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Science in the Middle Ages, was less differentiated than in subsequent times. Encyclopedic scientists wrote both poetry and scientific treatises in various fields of knowledge.
Philosophy, theology and scholasticism, alchemy, astrology and astronomy (at first in the depths of astrology), mathematics, geography, and medicine developed. Chronicles and other historical works were written. Universities and book printing contributed to the spread of knowledge (in China it developed from the 5th-6th centuries, multicolor printing from the 14th century; in Europe it was invented by J. Gutenberg). Movements of huge masses of people (migrations, conquests) were accompanied both by the destruction of the centers of scientific thought and its carriers, and by the dialogue of scientific schools.
During the Great Migration of Peoples, the ancient tradition in the west of Europe was stopped, again it was adopted from Arab scientists ca. 11th c. Aristotle was recognized by the Catholic Church in the 13th century. Byzantium preserved the heritage of Antiquity both in science and in education, transforming it in the spirit of Christianity (John of Damascus, Michael Psellos, etc.).

Science in the Middle Ages. Code of symbols and numbers. China.

Philosophy, rhetoric and history (as a teleological process) were considered priority. Descriptions were compiled: regions, cities, church dioceses, themes, travels of merchants and pilgrims (see Art. Kozma Indikopl). Law was developed (see Art. Code of Laws of Justinian G), including canonical; in the 11th century in Constantinople opened a higher law school. There were hospitals and medical schools attached to them. The guide to the pharmacopoeia of Nicholas Mireps (13th century) was used in Europe and in the 17th century.
R. Bacon was one of the first to use the scientific method in Europe. The picture of the world was radically changed by the Great geographical discoveries. In practice, scientific ideas were tested, the contours of the continents were established, the World Ocean was discovered, the sphericity of the Earth was proved, empirical material for botany, zoology, ethnography, etc. was obtained, a breakthrough in astronomy was provided (N. worlds). In the Renaissance, from the standpoint of humanism, the doctrines of society and man were developed, the differentiation of sciences accelerated, and the scope of experiment (optics, mechanics, etc.) expanded.
The Arab world, in the process of the formation of Islam and the Caliphate, assimilated the scientific heritage of Antiquity, the Aramaeans, Iran, etc. In the 8th-9th centuries. the works of Archimedes, Ptolemy, Indian astronomers and mathematicians were translated and commented into Arabic.

Science in the Middle Ages. Teaching kids geometry.

The centers of scientific thought were Baghdad, Damascus, Aleppo (Aleppo), Samarkand, Bukhara, Isfahan, the cities of Spain, etc. In Cairo, from the beginning. 11th c. there was a "House of Knowledge".
The works of scientists of this world were well known beyond its borders (Ibn Rushd, Biruni, Khorezmi and others; "Optics" by Ibn al-Khaytham, "Canon of Medicine" by Ibn Sina, geographical treatises of Idrisi). Scientists solved applied problems (in the field of construction, surveying, trade), made algebra a scientific discipline, measured the inclination of the ecliptic and the degree of the meridian, and compiled ziji (collections of tables and calculation rules for spherical astronomy).
Arab geographers and travelers, guided by Ptolemy, left descriptions of the Universe (cosmography) and the countries of the Islamic world, Europe, Africa and Asia, geographical dictionaries. The pilot of Vasco da Gama, Ibn Majid (15th century) and al-Mehri (16th century), summarized the achievements of Arab navigators. Genealogical legends, legends about the spread of Islam, the translated "Book of Kings" (Sasanian Iran), Jewish and Christian apocrypha were used in writing chronicles, biographical dictionaries, encyclopedias (Yemen, Egypt). The doctrine of the laws of the development of society was developed by Ibn Khaldun.

Science in the Middle Ages. Map of Idrisi. 1154

In China, sedatives were used (during operations), acupuncture and cauterization, thousands of remedies. The physician Zhong Feng wrote the world's first "Pharmacology" ("Ben Cao", 3rd century). I Xing and Liang Ling-ts'an in the 8th c. expressed the idea of ​​the variability of the distances between the "fixed" stars, the degree of the meridian was measured. Chinese mathematicians 11th-14th centuries knew the properties of binomial coefficients and Pascal's triangle (arithmetic triangle). The discovery of the Great Silk Road stimulated interest in geography. Xuanzang reached the mouth of the Ganges (629). In 10-13 centuries. seafaring and shipbuilding flourished. In the 14-15 centuries. Zheng He made 7 sea voyages (to Central and Southeast Asia, to the coast of Africa).
The Chinese invented paper (2nd century AD), porcelain (3rd-5th centuries), a device for measuring the distance traveled (3rd century) and a seismoscope, gunpowder (10th century). In the 7th century The Chamber of Scientists was created. From the 7th c. compiled histories of dynasties, encyclopedias: “Taiping yu-lan” (“Imperial review”), “Tse fu yuan gui” (“Treasury of libraries”), etc.

Achievements of Indian science: decimal positional number system and numbers known to us as Arabic; a table of sines for calculating the location of the planets; classification of plants (for the purposes of medicine), minerals and organic substances; obtaining lapis and other substances; metallurgy (a stainless steel meteoric iron column in Delhi, early 5th century, one of the wonders of the world). Large observatories were built in the Great Mogul Empire (in Delhi, Jaipur and other cities). Indian philosophy developed in line with Buddhism. Applying Buddhist dialectics, Shankara in the 8th-9th centuries. developed the doctrine of non-dual Vedanta, which became the rationale for the caste system (see Art. Castes). Prakrit grammars describe phonetic correspondences in the ancient and Middle Aryan languages, glossaries (nighantu) were compiled for the Vedas, in the 7th century. poetic theorists developed a semantic theory of the word (shabdashakti).
Little is known about the scientific knowledge of the Indians (see Art. Aztec civilization, Mayan calendar, Inca civilization).
In the Middle Ages, the scientific picture of the world changed, the foundation of modern science was laid (see Art. Science in the Age of Enlightenment). The discoveries and inventions of the Middle Ages made the industrial revolution possible.

Science in the Middle Ages

II period of development of science - medieval

Ancient science declined not only as a result of the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the Roman Empire in the 5th century, but also as a result of the spread of Christianity in the Eastern Empire. Despite the prosperity of Byzantium, science was persecuted there. In 391, Christian fanatics, whom the patriarch of Alexandria called on to destroy pagan books, burned the Alexandrian library, many manuscripts were irretrievably lost. In the VI century, all "pagan" schools were closed, including the Academy of Plato and the Lyceum of Aristotle. The persecution of scientists led to their mass emigration to Asia, mainly to Iran.

VII - VIII centuries, the period of the Arab conquests. The vast territories of the former Roman Empire in Asia, Africa, the Iberian Peninsula were captured by the Arabs, who united under the banner of a new religion - Islam. Many temples and monuments were destroyed. During the capture of Alexandria in 642 by the Muslim caliph Omar, the world's greatest library was completely destroyed.

However, in Syria, Iran and other places, the Hellenistic philosophical and scientific tradition was preserved. Aristotle and other Greek philosophers were translated into Syriac. However, a real breakthrough in the development of Greek culture began with the accession of the Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad.

medieval science

The reign of Harun al-Rashid (763/766–809) marked the beginning of the first comprehensive Hellenistic renaissance in the Arab world. It began with numerous translations into Syriac, most of which were done by Christians at an early stage. Al-Rashid actively supported scholars who studied the Greek language and translated Greek philosophical and scientific works. He also sent people to the West to acquire Greek manuscripts. A lot of work on the translation of foreign-language works and their distribution led to the creation of libraries, which were usually located at mosques and madrasahs.

Already at the end of the 9th century, Baghdad became the center of education in the Arab world. The Arabs assimilated not only the Hellenistic culture. They established important contacts with Iran, India and China.

Arab scientists learned a lot of knowledge in India. Here the VI century in the writings Aryabhats developed a decimal system. 100 years later Brahmagupta entered negative numbers and the number "0". His contemporary Prophet Muhammad personally contributed to the spread of Indian numerals in the Arab world.

Arab scholars have made outstanding contributions to many fields of knowledge. At the beginning of the ninth century, the mathematician Mohammed bin Musa al Khorezmi(c. 780–847) laid the foundations of algebra. In 827, al Khorezmi took part in measuring the length of the degree of the earth's meridian on the plain of Sinjar. Around 830 he produced the first known Arabic treatise on algebra. Under Caliph al Vasik (842-847), al Khorezmi led an expedition to the Khazars. The last mention of it refers to 847.

A special place in the development of Arabic science is occupied by Abu Ali Hasan al Haysan al Basri(965–1039). His main work on optics, The Treasure of Optics, was in many ways a breakthrough in this science. Al Basri achieved great success in the study of lenses, spherical and parabolic mirrors. Moreover, he was an outstanding representative of the experimental approach to the study of optical phenomena and made an accurate analysis of the structure and functioning of the eye for his time. Contrary to Aristotle, he argued that the beam of light comes from the observed object, and not from the eye. Today, al Basri is regarded as the greatest physicist in the Arab world. He had a strong influence on Western science, including Roger Bacon, Kepler and Newton. Al Basri also wrote commentaries on Euclid's Elements.

Abu Reyhan Mohammed ibn Ahmet al Biruni(973-1048) - Khorezmian scientist. The range of his interests is unusually wide: mathematics, chronology, geography, geology, geodesy, astronomy, physics, botany, mineralogy, ethnography, history. In astronomy, al-Biruni, along with the geocentric system, recognized the heliocentric one.

Abu Ali Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina(980-1037) - a representative of Eastern Aristotelianism. He was the first to use a vernier in his instruments. Ibn Sina was a scholar possessed by an exploratory spirit and a desire for encyclopedic coverage of all modern branches of knowledge. He had a phenomenal memory and sharpness of thought. He wrote 450 works in 29 fields of science, 274 works have come down to us. Philosopher, physician, astronomer, mathematician.

