概要，惊呆了。“我从未见过比这更惊人的巧合”，他给查尔斯·赖尔去信说，“即使华莱士已得到我在1842年写下的手稿，他也不可能写出比这更好的简短提要！甚至他的话现在可放在我每章的上端。”达尔文对于公布自己的研究成果一事不再犹豫了。1858年7月1日，他在伦敦向学会宣读他自己的论文和华莱土的论文，所谓达尔文的进化假说给提出来了。达尔文在他于1859年出版的主要著作《物种起源：借助于自然选择即生存斗争中的适者生存》中更详细地阐述了自己的思想。 达尔文的主要论点——他的进化学说——是，处于现在各种不同形式中的动植物种类不是作为单独的、特殊的创造行为的结果而固定不变的，而是有共同的原始起源的、不同的、变化中的自然结果。达尔文认为，变异借以发生的主要方式是“自然选择”。他将这一过程阐释如下： 也许很难把自然界中所有的变种都设想力似乎是象“自然选择”所提供的那样一个不规则的、缓慢的变化过程的产物。不过，统计学上的计算结果表明，即使一次突变仅仅导致百分之一的较好的生存机会，它也会使一个物种经历100 世代以后有为数一半的个体发生了突变。换句话说，即使101个发生过突变的个体活下来后有100个失去了突变，突变仍会在生物学上所说的短时间内传遍该物种。一种具有浅颜色和深颜色的小蛾子为“自然选择”是如何起作用提供了一个具体例子。人们已注意到，在浅色的桦树林里，浅色种类的蛾通常是深色种类的蛾的6倍；相反，在深色的松树林，深色种类的蛾通常为浅色种类的蛾的16倍。从这两种树林中鸟类的身上遗留下来的蛾翅膀的颜色上，也可找到“自然选择”如何起作用的证据。 达尔文的学说虽然在后来的研究基础上得到了详细修改，但其要点实际上已为现在所有的科学家所接受。1958 年7月1日，在庆祝达尔文发表其论文一百周年的大会上，英国杰出的科学家加文·德比尔爵士称赞道：“进化的事实如今已普遍地为所有有资格发表意见的人所承认，进化的作用过程大体上已阐明。自然选择的理论已建立在非常坚固的基础上，因此，现代的工作只不过是进一步证实这一理论，尽管随着知识的增加而需对它作新的表述。” 然而，达尔文的学说在他生前远没有被普遍接受。确实，它由于当时几位杰出的科学家的研究和著作而得到加强。地质学家查尔斯·赖尔在他于1863 年发表的《人类的古代》一书中接受了达尔文主义。两位最主要的植物学家——英国基尤植物园的主任约瑟夫·胡克爵士和哈佛大学教授阿萨·格雷也成为达尔文主义者。在达尔文主义的最热烈的拥护者当中，还有两位著名的生物学家——德国人恩斯特·海克尔和英国人托马斯·赫胥黎，后者称自己为“达尔文的斗犬”。 但是，在某些方面，特别是在教士中间，却存在着激烈的反对。这是可理解的，因为正如以往哥白尼的天文学体系废除了地球在宇宙中的中心地位一样，达尔文主义似乎废黜了人类在地球历史上的中心地位。当达尔文于1871 年发表另一部著作《人类的由来》时，教士们自然得出如此结论。达尔文在这部著作中安排了人类与整个动物生活有关的证据，断定“如果有谁不愿意象野蛮人那样把自然界的各种现象看作是支离破碎的，那他就不再能相信人类是一个单独的创造行为的成果”。也就是说，达尔文否认了神的创造材为。由于他说人类起源于猴子，损害了人类的尊严、道德和宗教，他受到了不公正的谴责。本杰明·迪斯累里曾在严宣告：如果要在猿和天使之间作选择，他将站在天使这一边。 尽管达尔文主义受到宗教界和其他集团的敌视，它还是对西方社会有着深远的影响。根本原因在于它对最适者生存和生存斗争的强调极妙地与时代倾向相适应。例如，政治上，这是俾斯麦以血和铁统一德国的时期。他在各国的民族主义赞美者认为达尔文主义给了他们支持和正当理由。他们认为在政治活动中和在自然界一样，最强有力者是得胜者，好战的品质决定谁将在国际“生存斗争”中获胜。经济生活中，这是自由经营和粗鲁的个人主义的时期。舒适的、心满意足的上、中层阶级激烈反对国家为促进较大的社会平等而作出的任何干预。他们论证说，他们应得到幸福和成功，因为他们已证明自己较无能的穷人更“适合”，而且，大公司对小公司的兼并是“生存斗争”的一部分。19世纪后期也是殖民地扩张的黄金时期，达尔文主义被用来为帝国主义辩护。有人争辩说，殖民地是强国的繁荣和生存所必需的；还有人争辩说，按照世间的成就判断，诸土著民族软弱、低劣，需要优越的、较强大的欧洲人的保护和指导。 这种将达尔文的学说应用到社会舞台的做法，称为社会达尔文主义。达尔文本人从没想到他的研究结果会以这一方式被利用，更不用说有这种打算了。然而，事实仍然是，它们被如此地利用了；原因在于，它们似乎为当时由于其他缘故而开始支配欧洲的唯物主义即现实政策提供了科学的支持。简言之，达尔文主义合宜地与吉卜林的以下这句名言相一致： 另一位英国作家希莱尔·贝洛克在提到欧洲人在非洲的地位时表达了同样的观点： 随着19 世纪的过去，科学成为西方社会的一个日益重要的部分。在19世纪初，科学仍处于经济生活和社会生活的边缘。但是，到它为久已建立的工业作出基本贡献的19 世纪末，它正在创造全新的工业，正在不但深深地影响西方人的生活方式，并且深深地影响他们的思想方式。此外，由科学革命造成的这种变化还以无数方式直接和间接地影响整个世界。科学使欧洲在技术上对世界的霸权成为可能，并在很大程度上决定了这一霸权的性质和作用。科学还为19世纪西方在智力方面的优势提供了基础。欧洲的艺术、宗教或哲学没有给非西方民族以巨大影响，因为非西方民族已在这些领域作出了类似的贡献。但是，在科学和技术方面，就不存在如此的平等。只有西方掌握了自然界的种种秘密，并为了人类的物质进步而对它们进行了利用。这是一个不可否认、有说服力的事实。非西方人不再轻视欧洲人，不再将欧洲人看作碰巧在帆船和火器方面拥有某种优势的不文明的野蛮人。他们勉强地承认了欧洲科学革命的意义。因此，从前的殖民地民族在今天的主要目标是亲自经历这场他们因偶然的历史环境而错过的独特的革命。甚至在1914年以前，遥远的乌兹别克的一位土著民族主义领袖已劝告他的人民要求助于科学，将科学作为恢复他们自由的唯一手段。 的秘密含义，为捍卫伊斯兰教制造步枪和大炮，把祖国从外国人手中解放出来……将能够使我们民族摆脱异教徒的枷锁，使伊斯兰教恢复其早先的崇高地位。 杰出的历史学家赫伯特·巴特菲尔德将科学革命的世界意义总结如下：