The Beginnings of Science

The libraries of Alexandria (in Egypt) became depositories of knowledge and were major contributors to the advancement of science and intellectual studies in many other countries. 

Modern science is very different from the descriptions of early systems of thought. Early philosophers and theorists lacked the objective methodologies and rational investigative processes required for the controlled experiments that led to modern science. They were more concerned with seeking universal cures for sickness, transmutation of base metals into gold, and mysticism in general. Most, but not all, ancient philosophers depended more on the written words of experts than on their own observations and insights. 

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Today most of the ideas of Aristotie are proven wrong. However, he cannot be blamed for it. It was just the beginning of science. In his time, quantitative physics was not well developed. Even speed was not defined quantitatively. It was described in terms of slow and fast. Similarly, temperature was also not defined in any scale like °C. People only had idea about hot and cold. Probably, they were able to appreciate that among two bodies which one is hotter, but they could not quantify it. The concept of friction was not known. Hence, it was natural for Aristotle to believe that when we remove a force from an object, it stops because it has natural tendency to stop. 

The term soldier-technologist comes from Stanley L. Falk, Soldier-Technologist Major Alfred Mordecai and the Beginnings of Science in the United States Army (Unpublished PhD cUssertation,... 

Classical and Quantum Mechanics. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a revolution was brewing in the world of physics. For hundreds of years, the Newtonian laws of mechanics had satisfactorily provided explanations and supported experimental observations in the physical sciences. However, the experimentaUsts of the nineteenth century had begun delving into the world of matter at an atomic level. This led to unsatisfactory explanations of the observed patterns of behavior of electricity, light, and matter, and it was these inconsistencies which led Bohr, Compton, deBroghe, Einstein, Planck, and Schrn dinger to seek a new order, another level of theory, ie, quantum theory. 

During the nineteenth century the growth of thermodynamics and the development of the kinetic theory marked the beginning of an era in which the physical sciences were given a quantitative foundation. In the laboratory, extensive researches were carried out to determine the effects of pressure and temperature on the rates of chemical reactions and to measure the physical properties of matter. Work on the critical properties of carbon dioxide and on the continuity of state by van der Waals provided the stimulus for accurate measurements on the compressibiUty of gases and Hquids at what, in 1885, was a surprisingly high pressure of 300 MPa (- 3,000 atmor 43,500 psi). This pressure was not exceeded until about 1912. 

X-ray structural studies have played a major role in transforming chemistry from a descriptive science at the beginning of the twentieth century to one in which the properties of novel compounds can be predicted on theoretical grounds. When W.L. Bragg solved the very first crystal structure, that of rock salt, NaCl, the results completely changed prevalent concepts of bonding forces in ionic compounds. 

The beginnings of the enormous field of solid-state physics were concisely set out in a fascinating series of recollections by some of the pioneers at a Royal Society Symposium (Mott 1980), with the participation of a number of professional historians of science, and in much greater detail in a large, impressive book by a number of historians (Hoddeson et al. 1992), dealing in depth with such histories as the roots of solid-state physics in the years before quantum mechanics, the quantum theory of metals and band theory, point defects and colour centres, magnetism, mechanical behaviour of solids, semiconductor physics and critical statistical theory. 

Finite automata such as these are the simplest kind of computational model, and are not very powerful. For example, no finite automaton can accept the set of all palindromes over some specified alphabet. They certainly do not wield, in abstract terms, the full computational power of a conventional computer. For that we need a suitable generalization of the these primitive computational models. Despite the literally hundreds of computing models that have been proposed at one time or another since the beginning of computer science, it has been found that each has been essentially equivalent to just one of four fundamental models finite automata, pushdown automata, linear bounded automata and Turing machines. 

Our starting point will be based on examples of the activities of science, rather than on definitions. We will perform these activities, beginning on familiar ground. On such ground, where you know the answer, you will best see the steps by which science advances. 

So the activities of science begin with observation. Observation is most useful when the conditions which affect the observation are controlled carefully. A condition is controlled when it is fixed, known, and can be varied deliberately if desired. This control is best obtained in a special locale—a laboratory. When the observation is brought under careful control, it is dignified by a special name—a controlled sequence of observations is called an experiment. All science is built upon the results of experiments. 

The polymer-solvent interaction parameter, which is a key constant defining the physical chemistry of every polymer in a solvent, can be obtained from electrochemical experiments. Definition and inclusion of this interaction was a milestone in the development of polymer science at the beginning of the 1950s. We hope that Eq. 47 will have similar influence in the development of all the cross-interactions of electrochemistry and polymer science by the use of the ESCR model. A second point is that Eq. 47 provides us with an efficient tool to obtain this constant in electroactive... 

Lewis (1875-1946) Some misunderstandings demonstrate the beginning of organic chemistry as science of molecular structures. 

Unlocking the secrets of the nucleus was a mixed blessing, for in addition to our understanding of the sun, we also acquired nuclear weapons of immense desfructive potential. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons was one of the last acts of the Second World War but the beginning of the nuclear dilemma More than 50 years later, controversies still rage over how society should use the fruits of nuclear science. 

This serendipitous discovery marked the beginning of the synthetic dyestuffs industry, based on coal tar as its main raw material, which is, incidentally, a waste product from another industry, steel manufacture. The development of mauveine was followed by efficient syntheses of natural dyes such as alizarin in 1869 (Graebe and Liebermann, 1869), and indigo in 1878 (Bayer, 1878 Heumann, 1890). The synthetic production of these dyes marked the demise of the agricultural production of these materials and the advent of a science-based, predominantly German chemical industry. The present-day fine chemicals and specialties, e.g. pharmaceuticals, industries developed largely as spin-offs of this coal tar-based dyestuffs industry. 

We both felt from the beginning of our co-operation that we should spend a significant part of our scientific life to the improvement of analytical science, particu-lary the reliability of methods . 

A Readers Advisory to the Best Books on the History of Science. Written by 200 International Scholars, the 600 Comparative Essays Begin with a Bibliography of Important Works, Followed by Reviews of Those Sources in the Body of the Entry. Important Concepts and Processes, Phenomena, and Scientists As Well As Scientific Developments in Different Countries Are Covered... 

Lindberg, David C. The beginnings of Western science the European scientific tradition in philosophical, religious, and institutional context, 600 B.C. to A.D. 1450. Chicago Univ of Chicago P, 1992. ISBN 0-226-48231-6... 

Many other experts also helped make this book as accurate and readable as possible. A number of them spent considerable time and thought helping me, and I thank them at the beginning of each chapter s bibliography. The history of science and, in particular, the history of chemistry, is enjoying a remarkable boom, and I hope that a book aimed at a general audience will alert readers to this interesting new field. 

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