Omar Khayyam(1048-1131) - astronomer, mathematician, philosopher and poet. In mathematics, he established that π is an irrational number. I found a graphical way to solve the equation of the 3rd degree. Student of Omar Khayyam Al Khazini, whose activity unfolded between 1115 and 1121, wrote a wonderful treatise - a "course" of medieval physics, which included tables of specific gravity of solid and liquid bodies, descriptions of experiments on weighing air, observations of the phenomenon of capillarity, a description of the use of a hydrometer to measure the density of a liquid.

Ulugbek Muhammed Taragai(1394-1449) - Uzbek astronomer and mathematician, one of the greatest thinkers, educators, scientists of the Middle Ages. The grandson of Tamerlane, was the ruler of the Timurid Empire - Khorezm. His main interest in science was astronomy. In 1428, Ulugbek built an observatory in Samarkand, which also received his name. In Ulugbek's Observatory there was a sextant with a diameter of 36 meters divided by 180°. In it, Ulugbek by 1437 completed the Zij-i Sultani - a catalog of the starry sky, in which 994 stars were described. According to the unanimous recognition of historians of astronomy, Ulugbek's tables, in terms of their completeness and accuracy of data, were recognized as the best in the world before the invention of the telescope.

In 1437, Ulugbek determined the length of the astronomical year as 365 days, 6 hours, 10 minutes, 8 seconds (with an error of + 58 seconds).

Ulugbek's scientific and educational activities aroused dissatisfaction among the Muslim clergy and reactionary feudal lords, who accused him of heresy and organized a conspiracy against him. Ulugbek was treacherously killed, and his observatory was barbarously destroyed.

In almost all areas of scientific research - astronomy, mathematics, medicine and optics - Arab scientists occupied a leading position. For more than six centuries, the Arabs were technically and scientifically superior to the West. The question arises why Arabic science has not become the source of modern science. Why did the scientific revolution take place in the 16th-17th centuries in Europe and not in the Arab-Islamic world? How can the decline of Arabic science after the 14th century be explained? Why did the development of Arabic philosophy and science stop?

At first glance, it may seem that one of the reasons for the stagnation and decline of Eastern science in the 14th century was the Arab attempt to "Islamize" Greek science. Almost without exception, all the aforementioned Arab philosophers earned their living as doctors, jurists, and civil servants. Although they were all Muslims, they based their activities on Greek philosophy and science, without trying to "Islamize" its problems and results. This was tolerated, but at the same time, these scientists increasingly became the targets of criticism from religious circles. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, pressure from specifically Islamic sciences increased. The so-called "foreign" sciences could count on support only when they were religiously justified or, say, performed a certain religious function (astronomy, geometry and arithmetic were among these sciences, since in order to pray, Muslims needed to know the exact time and direction to Mecca). However, many other scientific fields have been criticized from a religious point of view as "useless" or as undermining the Quran's picture of the world. Thus, the increasing Islamization of "foreign sciences" apparently led to a limitation of what could legitimately be treated as actual research problems.

Perhaps another big problem was the lack of institutional foundations for science in Arab culture. The main Arab center of education were religious Muslim schools - madrasahs. Beginning to flourish in the 11th century, they were the main Islamic cultural institutions. Madrasahs were mainly intended for the study of religious (Islamic) sciences. All studies focused on the study of the Koran, the life of the Prophet and his followers, as well as the Muslim doctrine of law (Sharia). Philosophy and natural sciences were not studied, although the main texts related to them were copied in the madrasah and transferred to libraries. Many philosophers and scientists were teachers in the madrasah, but they did not lecture here on "foreign" sciences. To an increasing extent, the pursuit of "foreign sciences" became a personal matter or associated with the mosque (astronomy) and the caliph's court (medicine). Independent Arab science has never been formalized and sanctioned by the Arab-Islamic religious and political elite. Medieval Islam did not recognize guilds and corporations. Professional groups of students and teachers could not be legally formalized, which prevented their independent internal development. Accordingly, it was almost impossible to create autonomous academic institutions with internal self-government, as was the case in the European universities of the late Middle Ages. Therefore, obviously, the most important reason for the stagnation of Arabic science in the XIV century. is that the Arab world has never been able to create independent universities that are tolerated and that can count on the support of both secular and religious authorities.

Contacts with the Arabs and the flourishing of economic activity led to an intellectual awakening in Spain, Lorraine, France, and Scotland. In Italy, the first institutions serving to disseminate and expand knowledge were created - universities. In 1100, the University of Bologna had already achieved glory. By this time, the University of Paris also gained fame.

Following the model of Paris and Bologna, universities were created in Padua (1222), Oxford (1229), Cambridge, Naples, Rome, etc. Approximately between 1125 and 1280. in Spain and Italy, the works of Aristotle, Euclid and Ptolemy were translated, the one-sided study of which led to the development of scholasticism. At this time, the works of Archimedes and Heron were almost certainly not yet known, so that the entire study of mechanics was based on the writings of Aristotle and the "Problems in Mechanics", which were also attributed to Aristotle.

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Specific Features and Features of Medieval Science

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Medieval science did not offer new fundamental scientific programs. Its significance consisted in the fact that a number of new generalizations, clarifications, concepts and research methods were proposed, which prepared the basis for the mechanics of the New Age.

The main features of medieval science are:

1. Rationality - comprehension of phenomena on the basis of reason and sensory experience.

2. Theologism - interpretation of any problems from the point of view of Scripture. It was believed that nature was created by God for the good of man, and the phenomena of nature are the providence of God, incomprehensible to man. In general, the interpretation of the phenomena of reality was reduced to a statement of the manifestation of divine providence.

3. Hierarchy - the idea of ​​proximity or distance from God. In accordance with this approach, nature does not have independence, it is part of the hierarchy, at the head of which is God, followed by man, then there is living nature, and behind it is inanimate.

4. Lack of formalized scientific concepts was a consequence of the loss by science in the early Middle Ages (before the XIII - XIV centuries) of its theoretical positions. All scientific achievements were considered from the point of view of practical benefits.

5. Experimentality - logically follows from the church's assertion that the world was created for a person who is its master and has the right to remake it.

6. Moral symbolism - a characteristic feature of medieval knowledge. Interest in natural phenomena does not lead to scientific generalizations, but makes them symbols of the church.

7. Universalism - the desire to embrace the world as a whole, the awareness of its complete unity. The world, man and nature are created by God and therefore are related to each other. Knowledge of nature is learned through the knowledge of God.

The listed features of the medieval worldview were reflected in the process of cognition, causing its specific features:

· Any human activity that contradicts the dogmas of the church was forbidden. All views on nature were censored by the church and, if there were discrepancies with accepted views, they were declared heretical and subjected to the court of the Inquisition. With the help of cruel torture and burning at the stake, the Inquisition brutally suppressed any dissent.

Science in the Middle Ages

Discoveries of the laws of nature, contrary to the dogmas of the church, cost many medieval scientists their lives. This contributed to the strengthening of the element of contemplative cognition and ultimately led to stagnation (stagnation) and even regression of scientific cognition as a whole.

· Since medieval thinkers were looking not for connections between natural phenomena, but for their relationship to God, in the hierarchy of things, this led to the absence in science of the objective laws of nature necessary for the formation of natural science.

· In view of the fact that in cognitive activity the analysis of things hierarchically located in relation to God, and not the analysis of concepts, prevailed, deduction served as a universal research method, which allows drawing particular conclusions (consequences) from the general - God.

In general, we can state the rollback of medieval science back, compared with ancient science. Science was declared "the handmaiden of theology", a means of solving purely applied problems. Against the background of the general decline of science, arithmetic and astronomy, necessary for calculating the dates of religious holidays, developed.

The situation in medieval science began to change for the better from the 12th century, when the scientific heritage of Aristotle began to be used in scientific everyday life. Revival in medieval science was introduced by scholasticism, which used scientific methods (argumentation, proof) in theology.

Main scientific achievements of the Middle Ages the following can be considered:

• The first steps towards a mechanistic explanation of the world have been made. Concepts are introduced: emptiness, infinite space, rectilinear motion.
• New measuring devices were improved and created.
• Mathematization of physics began.
• The development of specific areas of knowledge in the Middle Ages - astrology, alchemy, magic - led to the formation of the beginnings of future experimental natural sciences: astronomy, chemistry, physics, biology.

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The main scientific achievements of the Middle Ages

The situation in medieval science began to change for the better from the 12th century, when the scientific heritage of Aristotle began to be used in scientific everyday life. Revival in medieval science was brought by scholasticism, which used scientific methods (argumentation, proof) in theology. Scholasticism

Scholasticism is the most revered science in the Middle Ages. Combined theology and rationalistic methodology. She demanded from the fundamental structures of science such correspondence to reality, which would not be revealed when comparing them with certain phenomena, but would be guaranteed by their initial correlation with the structure of being.

Scholasticism served as the disciplinary basis without which the modern system of natural science simply could not have arisen. It was scholasticism that led to the emergence of the canons of scientific research, formed by Okkan, which, in the words of modern Catholic philosophers J. Reale and D. Antiseri, "an epilogue of medieval science and at the same time a prelude to new physics." The existing interpretations of the medieval science of Western Europe proceed from the modernization of the language of that distant era, when medieval natural scientists spoke the language of Aristotelian "physics". After all, there was no other language suitable for describing various physical phenomena at that time. The most popular books of the Middle Ages were encyclopedias that reflected a hierarchical approach to objects and natural phenomena. The main scientific achievements of the Middle Ages can be considered the following:

1. The first steps towards a mechanistic explanation of the world have been taken. Concepts are introduced: emptiness, infinite space, rectilinear motion. Of particular importance to us are the discoveries of Galileo in the field of mechanics, since with the help of completely new categories and new methodology, he undertook to destroy the dogmatic constructions of the dominant Aristotelian scholastic physics, based on superficial observations and speculative calculations, overflowing with teleological ideas about the movement of things in accordance with their nature. and purpose, about natural and violent movements, about the natural heaviness and lightness of bodies, about the perfection of circular motion compared to rectilinear, etc. It was on the basis of criticism of Aristotelian physics that Galileo created his program for the construction of natural science.

Galileo improved and invented many technical devices - a lens, a telescope, a microscope, a magnet, an air thermometer, a barometer, etc.

2. New measuring instruments have been improved and created.

Mechanical clocks appeared in medieval Europe primarily as tower clocks, which served to indicate the time of worship. Before the invention of mechanical clocks, a bell was used for this, which was beaten by a sentry, who determined the time using an hourglass - every hour. The mechanical clock on the tower of Westminster Abbey appeared in 1288. Later, the mechanical clock tower began to be used in France, Italy, and the German states. There is an opinion that the mill masters invented the mechanical clock, developing the idea of ​​continuous and periodic movement of the mill drive. The main task in creating the watch mechanism was to ensure the accuracy of the movement or the constancy of the speed of rotation of the gears. The development of watch mechanisms was impossible without technical knowledge, mathematical calculations. The measurement of time has a direct connection with astronomy. Thus, watchmaking combined mechanics, astronomy, and mathematics in solving the practical problem of measuring time.
The compass, as a device that uses the orientation of a natural magnet in a certain direction, was invented in China. The Chinese attributed the orientation ability of natural magnets to the influence of the stars. In the I - III centuries. the compass began to be used in China as a "pointer to the South." How the compass got to Europe is still unknown. The beginning of its use by Europeans in navigation dates back to the 12th century. The use of the compass on ships was an important prerequisite for geographical discoveries. The property of the compass was first presented in detail by the French scientist Pierre da Maricourt (Peter Peregrine). In this connection he described both the properties of magnets and the phenomenon of magnetic induction. The compass became the first working scientific model, on the basis of which the theory of gravity developed, up to the great theory of Newton.

Optics

The first magnifying glasses appeared a very long time ago, around 700 BC. Many scientists of the Middle Ages, based on the experience of Arab scientists, were engaged in the study of optics.

Robert Grosseteste (1168-1253) was born in Sussex. From 1209 he was a teacher at the University of Paris. His main works are devoted to optics and refraction of light. Like Aristotle, he always tested scientific hypotheses in practice.

Grosseteste's pupil, Roger Bacon (1214-1294) was born in Summerset. He studied at Oxford University, and in 1241 he left for Paris. He did not leave independent experiments, but conducted a series of studies on optics and the structure of the eye. He used Al-Haysan's diagram of the eye to make the images. Bacon understood the principle of light refraction well and was one of the first to propose the use of magnifying lenses as glasses.

They consisted of two convex lenses that magnified objects so that people could see them.

The manufacture and use of spectacles led to the invention of the spyglass and microscope and led to the creation of the theoretical foundations of optics.

The advent of optics provided not only a huge amount of material for observations, but also completely different means for science than before, made it possible to design new instruments for research.

The compass, spyglass, as well as the growing technique of maritime affairs, made it possible at the end of the 15th and 16th centuries. make great geographical discoveries.

Optics gave rise to such a measuring instrument as binoculars (determining the distance to an object), used to measure stars and measure the refraction of light. The compass as a measuring device is used to determine the change in the magnetic field.

3. Mathematization of physics began.

Physics

Physics, in the sense that medieval philosophers and scientists themselves put into this concept, was synonymous with the science of motion. “Since nature is the beginning of movement and change, and the subject of our study is nature, it cannot be left unexplained what movement is: after all, ignorance of movement necessarily entails ignorance of nature.” These opening lines of the third book of Aristotle's Physics were well known to all natural philosophers of the Middle Ages.

Movement, according to Aristotle, is always movement towards a certain final state. Natural movement is simply movement towards a state of rest. It has no other definitions than indicating the destination.

With this approach, the movement is described by specifying two points, the start and end points, so that the path traveled by the body is a segment between these points.

Thus, movement is what happens between two positive states of rest.

When considering the motion of a body, along with the positions at the initial and final points of its motion, it is always possible to single out an arbitrary number of intermediate points-positions. Instead of movement, in this case we have a set of rest points, between which only a jump-like transition is possible. It is precisely the concept of continuity that should remove these difficulties. In order to avoid jumps, it is necessary to prohibit the existence of two points between which no intermediate point can be chosen. This prohibition constitutes the definition of continuity according to Aristotle. But the possibility of choosing an arbitrarily large number of intermediate points can itself be considered as an argument against the existence of motion.

The prerequisites underlying the Aristotelian concept of the continuity of movement were thoroughly thought out and logically strictly formulated in the teachings of William of Ockham (XIV century). Occam wrote: “This is what it means to be moved by a movement of displacement: this means that a certain body first occupies one place - and no other thing is accepted at the same time - and at a later time occupies another place, without any intermediate stop and without any entity other than a place, this body and other permanent things, and thus continues uninterrupted. Therefore, besides these permanent things (the body and the places it occupies), there is no need to consider anything else, but it should only be added that the body is not simultaneously in all these places and does not rest in any of them.

For Ockham, as well as for Aristotle, to give a logical definition to something means to indicate something unchanging that underlies it. Therefore, Ockham cannot and does not want to use in his definition any other things than constants. He shows that movement can be defined through them in a negative way. The particle “not”, which is included in the definition of motion (is not located, is not at rest), does not denote any independent entity. Therefore, Ockham concludes that "no other thing is required than body and place" to define motion.

Thus, such a point of view is limited to stating that the state of motion does not coincide with the state of rest. But what it is, Aristotle cannot say, and Ockham no longer considers the question itself meaningful.

4. The development of specific areas of knowledge in the Middle Ages - astrology, alchemy, magic - led to the formation of the beginnings of future experimental natural sciences: astronomy, chemistry, physics, biology. The industrial revolution that took place in modern times was largely prepared by the technical innovations of the Middle Ages.

Astronomy

By the XIV century. scientists learned many ideas of antiquity. But they interpreted them too straightforwardly, believing that the Universe was created unchanged and perfect, and the Earth is at its center.

Jean Buridan (1300-1385), lecturer at the University of Paris, adopted the ancient "push theory". According to this theory, God created the planets and stars, but they move around the Earth independently and at a constant speed. Buridan was afraid to publish his work, because he contradicted the teachings of Aristotle that the will of God moves the planets.

Nicolas Oresme (1320-1382) was born in Normandy. Since 1340, he studied in Paris, with Buridan, and went much further than his teacher in criticizing the works of Aristotle. Oresmus argued that the Earth is not stationary, but rotates around its axis every day. To calculate the movement, he used mathematical calculations. Oresmus' ideas later helped scientists formulate new ideas about the structure of the universe. This made it possible in the 17th century. Galileo and other scientists to reject Aristotle's system

Alchemy

Alchemy is a practical art (not included in the number of theoretical disciplines), black art, you can’t do without demons.

The alchemists, many of whom were the most learned men of their time, sought to obtain the Philosopher's Stone. Copper was combined with tin, thinking that they were approaching gold. Without even thinking that they are making bronze, which has long been known to mankind.

It was believed that it was enough to change the properties of a simple metal (color, malleability, malleability) and it would become gold. The belief that for the transformation of some metals into others a special substance is needed - the "philosopher's stone" has increased. Alchemists struggle with the problem of obtaining this "magisterium", or "elixir of life." They often worked under the patronage of some noble aristocrat. The alchemist received money and time from him… Very little time. Results were needed, and since they were not available, few representatives of the “venerable alchemical art lived to old age.

Albert von Bolstedt, nicknamed the Great Albert, was considered the greatest alchemist of all time. He was the offspring of a noble family. I studied for many years in Italy. At the end of his studies, he joined the monastic order of the Dominicans and, by order of the order's authorities, went to Germany to teach the local clergy everything that had previously been taught to him: to read, write and think.

The great Albert was a very educated man for his time. His fame was so great that the University of Paris invited him to be a professor in the department of theology. But even louder than the recognition of the scientist, his black glory of the sorcerer and sorcerer thundered. There is a legend about him that he was one of the few who possessed the secret of the philosopher's stone. As if with the help of this magic tool, he not only mined gold, but also cured the incurable and returned youth to the elders.

Little by little, the alchemists despaired of finding the Philosopher's Stone and turned to other theories. Their main goal is the manufacture of drugs.

Magic- was understood as a deep knowledge of the hidden forces and laws of the Universe without violating them and, therefore, without violence against Nature. The magician is more of a practitioner-experimenter than a theoretician-conceptualist. The magician wants the experience to be a success, and resorts to all sorts of tricks, formulas, prayers, incantations, etc.

Conclusion

Summing up, I would like to note that medieval culture is very specific and heterogeneous. Since, on the one hand, the Middle Ages continue the traditions of Antiquity, that is, scientists-philosophers adhere to the principle of contemplation (one of the followers of Aristotle, who, at the invitation of Galileo to look through a telescope and see for himself the presence of spots on the Sun, answered: “In vain, my son. I I read Aristotle twice and found nothing in him about spots on the Sun. There are no spots. They come either from the imperfection of your glasses or from the lack of your eyes.") In those days, Aristotle for many pundits was almost an "idol", whose opinion was perceived as reality. His views on ontology had a serious influence on the subsequent development of human thought. No, I'm not saying he was wrong!!! Aristotle is a great philosopher, however, at the same time he is the same person as everyone else, and people tend to make mistakes.

Theological worldview, which consists in interpreting the phenomena of reality as existing according to the "province of God." That is, many scientists-philosophers believed that everything around was created by God according to the laws understandable only to him, and a person should accept these laws as something sacred and in no case try to understand them. As well as their fundamental rejection of experimental knowledge. The specific methods of natural magicians were not yet an experiment in the generally accepted sense of the word - it was something similar to spells aimed at evoking spirits, otherworldly forces. In other words, the medieval scientist operated not with things, but with forces hidden behind them. He could not yet understand these forces, but he was clearly aware of when and on what they act.

On the other hand, the Middle Ages breaks with the traditions of ancient culture, "preparing" the transition to a completely different culture of the Renaissance. In the 13th century, interest in experimental knowledge arose in science. This is confirmed by the significant progress of alchemy, astrology, natural magic, medicine, which have an "experimental" status. Despite the prohibitions of the church, accusations of freethinking, a clear desire to “know the world” formed in the mind of a medieval scientist, more and more often he began to think about the origin of all things and try to explain his assumptions from a different point of view than the church one, later this point of view would be be called scientific.

Dogmatics- a section of theology in which a systematic presentation of the dogmas (positions) of a religion is given. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and other religions have a system of dogmas.

Scholasticism is a type of religious philosophy that seeks to give a rational theoretical justification for a religious worldview through the use of logical methods of proof. Scholasticism is characterized by an appeal to the Bible as the main source of knowledge.

Theology - (from Greek theos - God and ... logic) (theology) - a set of religious doctrines and teachings about the essence and action of God.

Features of medieval science.

Assumes the concept of an absolute God, informing a person of knowledge about himself in revelation.

Form start

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Literacy was not a reality, but an ideal symbol of culture. There were not so many literate people, a book is a rarity. Everyday reality is a singing people. But the figure of the scribe becomes taller, nobler than the figure of the singer (in Antiquity, on the contrary). Holy Scripture, as God's word, made all the attributes of bookishness honorable, and the copyist of books became involved in the divine. However, in Christianity the cult of the book is not as absolute as in Judaism and Islam. “The letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (P Cor. 3, 6). And yet God the Word receives an attribute in Christianity - a scroll, a book, a code. The book is a symbol of revelation, it easily becomes a symbol of the hidden, mystery. Previously, a reader was called a slave who occupied the masters with reading. Now the reader is one of the lowest levels of the clergy.

medieval schools. The last pagan schools in Western Europe were closed in the 6th century. Justinian. Instead, a church form of education appears. The schools were: monastic, episcopal (at cathedrals, mainly for primary education in reading, writing, general ideas about the Bible and liturgy) and court. The latter had the same religious orientation. But it is precisely in these schools that the idea of ​​the revival of Antiquity begins to be cultivated. Here is what the director of one of the court schools, Alcuin of York (730-804), writes about this: “Thus, new Athens will grow on the land of the Franks, even more brilliant than in antiquity, for our Athens is fertilized by Christ’s teaching, and therefore will surpass the Academy in wisdom.”

The emergence of universities (11-12 centuries). Unlike schools, universities were a product of the Middle Ages. There were no such free corporations of students and teachers with their privileges, established programs, diplomas, titles either in Antiquity or in the East.

Science in the Middle Ages

And although the universities still served the needs of the state and the church, they were characterized by a large degree of autonomy from local (including city) authorities and a special spirit of free brotherhood. The activities of the universities had three very important cultural consequences. First, the birth of a professional class of scientists (priests and laity), to whom the church gave the right to teach the truths of Revelation. Along with ecclesiastical and secular power, the power of intellectuals appears, whose influence on spiritual culture and social life will become ever greater. Secondly, the university fraternity from the very beginning did not know class distinctions. The children of peasants and artisans became students. There is a new meaning of the concept of "nobility" as the aristocracy of the mind and behavior. Thirdly, it is within the framework of universities that the orientation towards the rational comprehension of Revelation, an attempt to reconcile reason and faith, takes shape in the Middle Ages. The medieval university was divided into the faculty of liberal arts and the faculty of theology (the highest level of education). Grammar, logic, mathematics, physics, and ethics were studied at the Faculty of Arts. These sciences relied only on reason. It was here that the development of the newly discovered works of ancient (Aristotle, Plato, Euclid, Archimedes, Ptolemy, Hippocrates, etc.) and Byzantine (Church Fathers) scientists and philosophers, as well as Arab Muslim authors (Avicenna, Averroes, Al-Khorezmi, Al -Farabi and others). New ideas were ripening here. At the faculty of theology, the main thing was the exact study of the Bible through the interpretation of the text. But it is noteworthy that students of the theological faculty first had to graduate from the faculty of arts, i.e. they were familiar with all the critically discussed ideas and issues. Therefore, a rational principle was introduced into the interpretation of Scripture. Universities also gave rise to new forms of teaching: lectures and seminars, where there were constant discussions, any topic was proposed in the form of a question. Although these effective methods did not exclude speculation, citations, and reliance on authorities.

Over time, universities developed their own specialization. So, in Bologna lawyers were trained, in Salamanca, Montpellier, Solerno - doctors. The process of formation and systematic study of the humanities and natural sciences began. At the same time, all sciences were subordinated to theology for a long time.

Technique in the Middle Ages was also for a long time considered only an auxiliary means for simulating other phenomena. For example, in the first of the famous medieval technical treatises of the monk Theophilus, the technique is seen as a set of secrets for decorating the temple and demonstrating miracles. As far as labor activity is concerned, technology was not separated from the worker. But with the development of burgher cities in the 12-13 centuries. Gradually, there is a turn towards the realization of the intrinsic value of technology. In terms of cultural consequences, the most important device, the significance of which was realized by the Middle Ages, was the wheel and, in general, the principle of mechanical rotational movement. In the late Middle Ages, water and windmills began to be widely used. The appearance of mechanical clocks in the 13th century. contributed to the penetration into everyday life of the idea of ​​linear time, which is increasingly replacing cyclic time. In the depths of feudal society, the process of the emergence of industrial production was going on.

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Features and characteristics of medieval science.

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The era of the Middle Ages is attributed to the beginning of the II century. AD, and its completion by the XIV - XV centuries. In the history of Europe, this period is referred to only as "gloomy", meaning the general decline of civilization, the collapse of the Roman Empire, the invasion of barbarians, the penetration of religion into all spheres of spiritual culture.

The Middle Ages inherited three fundamental scientific programs from Antiquity: the atomistic program of Democritus, the mathematical program of the Pythagoreans, and the continual (successive) program of Aristotle. Despite the fact that the Middle Ages did not create any new programs, nevertheless, within the framework of the programs of Aristotle and Plato, there was a process of creating a number of concepts and research methods that, destroying the ancient programs from the inside, paved the way for the creation of the mechanics of the New Age.

The scientists of the Middle Ages give a new interpretation to the key categories of scientific thinking, such as infinity, space, time, etc. New interpretations of ancient science, primarily Aristotelian physics, turned out to be possible because the Christian ideology introduced fundamental changes in the understanding of the object of natural science knowledge - nature, on the one hand, and the subject of scientific knowledge - man, on the other. These changes affected the entire type of thinking and went in parallel with those social shifts that gradually changed the nature of social relations and contributed to the formation of feudalism.

The knowledge that is formed in the era of the Middle Ages in Europe is inscribed in the system of the medieval worldview, which is characterized by the desire for all-encompassing knowledge, which follows from the ideas borrowed from antiquity: true knowledge is universal, evidence-based knowledge. But only the creator can possess it, only he can know, and this knowledge is universal. In this paradigm (an exemplary concept (phenomenon) adopted by a common decision of all scientists who came to the same opinion) there is no place for inaccurate, particular, relative, non-exhaustive knowledge. Since everything on earth was created, the existence of any thing is determined from above, therefore it cannot be non-symbolic. Let's remember the New Testament: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The word acts as an instrument of creation, and transmitted to man, it acts as a universal instrument for comprehending the world. Concepts are identified with their objective counterparts, which is a condition for the possibility of knowledge. If a person masters a concept, then he receives an exhaustive knowledge of reality, which comes from concepts. Cognitive activity is reduced to the study of the latter, and the most representative are the texts of Holy Scripture.

The key position of medieval thinking is the position of the creative omnipotence of God and his omniscience. Therefore, all the properties of things, all the laws to which their behavior is subject, being the creation of God, in principle, do not represent something eternal and unchanging. Just as they were once created, they can be transformed and even destroyed.

. The largest philosopher of the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas, combined the concept of "faith" and "reason": "do not just believe, but know what you believe", however, faith is still higher than knowledge, since some of the divine truths are of a supramental nature, and scientific and philosophical truths just reasonable.

Since in the Middle Ages science and philosophy were closely intertwined with religion, since their development went either in the direction of continuing and strengthening church dogma with the help of scholasticism, or in the direction of rejecting church authorities and developing opposite methods, leading to results that did not fit into the traditional vision of the world . Thus , science and philosophy of the Middle Ages, in comparison with antiquity, acquires an even greater bias towards mystical contemplation. Many major scientific discoveries (assumptions) of antiquity were not used or were forgotten. The second side can be called the fact that in the late Middle Ages a number of ideas were developed in science and philosophy, which later became part of the science of the New Age (the concept of speed, the concept of uniformly accelerated and uniform motion, the possibility of motion in a void, and much more).

education system at first, in the Middle Ages, they represented monastic schools that trained clergy. A higher class of schools that also trained clergy were the so-called episcopal schools, which began to appear around the 8th century.

The bishop and clergy close to him took part in their activities, and specially trained teachers carried out daily training. The university of medieval Europe differed significantly from the modern university, but the academic degrees of doctor and master, the titles of professor and associate professor, lectures as the main form of communication of knowledge, and faculties as subdivisions of the university have survived to this day. Disputing, a form of education that was widespread in medieval universities, has died out, but scientific discussions and seminars are of great importance both in modern science and in higher education.

Lecture (literally - reading) in the medieval university was by necessity the main form of communication of knowledge. Books were scarce and expensive, and so reading and commenting on theological and scientific writings was an important form of information.

Teaching was conducted in Latin, as well as worship in Catholic churches. Until the 18th century Latin was the international scientific language; Copernicus, Newton and Lomonosov wrote in it.

Until now, solemn speeches are read in European universities, and diplomas are written in Latin. At solemn acts, professors appear in medieval doctoral robes and caps. Thus, modern science preserves the memory of the first universities, the emergence of which was one of the main prerequisites for scientific progress.

The main features of the Middle Ages The Middle Ages knew seven liberal arts: grammar, dialectics, rhetoric (triumvium); arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, singing of church hymns (quadrium). Every scientist was obliged to master all these sciences and arts. The main features of medieval science are:

1. Rationality - comprehension of phenomena on the basis of reason and sensory experience.

2. Teleologism - the interpretation of any problems from the point of view of Scripture. Nature was created by God for the good of man, and the phenomena of nature are the providence of God, incomprehensible to man. In general, the interpretation of the phenomena of reality was reduced to a statement of the manifestation of Divine Providence.

3. Hierarchy - the idea of ​​proximity or distance from God. In accordance with this approach, nature does not have independence, it is part of the hierarchy, at the head of which is God, followed by man, then there is living nature, and behind it is inanimate. Every thing was seen as a mirror - smooth or less smooth - reflecting the light of God.

Education and science in the Middle Ages.

The absence of formalized scientific concepts was a consequence of the loss by science in the early Middle Ages (before the 13th-14th centuries) of its theoretical positions. All scientific achievements were considered from the point of view of practical benefits.

5. Experimentality - logically follows from the church's assertion that the world was created for a person who is its master and has the right to remake it.

6. Moral symbolism is a characteristic feature of medieval knowledge. Interest in natural phenomena does not lead to scientific generalizations, but makes them symbols of the Church, for example, the Moon is the image of the Church, reflecting the divine light; the wind is a symbol of the Spirit, etc.

7. Universalism - the desire to embrace the world as a whole, the awareness of its complete unity. The world, man and nature are created by God and therefore are related to each other. Knowledge of nature is learned through the knowledge of God.

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water and windmills, compass, gunpowder, glasses, paper, mechanical clock. In the water mills and water engines described by Vitruvius, in the Middle Ages, pin-type gearing and a crank lever were used. The manufacture of windmills, which appeared in Europe at the beginning of the 12th century, but became widespread in the 15th century, required highly skilled blacksmiths, knowledge of hydraulics, and aerodynamics. The first mechanical clock appeared on the tower of Westminster Abbey in 1288 (later clocks began to be used in France, Italy, the German states, the Czech Republic, etc.). The main task in creating the clockwork was to ensure the accuracy of the movement or the constancy of the speed of rotation of the gears, for which it was necessary to combine mechanics, astronomy, mathematics in solving the practical problem of measuring time. Europeans began to use the compass (invented in China in the 1st-3rd centuries) in navigation from the 12th century, which required a theoretical description of the magnet, which was first proposed by Pierre de Maricourt (Peter Peregrine). The compass became the first working scientific model, on the basis of which the theory of gravity developed, up to Newton's theory. Gunpowder (also discovered in China and used already in the 6th century in the manufacture of fireworks and rockets) began to play an important role in military affairs from the 14th century after the invention of the cannon (the ancestor of which was the "fire pipe" of the Byzantines), after which guns and muskets appeared. These inventions opened up a wide scope for scientific research on combustion, explosion and ballistics. Paper (invented in China in the 2nd century) came to Europe in the 12th century through the Arabs, where its production began in Spain, first from cotton, then from rags and textile waste. The forerunner of book printing was woodcut printing. Printed texts could be replicated from woodcuts. Chinese craftsmen invented movable type at the beginning of the 11th century. In Europe, book printing arose in the 40s of the 15th century (I. Gutenberg). The first Slavic printing house was founded in Krakow in 1491. The first Russian printed book "The Apostle" was printed in 1564 in Moscow by I. Fedorov and P. Metislavets. The role of printing in scientific progress and the distribution of knowledge cannot be overestimated. According to some sources, glasses were invented in Italy in 1299 by Silvino Armati, according to others - not earlier than 1350. There is an opinion that the successes of education in the Renaissance were achieved largely due to the invention of glasses.

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The most important discoveries of the Middle Ages in the field of science and technology

Introduction

1. Science and technology

Chronology and structure of the Middle Ages

Discoverers

Genius da Vinci

5. Biological knowledge in the Middle Ages

6. Achievements in medicine

In the language of mathematics

Forward to progress

Conclusion

List of used sources and literature

Introduction

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the scientific and technological progress of the Middle Ages. Tasks:

Consider the Middle Ages as an era.

Consider the main discoveries of science and technology V-XVII centuries.

The relevance of this topic is due to the fact that since the beginning of the 5th century, science began its difficult path into the age of knowledge and inventions. In its most important areas, amazing discoveries have taken place, various studies have been carried out on the basis of combining science with technology.

In our modern life, electricity, cars, and what can I say, a book - what could be simpler, sheets of paper with typed text have become commonplace. But a few centuries ago, it took a lot of effort and time to print a book. The Middle Ages is what this era is called. The era began leading advances in science and technology. From this era, poetic works have come down to us, in which peoples captured their genius, wonderful monuments of folk art, magnificent masses of Gothic architecture, wonderful, beautiful artistic and poetic creations of the Renaissance, the first successes of awakening scientific thought. This era has given us a number of great people who are proud of humanity. Such as Copernicus, Galileo, Bruno, Brahe, Newton. All these and many other outstanding personalities, whose lives and activities accelerated the progress of mankind, belong to the Middle Ages. The great technical inventions made in the Middle Ages had a huge impact on all areas of the economy and culture, including the development of science. Thus, the Middle Ages contributed their own, and considerable, share to the common treasury of material and spiritual values ​​of all mankind.

1. Science and technology

Science as knowledge and activity for the production of knowledge arose from the beginning of human culture and formed part of the spiritual culture of society, although the word "science" itself is of relatively recent origin. Translated from Latin "scientia" (science) means knowledge.

The word "technique" comes from the Greek "techne" - art, skill, skill. The main meaning of this word today is the means of labor, production.

Historically, technology has gone from primitive tools to the most complex modern automatic machines, developing on the basis of the achievements of science.

Science and technology have been walking hand in hand throughout the history of mankind and have become especially inseparable in our day, when science is a direct productive force, when it is impossible to create models of new technology without scientific research. The development of a model of new technology, as a rule, begins with scientific research - with the conduct of research work (R&D). Radical improvement of technology is possible only thanks to science. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to separate the spheres of influence of science and technology. Not a single significant modern scientific discovery is practically impossible on a sheet of paper, that is, without the involvement of technology, experimental equipment. At the same time, the functions of science are wider. The main ones are: descriptive, systematizing, explanatory, production-practical, prognostic, ideological. Only the production-practical function is directly related to the creation of technology.

2. Chronology and structure of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages (Middle Ages) is a historical period following the Ancient World and preceding the New Age. The beginning of the Middle Ages is considered the collapse of the Western Roman Empire at the end of the 5th century. The Middle Ages contains several stages within itself: the dark time - the early Middle Ages; high - the middle period of the Middle Ages; later (mature, developed, classical) Middle Ages.

The Early Middle Ages is a period of European history that began shortly after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Lasted about five centuries, approximately from 500 to 1000 years.

The High Middle Ages is a period of European history that lasted approximately from 1000 to 1300. The era of the High Middle Ages replaced the Early Middle Ages and preceded the Late Middle Ages. The main characterizing trend of this period was the rapid increase in the population of Europe, which in turn led to dramatic changes in the social, political and other spheres of life.

The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe a period of European history in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Late Middle Ages was preceded by the High Middle Ages, and the subsequent period is called the Modern Age. Historians differ sharply in defining the upper limit of the Late Middle Ages. If in Russian historical science it is customary to define its end as the English Civil War, then in Western European science the end of the Middle Ages is usually associated with the beginning of the Church Reformation or the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries. The late Middle Ages is also called the Renaissance.

The most common chronological framework of the period: the middle of the 5th century. - middle of the 15th century However, any periodization of the Middle Ages is conditional.

Geography of the Middle Ages. The most common geographical areas of development of "scientific" thinking and technological innovations in the period under review: "Western Europe"; "Byzantium" and the zone of its influence; "Arab East"; "Vostok" (India, China, Japan); "Pre-Columbian America". The first three areas were most closely related.

The structure of medieval scientific knowledge includes four main areas: physical and cosmological, the core of which is the doctrine of motion. Based on the natural philosophy of Aristotle, it combines an array of physical, astronomical and mathematical knowledge; the doctrine of light; optics is part of the general doctrine - the "metaphysics of light", within which a model of the Universe is built, corresponding to the principles of neoplatonism; doctrine of livingunderstood as the science of the soul, considered as the principle and source of both plant, and animal, and intelligent life; complex astrologer - medicalknowledge, the doctrine of minerals and alchemy.

Technical innovations that had a radical impact on the entire culture of the Middle Ages include: the adoption of gunpowder, which quickly led to the creation of powder production (the first factory); development of powder granulation technology, which increases its efficiency; the rapid development of the production of firearms has fundamentally changed the way of warfare and led to the development of new technologies in foundry, aimed at improving the accuracy of throwing; windmills, the adoption of paper, which led to the creation of printing; the creation and introduction into the economic and cultural circulation of various mechanical devices that eventually created an entire infrastructure; watchmaking development.

3. Discoverers

Roger Bacon (1214-1292)English alchemist, outstanding philosopher. In 1240, he was the first in Europe to describe the technology of making gunpowder. He did a lot of experiments in search of ways to transform some substances into others. For refusing to reveal the secrets of obtaining gold (which he did not know), Bacon was condemned by fellow believers and spent a long 15 years in a church dungeon. At the behest of the general of the order, the works of the monk-naturalist were chained to a table in the monastery library in Oxford as punishment. Bacon foresaw the great importance of mathematics, without which, in his opinion, no science can exist, and a number of discoveries (the telephone, self-propelled carts, aircraft, etc.).

Johann Gutenberg (1397 -1468) German jeweler and inventor of printing.

Gutenberg's ingenious invention consisted in the fact that he made movable raised letters from metal, cut out in reverse, typed lines from them and, using a press, imprinted on paper.

With limited funds, no experienced workers, no improved tools, Gutenberg nevertheless achieved remarkable success. Until 1456, he cast at least five different types, printed the Latin grammar of Aelius Donatus (several sheets of it have come down to us and are kept in the National Library in Paris), several papal indulgences and, finally, two Bibles, 36-line and 42-line; the last, known as the Mazarin Bible, was printed in 1453-1465. with high quality.

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)Polish astronomer, mathematician, economist, canon. He is best known as the author of the medieval heliocentric system of the world.

The heliocentric theory, which claimed that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and not vice versa, as scientists used to think from ancient times. Observing the movement of celestial bodies, Copernicus came to the conclusion that Ptolemy's theory was incorrect. After thirty years of hard work, long observations and complex mathematical calculations, he convincingly proved that the Earth is only one of the planets and that all planets revolve around the Sun. True, Copernicus still believed that the stars are motionless and are located on the surface of a huge sphere, at a great distance from the Earth. This was due to the fact that at that time there were no such powerful telescopes that could be used to observe the sky and stars. Having discovered that the Earth and the planets are satellites of the Sun, Nicolaus Copernicus was able to explain the apparent movement of the Sun across the sky, the strange entanglement in the movement of some planets, as well as the apparent rotation of the firmament.

The fate of the new hypothesis was not easy. The book on the rotations of the celestial spheres (1543) was a shock to astronomers in the 16th century. Many scholars who doubted the infallibility of Ptolemaic constructions were ready to accept the theory of Copernicus. But, of course, the replacement of the old theory by the new one did not happen immediately. Not the entire scientific world has adopted the heliocentric system - and not at all for ideological reasons. Of course, the sharply negative position in relation to the teachings of Copernicus of the Christian church played its role. Initially, the church did not pay attention to the philosophical consequences of the very possibility of putting the Earth on a par with other planets, but in 1616 it corrected its "oversight" - by decree of the Inquisition, the book of Copernicus was included "until correction" in the index of forbidden books and remained banned until 1828 of the year. The secluded life and the late publication of the work saved Nicolaus Copernicus from the persecution that his followers were subjected to. Copernicus was a clergyman and sincerely believing Catholic. Creating his model of the universe, he sought not to conflict with the church, but to find a "golden mean" between faith and scientific truth: both were equally important for Copernicus. However, the heliocentric theory proposed by Copernicus ultimately overturned established ideas about the universe and marked the beginning of the first scientific revolution.

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)Danish astronomer, astrologer and alchemist. He was the first in Europe to make systematic and high-precision astronomical observations, which Kepler used to discover the laws of planetary motion. In 1572, he noticed a supernova - immeasurably distant and very bright - whose appearance in the "unchanging" space beyond the Moon would be impossible. A few years later, Brahe observed an equally incredible appearance of a comet. As a result of large-scale and systematic observations, the researcher determined the position of many celestial bodies and published the first modern catalog of stars.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)Italian scientist, physicist, mechanic and astronomer, one of the founders of natural science; poet, philologist and critic. He laid the foundations of modern mechanics: put forward the idea of ​​the relativity of motion, established the laws of inertia, free fall and the motion of bodies on an inclined plane, the addition of motions; discovered the isochronism of pendulum oscillations; was the first to investigate the strength of beams.

The famous story of how Archimedes jumped out of the bath and ran naked through the streets shouting "Eureka!" was known in Galileo's time as widely as it is today. Archimedes then found a way to determine whether the royal crown was made of pure gold or not. Galileo decided to perfect this ancient method. He invented hydrostatic scales, which could weigh objects in air and water. After that, he repeated the experiment of Archimedes and presented the results in a short treatise called "The Small Scales".

In 1609, Galileo independently built his first telescope with a convex lens and a concave eyepiece. The tube gave approximately a threefold increase. Soon he managed to build a telescope giving a magnification of 32 times and discovered mountains on the Moon, 4 satellites of Jupiter, phases near Venus, spots on the Sun. A number of Galileo's telescopic discoveries contributed to the establishment of the heliocentric system of the world, which Galileo actively promoted, for which he was put on trial by the Inquisition (1633), which forced him to renounce the teachings of Nicolaus Copernicus. Until the end of his life, Galileo was considered a "prisoner of the Inquisition" and was forced to live in his villa Arcetri near Florence. In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared the decision of the Inquisition Court erroneous and rehabilitated Galileo.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)great English physicist, mathematician and astronomer. Isaac Newton was the greatest scientist since Galileo. His work "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" (1687) convincingly demonstrated that the earthly and celestial spheres are subject to the same laws of nature, and all material objects - to the three laws of motion. Moreover, Newton formulated the law of universal gravitation and mathematically substantiated the laws that govern these processes. The Newtonian model of the universe remained virtually unchanged until the new scientific revolution of the early 20th century, which was based on the works of Albert Einstein.

4. The genius of da Vinci

I would also like to single out one great personality of the Middle Ages.

This is an Italian painter, a skilled architect, engineer, technician, scientist, mathematician, anatomist, musician and sculptor, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The abilities and capabilities of Leonardo da Vinci were, without exaggeration, supernatural. There is a version that Leonardo da Vinci could penetrate into parallel worlds, where he took the ideas of his many wonderful inventions. At that time they were really perceived as a miracle.

Leonardo da Vinci was an excellent magician (his contemporaries called him a magician). He could call a multi-colored flame from a boiling liquid by pouring wine into it; easily turned white wine into red; with one blow he broke a cane, the ends of which were placed on two glasses, without breaking either of them; applied a little of his saliva to the end of the pen and the inscription on the paper becomes black. The miracles that Leonardo showed so impressed his contemporaries that he was seriously suspected of serving "black magic". In addition, strange, dubious moral personalities were constantly near the genius, like Tomaso Giovanni Masini, known under the pseudonym Zoroaster de Peretola, a good mechanic, jeweler and at the same time an adherent of the secret sciences ...

Leonardo encrypted a lot so that his ideas would be revealed gradually, as humanity "ripened" to them. Scientists only last year, five centuries after the death of Leonardo da Vinci, managed to figure out the design of his self-propelled cart and build it. This invention can be safely called the forerunner of the modern car.

In 1499, Leonardo da Vinci designed a wooden mechanical lion to meet the French king Louis XII, which, after taking a few steps, plowed open its chest and showed the insides "filled with lilies." The scientist is the inventor of the spacesuit, submarine, steamer, flippers. He has a manuscript that shows the possibility of diving to great depths without a space suit due to the use of a special gas mixture (the secret of which he deliberately destroyed). To invent it, it was necessary to have a good understanding of the biochemical processes of the human body, which were completely unknown at that time! It was he who first proposed installing batteries of firearms on armored ships (he gave the idea of ​​​​an armadillo!), He invented a helicopter, a bicycle, a glider, a parachute, a tank, a machine gun, poison gases, a smoke screen for troops, a magnifying glass (100 years before Galileo!).

Leonardo da Vinci invented textile machines, looms, needle-making machines, powerful cranes, systems for draining marshes through pipes, and arched bridges. He created designs for gates, levers and propellers designed to lift enormous weights, mechanisms that did not exist in his time. It is amazing that Leonardo da Vinci describes these machines and mechanisms in detail, although they could not be made at that time due to the fact that they did not know ball bearings then (but Leonardo himself knew this - the corresponding drawing was preserved). Sometimes it seems that da Vinci just wanted to learn as much as possible about this world by collecting information. Why did he need her in such a form and in such quantity? He left no answer to this question.

Biological knowledge in the Middle Ages

The sources of information about biological enterprises in the early Middle Ages are works such as "Physiologist", "Bestiary", etc. These books contained descriptions of animals and fantastic monsters mentioned in the Bible, as well as stories based on motives (very loosely interpreted) from the life of animals , the purpose of which was religious and moral teachings. Information about animals and plants was contained in the Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh (XI century), which was in the lists in Rus', and other sources.

The most fundamental sources of information about the biological knowledge of the Middle Ages are the multi-volume encyclopedic works of Albert the Great and Vincent de Beauvais, dating back to the 13th century. The Encyclopedia of Albertus Magnus has special sections "On Plants" and "On Animals". Detailed descriptions of the species of the plant and animal kingdoms known at that time were largely borrowed from the ancients, mainly from Aristotle. Following Aristotle, Albert associated the vital activity of plants with the "vegetative soul". Developing the doctrine of the functions of individual parts of plants (trunk, branches, roots, foliage, fruits), Albert the Great noted their functional similarity with individual organs in animals. In particular, he considered the root to be identical with the animal's mouth.

In the Middle Ages, the presence of vegetable oils and toxic substances in the fruits of some plants was discovered. A variety of facts on the selection of cultivated plants have been described. The idea of ​​change in plants under the influence of the environment was expressed in rather fantastic statements that beech turns into birch, wheat into barley, and oak branches into vines. The plants in Albert's writings were arranged in alphabetical order. His zoological information is also presented in great detail. They are given, like the botanical ones, in a purely descriptive way, with references to Aristotle, Pliny, Galen as the highest authorities. The division of animals into bloodless and possessing blood is borrowed from Aristotle. Physiology is reduced solely to the description, often very expressive, of the behavior and customs of animals. In the spirit of medieval anthropomorphic views, it was said about the mind, stupidity, caution, cunning of animals. The mechanism of reproduction in animals was described by Hippocrates: the seed arises in all parts of the body, but is collected in the organs of reproduction. Aristotle borrowed the idea that the female seed contains the matter of the future fetus, and the male, in addition, encourages this matter to develop.

The ears, according to Vincent de Beauvais, are designed to perceive the words of people, while the eyes, seeing creations, are intended to perceive the word of God. According to these tasks, the eyes are located in front, and the ears are on the sides, as if denoting that our attention should be, first of all, turned to God, and only then to our neighbor.

Alchemical treatises can serve as sources of information not only about chemical, but also about biological knowledge. Alchemists operated not only with objects of the mineral kingdom, but also with plant and animal objects. The "Book of Plants" by the famous 15th-century alchemist John Isaac Holland is of considerable interest as a kind of alchemical body of biological knowledge. Studying the processes of decay, fermentation, alchemists got acquainted with the chemical composition of plant matter. In connection with healing, a different, sometimes purely practical attitude was allowed for the study of animals and plants. The healing effects of herbs and minerals became a subject of special interest for the healing monks of the late Middle Ages.

The question of the instincts and behavior of animals and humans was considered by Roger Bacon. Comparing the behavior of animals with the conscious activity of man, he believed that only perceptions that arise independently of experience are characteristic of animals, while man has a mind.

The circle of the then ideas about animals and vegetation of distant countries was expanded by poetic descriptions of travels to overseas lands. So, for example, the Byzantine poet Manuel Phil (XIII-XIV centuries) visited Persia, Arabia, and India. He wrote three poetic compositions containing a lot of cognitive biological material. These are the poems "On the Properties of Animals", "A Brief Description of the Elephant" and "On Plants". Phil liked to talk about exotic, sometimes fantastic, animals. However, his fantastic images of animals are composed of quite real, well-known and accurately conveyed elements, reflecting the level of zoological knowledge of the XIV century.

Achievements

Medicine in the Middle Ages developed in difficult and unfavorable conditions. Nevertheless, the objective laws of the development of society and the logic of scientific thinking inevitably contributed to the formation in its depths of the prerequisites for the future medicine of the great Renaissance. In connection with technical discoveries, the role of scientific research has increased even more. Since dogmatic views disappeared, and riddles no longer seemed insoluble, everything became the object of study, including the human body and its diseases. Until the 16th century, it was assumed that the disease is the result of an abnormal displacement of the four body fluids (blood, sputum, yellow and black bile). The Swiss alchemist was the first to challenge this theory. Paracelsus (1493-1541 famous alchemist, physician andophthalmologist) , who argued that diseases are associated with disorders of various organs and can be cured with the help of chemicals. Around the same time, the first thorough anatomical study of a human was carried out Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564 physician and anatomist.) . However, the foundations of modern medical science were laid almost a hundred years later, when the English scientist William Harvey (1578-1657 English physician, founder of physiology andembryology.) discovered that the blood in the human body circulates in a vicious circle due to the contractions of the heart, and not the liver, as previously believed.

The medicine of the Middle Ages was not fruitless. She has accumulated extensive experience in the field of surgery, recognition and prevention of infectious diseases, has developed a number of anti-epidemic measures; hospital care, forms of organizing medical care in cities, sanitary legislation, etc.

In the language of mathematics

The new science tried to confirm the validity of observations through experiments and to translate the results into the universal language of mathematics. Galileo was the first scientist to realize that this approach is the key to understanding everything that exists, and argued that "the book of nature ... is written in mathematical signs." The progress of the mathematical method was rapid. By the beginning of the 17th century, the most common arithmetic symbols (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and equality) were in widespread use. Then in 1614 John Napier (1550-1617Scottish baron, mathematician, one of the inventors of logarithms, the first publisher of logarithmictables.) introduced logarithms. The first adding machine - a distant ancestor of the computer - was designed Blaise Pascal (1623-1662 French mathematician, physicist, writer and philosopher. Classic of French literature, one of the founders of mathematical analysis, probability theory and projective geometry, creatorthe first samples of counting technology, the author of the basic law of hydrostatics.) in the 1640s, and 30 years later the great German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716 German philosopher, mathematician, lawyer, diplomat.) invented a machine capable of multiplication. Leibniz was also one of the creators of the differential calculus, which became the most important mathematical method of the time. Isaac Newton arrived at similar results independently of Leibniz, and these two great men, with far from scientific ardor, entered into a discussion about which of them holds the laurels of superiority.

Forward to progress

So, by the 17th century, science had really advanced far in its development, and there is a lot of evidence for this.

The mechanical clock was invented in the 13th century. The improvement of their design, in turn, led to the invention of parts (for example, the speed indicator, ratchets, gears), which were subsequently used in other mechanisms.

Water supply systems developed in medieval European cities. For this, pumping stations were built, driven by the same hydraulic motor. Some cities had such a water supply system as early as the beginning of the 16th century.

In the XIV century, the use of gunpowder began in Europe, which, although it was invented in China, again, it was in Europe that it received widespread use and further improvement. Bows, spears and crossbows began to be exchanged for firearms and cannons, which further determined the dominance of Europeans on the world stage. In addition, the telescope was invented, instruments such as microscope, thermometer, barometer and air pump. Scientific advances constantly multiplied. Newton discovered the wave nature of light and demonstrated that a stream of light that appears white to us consists of spectral colors, into which it can be divided using a prism. Two other famous English experimenters were William Gilbert (1544-1603 English physicist, scientist and physician.) who laid the foundations for the study of electricity and magnetism, and Robert Hooke (1635-1703 English naturalist, encyclopedist) , who introduced the concept of "cell" to describe what he saw through the lenses of his improved microscope.

Irishman Robert Boyle (1627-1691 physicist, chemist and theologian) carried out physical work in the field of molecular physics, light and electrical phenomena, hydrostatics, acoustics, heat, mechanics. In 1660, Guericke improved the air pump, established new facts, which he set out in New Physico-Chemical Experiments Concerning Air Elasticity. He showed the dependence of the boiling point of water on the degree of rarefaction of the surrounding air and proved that the rise of a liquid in a narrow tube is not related to atmospheric pressure. In 1661 he discovered Boyle's law, designed a barometer and introduced the name barometer. He made the first studies of the elasticity of solids, was a supporter of atomism. In 1663 he discovered colored rings in thin layers (Newton's rings). In 1661 he formulated the concept of a chemical element and introduced the experimental method into chemistry, laying the foundation for chemistry as a science.

A Dutch scientist Christian Huygens(1629-1695 Dutch mathematician, physicist, astronomer and inventor.) invented the escapement pendulum clock, proving the correctness of Galileo's conclusion that a pendulum device could be used to control time.

There will still be inventions ahead, the steam engine, electricity and the telephone. The earth will be entangled with wires and railways, and astronauts will go out into outer space. In the meantime ... while a lonely medieval scientist in his dim little room forged the history of science ...

Conclusion

"Never does the history of the world assume such importance and significance, it never shows such a multitude of individual phenomena as in the Middle Ages."

(N.V. Gogol)

Technique arose along with the emergence of man, and for a long time developed independently of any science. Science itself did not have a special disciplinary organization for a long time and was not oriented towards the conscious application of the knowledge it created in the technical sphere. Recipe-technical knowledge was opposed to scientific knowledge for a long time, and the question of special scientific and technical knowledge was not raised at all. "Scientific" and "technical" actually belonged to different cultural areas. It was the engineers, artists, and practical mathematicians of the Middle Ages who played the decisive role in the adoption of a new type of practice-oriented theory. The ideal of a new science was put forward, capable of solving engineering problems by theoretical means, and of a new technology based on science. This ideal eventually led to the disciplinary organization of science and technology. The great technical inventions made in the Middle Ages had a huge impact on all areas of the economy and culture, including the development of science. For a long time, the Middle Ages were characterized as a period of spiritual decline, a period between great epochs: antiquity and rebirth. But without this time, without its discoveries and technical improvements, the onset of a new time would have been impossible. The technical successes of the renaissance were made possible by the use and development of the inventions and discoveries of the Middle Ages, which, taken together, opened up to Europeans greater powers of control and, ultimately, understanding of the world than they could have received from the classical legacy.

List of used sources and literature

science discovery middle ages newton

1. Bernal J. Science in the history of society / J. Bernal; per. from English. A.M. Vyazmina; total ed. B.M.Kedrova, I.V.Kuznetsova.- M.: Foreign literature, 1956.-735p.

Gorelov A.A. Concepts of modern natural science: textbook. allowance.- M.: Higher education, 2008.-335s. - (Fundamentals of Sciences)

Solomatin V.A. History and concepts of modern natural science: a textbook for universities. - M.: PER SE, 2002.-464s. - (Modern education)

"100 people who changed the course of history" weekly edition, issue No. 9, 2008

History of biology from ancient times to the present day [Electronic resource] http://www.biolhistory.ru/

Historical physics. Leonardo da Vinci [Electronic resource] http://www.abitura.com/

Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia[Electronic resource] http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/

11th century
Alhazen's research in physiological optics. The theory of visual rays of the ancient Greek thinkers is being replaced by Alhazen's theory of vision, according to which the visual images of bodies are created by rays emanating from visible bodies. Once in the eye, these rays cause visual sensations. Alhazen already knew the camera obscura.

Decomposition of the velocity of a thrown body into two components - parallel and perpendicular to the plane (Alhazen).

The rediscovery by the Arabs of the properties of the orientation of the magnetic needle (arrow), the appearance of the compass (the property of the magnetic needle to orient in a certain direction was known to the Chinese as early as 2700 BC).

1121...1122
The Arab scientist Algazini wrote a treatise - "The Book of the Scales of Wisdom" - a kind of course in medieval physics. It contained tables of specific gravities of solid and liquid bodies, a description of experiments on the "weighing" of air, the observation of the phenomenon of capillarity; it also indicated that the law of Archimedes is applicable and. for air, that the specific gravity of water depends on temperature, body weight is proportional to the amount of substance contained in it, speed is measured by the ratio of the distance traveled to time, the use of a hydrometer is described.

1269
The first handwritten treatise on magnetism "On Magnets" by P. Peregrino appeared (published in 1558), which describes methods for determining the polarity of a magnet, the interaction of poles, magnetization by touch, the phenomenon of magnetic induction, some technical applications of magnets, etc.

1272
A treatise on optics by Erasmus Vitellius (Vitello) was published, which became widespread in the Middle Ages. Along with a presentation of what Euclid and Alhazen did, it contains the law of reversibility of light rays discovered by Vitellius during refraction, the fact that parabolic mirrors have one focus is proved, and the rainbow is studied in detail.

13th century
R. Bacon measures the focal length of a spherical mirror and discovers spherical aberration, puts forward the idea of ​​a telescope, one of the first considers lenses as scientific instruments, considers the speed of light to be finite, sees the basis of knowledge in experience. It is a harbinger of the experimental method.

OK. 1250
Discovery of the 33rd element - arsenic (Albert the Great).

13th century (end)
Invention and distribution of glasses. The time and place of their invention is not known. They may have originated in Venice. Glasses quickly spread to Western Europe and then to Asia. In Russia, they appeared no later than the 15th century.

14th century
The concept of acceleration is introduced (probably by W. Gatesbury from (beginning) Oxford).

14th century
Albert of Saxony introduced the division of motion into translational and rotational, uniform and variable.

The concept of uniformly variable motion, angular velocity is introduced.

The French mathematician N. Oresme was the first to give a graphical representation of motion and established the law of uniformly variable motion, connecting the path traveled by the body with time.

Renaissance (XV - XVI centuries)
15th century
N. Kuzansky in his treatises (published in 1515) develops the idea that motion is the basis of everything that exists, there is no fixed center in the Universe (the idea of ​​relative motion), the latter is infinite, the Earth and all celestial bodies are created from one and the same primary matter.

The 83rd element is known - bismuth.

The study of free fall and motion of a body thrown horizontally, the impact of bodies, the expansion of the concept of the moment of forces, the definition of the center of gravity of the tetrahedron, the invention of a number of mechanisms for converting and transmitting movements - a conical ball bearing, chain and belt drives, a double connection (now called "cardan") and others (Leonardo da Vinci).

The origin of dynamics (clarification of the nature of inertia), the establishment of the fact that the action is equal to the reaction and opposite to it. Study of the mechanism of friction and its influence on equilibrium conditions, determination of friction coefficients, study of the resistance of beams to tension and compression (Leonardo da Vinci).

The study and description of the flight of birds, the discovery of the existence of environmental resistance and lifting force, the creation of the project of the first aircraft, parachute and helicopter (Leonardo da Vinci).

The creation of a number of hydraulic engineering devices by Leonardo da Vinci (he knew the law of communicating vessels for liquids of various densities and the law discovered over time by Pascal).

The study of sound reflection and the formulation of the principle of the independence of the propagation of sound waves from various sources (Leonardo da Vinci).

The study of the laws of binocular vision, the study of the influence of the environment on the color of bodies, an attempt to experimentally determine the intensity of light depending on the distance, the first description of the camera obscura (Leonardo da Vinci).

Acquaintance in translation with the treatises of the ancient Greek scientists Archimedes, Heron, Euclid, etc.

The Italian scientist N. Tartaglia in the treatises "New Science" (1537) and "Problems and Various Inventions" (1546) studies the trajectory of projectiles, proves that the trajectory of their movement is curvilinear and the greatest flight range is achieved when the cannon barrel is tilted under an angle of 45° to the horizon.

FIRST SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 1543

Heliocentric system of Nicolaus Copernicus - 1473-1543- a scientific revolution in natural science: for the first time he explained the actual picture of the apparent movement of celestial bodies by the movement of the Earth in orbit around the Sun and around its axis (the book "On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres", 1543). The work of N. Copernicus "On the rotation of the celestial spheres" was published, containing an exposition of the heliocentric system of the world, reflecting the true picture of the universe and leading to revolutionary transformations in the worldview and natural science.

1. There is no one center for all celestial orbits or spheres. 2. The center of the Earth is not the center of the world, but only the center of gravity and the center of the lunar orbit.
3. All spheres move around the sun .The teaching was forbidden by the Catholic Church from 1616 to 1828.

Giordano Bruno (1550-1600) and the infinite universe. For Bruno, who takes a further step in development of the pantheistic tendencies of Cusan, not only God is infinite, but also the world . The difference between God and the world, so fundamental for Christianity, is essentially removed by Bruno. , which causes those persecutions of him by the church, which ended, ultimately, so tragically.

🙂 Greetings to regular and new readers of the site "Ladies-Gentlemen"! In the article "Scientists of the Middle Ages and their discoveries: facts and videos" - information about famous scientists in the field of alchemy, medicine, geography. The article will be useful for schoolchildren and history buffs.

Scientists of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is an era in history from the 5th to the 15th centuries. The medieval world was full of prejudice and ignorance. The Church zealously followed those who aspired to knowledge, and literally persecuted them. Knowledge was considered useful if it brought one closer to the knowledge of the Lord.

Medicine more often caused harm than good - it was necessary to rely only on the strength of the body. People did not understand what the Earth looks like and came up with various fables about its structure.

But even in this ignorance there was a place for an analogue to the modern scientist. Of course, such a concept did not exist, because no one yet had a concept of scientific methods. The main activity of philosophers was aimed at searching for the philosopher's stone, which would turn any metal into gold, and the elixir of life, which gave eternal youth.

Alchemy

Even 400 years before the activity of Newton, the monk Roger Bacon conducted an experiment during which a beam directed through water was decomposed into a spectrum. The naturalist came to the conclusion, like Newton later, that the white color has an invariable geometry. Roger Bacon wrote that mathematics is the key to other sciences.

Like most of the 13th-century alchemists, Bacon was one of the experimental philosophers in search of the philosopher's stone. Medieval alchemists were obsessed with gold for a reason. Gold is a very remarkable metal. First of all, it cannot be destroyed. Experimenters asked this question all the time.

Why does the variability of matter inherent in other substances not extend to gold? This metal can be heated, melted, given a new shape - it remains with unchanged qualities.

The study of gold became the search for perfection on earth. All manipulations with metal were not aimed at enrichment, alchemists did not strive for wealth, but for knowledge of the secrets of the shiny metal.

Numerous experiments have made a lot of discoveries. Alchemists discovered the technique of applying gilding. We got concentrated acids, discovered various methods of distillation, and, in fact, laid the foundations of chemistry.

Famous alchemists of the Middle Ages:

• Albert the Great (1193-1280)
• Arnoldo de Villanova (1240-1311)
• Raymond Lully (1235-1314)
• Basil Valentine (1394-1450)
• (1493-1541)
• Nicholas Flamel (1330-1418)
• Bernardo, the Good Man of Treviso (1406-1490)

Church

No matter how we scold the clergy, it was these people who were the most educated for many centuries. It was they who pushed the boundaries of science, conducted scientific experiments, and made records in church libraries.

In the 11th century, a monk at Malmesbury Abbey, Aylmer, strapped on a pair of wings and jumped from a high tower. The aircraft carried him for almost 200 meters before he hit the ground, breaking his legs in the process.

Aylmer of Malmesbury, 11th century English Benedictine monk

During the treatment, he told the abbot that he knew what his mistake was. His flying invention lacks a tail. True, the abbot forbade further experiments, and controlled flights were postponed for 900 years.

But the ministers of the church had the opportunity to make discoveries in other areas of human activity. The medieval church did not oppose itself to science; on the contrary, it wanted to use it.

The most perspicacious expressed their bold thoughts. They assumed that humanity would have ships driven not by a hundred rowers, but by one person, wagons moving without any kind of manpower, an aircraft that would tear a person off the ground and return him back.

This is exactly what happened, and progress is delayed by humanity, perhaps from the unwillingness to objectively assess the past.

Medicine

Today, people need one thing from medicine - to make us feel better. But medieval physicians had more ambitious goals. For starters, eternal life.

For example, Artephius is a philosopher who lived in the 12th century. He wrote a treatise on the art of prolonging human life, claimed that he himself lived for at least 1025 years. This charlatan boasted of his acquaintance with Christ, although at that time it turned out that he had already lived for more than 1200 years.

The alchemists believed that if they could turn the metal into perfect gold using the Philosopher's Stone, then they could use it as an elixir of eternal life and make humanity immortal. And although the elixir of eternal life has not been found, experts in this field undoubtedly were.

Doctors who lived 600-800 years before our time quite rightly believed that the disease is not caused by external factors, but occurs when the body lacks health. Therefore, doctors with the help of diets and herbs tried to restore health.

There were entire pharmaceutical shops, where there were a large number of medicinal preparations. At least 400 plants were mentioned in medical treatises, with various healing properties.

The main advantage of medieval doctors is that they perceived the body as a whole.

The most ancient scientist and physician (Avicenna) (980-1037) worked for many years on his encyclopedia "Canon of Medicine", which absorbed the medical knowledge of the medieval East.

Mondino de Luzzi (1270 - 1326) - Italian anatomist and physician resumed the practice of public autopsies of dead people, forbidden by the Catholic Church, to teach students.

Alchemist, physician, philosopher, naturalist Paracelsus (1493-1541)

The famous healer and alchemist from Switzerland - Paracelsus (1493-1541) knew anatomy very well. In practice, he mastered the skills of surgery and therapy. He criticized the ideas of ancient medicine, independently developed a classification of diseases.

Geography

People have long believed that the earth is flat. But it is known for certain that Robert Bacon wrote in his writings: “The rounding of the earth explains why, having climbed to a height, we see further.” The dissent of the church authorities hindered the development of many sciences, but geography suffered, perhaps, most of all.

This is proved by maps found by archaeologists. Only navigators needed accurate maps, and they had them. We do not know who drew these maps and how the process of their creation went. Their accuracy amazes modern specialists.

Of the travelers of the Middle Ages, the Russian merchant Athanasius Nikitin (date of death 1475) should be noted. He traveled from the city of Tver to India! At the time it was incredible! His notes made during the trip are called “Journey Beyond the Three Seas.”

The Italian merchant and traveler Marco Polo (1254-1344) was the first European to describe China. The "Book of Marco Polo" was one of the main sources for compiling the map of Asia.