(With Biology Focus) This History Is
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History of Western civilization and science (with biology focus) http://www.bible-history.com This history is: - Painted with a broad brush - Western biased - Omits many events, people You are responsible for scientific history topics, not purely political (for context, not exams) First “Western” civilizations arose in the Middle-East in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (modern Iraq) http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/ Akkadian empire (2350-2150 BC) Akkad was world’s largest city from 2250-2075 BC http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/ Assyrian empire (2000-600 BC) and Babylonian empire (2000-500 BC) http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/ 500BC Persian empire (650-333 BC) From Iran, not Arabic http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/ Meanwhile, the Greek empire (1000-30 BC) forms. Expanded by Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) who conquers the world, divided afterwards by squabbles http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/ First Natural Philosophers Plato (427BC-347BC) Originator of philosophical idealism and essentialism Allegory of the cave Platonic ideals or molds Supernatural creator Aristotle (384BC-322BC) Scale of Nature, scala naturae, Great Chain of Being There is a ladder of life forms from invertebrates up to God Justified social hierarchy and social elitism Begins the overall trend Static & typological to Changing & variational Roman Republic (500-30 BC) replaced with Roman Empire (30BC - ?AD) Western Roman Empire falls ~400AD Eastern lasts arguably until 1461 AD http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/ orange=14AD, red=117AD http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/ Constantine I Legalizes Christianity in 325AD Christianity spreads through Europe afterwards By 600AD is dominant religion Christianity (0BC +) Special creation explains molds of Plato Motivates the study of nature to discover the mind of God Scala naturae naturally fits Genesis: 1.11-12 grass, herbs, fruit trees 1.20-22 fish, whales and birds 1.24-25 cattle, creeping things on land 1.26 humanity Scale of Nature in other religious writings as well A version of the 10 incarnations of Vishnu Matsya (fish) Saves Sage Manu from floods and recovers the Vedas from demons. Kurma (tortoise) Sustains the earth on his back. Varaha (boar) Brings the earth back from the bottom of the ocean where it was dragged by a demon, Varaha kills the demon. Narasimha Kills the demon King Hiranyakashipu, who was planning to kill (man-lion) his own son, a devotee of Lord Vishnu. Vamana (dwarf) The first human incarnation, kills the demon King Mahabhali, who had deprived the gods of their possessions. Parasurama Saves Brahmins from the tyranny of the arrogant Kshatriyas. Rama Kills Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. Sri Krishna The most popular incarnation; Krishna's contributions throughout his life include the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. Buddha Hindus consider Buddha as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and accept his teachings, but do not directly worship him. Kalkin This incarnation is yet to come and will mark the end of all evil in the world. (a man on a white horse) Adapted from: http://www.koausa.org, website for Kashmiri Overseas Association Scale of Nature in other religious writings as well 10 incarnations of Vishnu Ganeesha Islamic Empire (expansion 622-750AD, persists to 1200AD) Mohammad (Mecca->Medina->Mecca) Sunni (election) vs Shi’a (inheritance) “People of the Book” http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/ Islamic Golden Age (750AD-1200AD) Many scientific, technological, intellectual advances - Scientific method - Astronomy - Algebra - Trigonometry - Optics (absorption vs emission) - Imported concept of “zero” from India into Western Math Respected Greek philosophies and writings, much of what we know comes from translations of Islamic manuscripts Middle ages (400AD - 1500AD) - Wars and chaos - Feudalism - Barbarian invasions - Black plague (1350s) - Crusades (1100-1300) - No clean water (wine, beer) http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/ Not much good science going on in Europe - “Aristotle did it all” attitude - Little stability to allow intellectual pursuits Some medieval bestiaries written: Leo + Pard = leopard, Phoenix, unicorn, included Renaissance (1300AD - 1600AD) Florence in Italy saw an increase in the arts Intellectual pursuits and arts spread across Europe Protestant Reformation (1517AD) Martin Luther and his 95 theses criticized the Catholic Church (indulgences) End result is a multitude of new Christianities Scientific Revolution (1543+AD) Copernicus publishes heliocentric solar system model Bacon popularizes the scientific method Kepler published laws of planetary motion Newton, Isaac (1642-1727) Math & logic can describe behavior of nature, no need for constant invocation of supernatural processes Natural Law & Materialism The progress of nature requires that no non-physical postulate ever be admitted in connection with the study of physical phenomena ... the researcher who is seeking explanations must seek physical explanations only ... -G.C. Simpson Saw no conflict with religion (Revelations and seances) Linnaeus, Carl (1707-1778) Classified all organisms in order to understand the mind of God and represent the scale of nature Accidentally described evolutionary relationships Invented binomial nomenclature kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, Genus species Species were the types or molds, ignored variation as decay As the years pass fossils are discovered more and more… They demonstrate apparent change Cuvier, Baron Georges (1769-1832) Explained geologic change via catastrophism, the dramatic and sudden changes (saltational) are due to supernaturally caused floods and disasters Matches the geologic record to Biblical ideas Lyell, Sir Charles (1797-1875) Explained geologic change via uniformatarianism, the changes are not so sharp and are due to slow processes we currently see (nothing supernatural) Requires more time than thought available though Wrote the Principles of Geology (1830) Believed in cyclic time Totally inoffensive and equivocal person Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste (1744-1829): priest, soldier (hero), bank clerk, prof. First person with a real evolutionary theory, wanted to explain the scale of nature Species don't go extinct they evolve up the ladder to keep up with environmental change New species are spontaneously created at the bottom Remembered for "use or disuse", but it wasn't really his idea Coined the terms "biology" and "invertebrates" morphology ladder time Darwin (1809-1882) Arguably the 2nd greatest scientist ever Studied to be a doctor, pastor, naturalist 21 years old went on boat trip (almost prevented by Dad) 5 year mission on the HMS Beagle to seek out new life, etc. (psychological babysitter for Captain Fitzroy) Discovered fossils corresponding to current life (implies change) Read Lyell's book and became uniformatarianism convert (change over long periods) Read Malthus and realized importance of struggle to survive (Change may be caused by differential survival) Darwin (1809-1882) Returns to England Developed theory of the origin of atolls and coral reefs Builds reputation as gifted geologist Married Emma Wedgewood, 10 kids, $$$, Chaga's disease Sketched theory of evolution in 1842, wanted a perfect book 8 years working on barnacles (“where does your dad…”) 1858 gets paper from Wallace (On the tendency of varieties to depart indefinitely from the original type) PANIC Wallace, Alfred (1823-1913) First European to study wild apes Collected and sold specimens for $$$ Malaria and boat explosion 1855 paper: new species arise near similar ones 1858 paper sent to Darwin for advice (natural selection) Spurs publication of Origin by Darwin 1889 book: Darwinism Later campaigned for women's rights, nature conservation, phrenology, psychics, socialism, vs vaccination Darwin (1809-1882) 1859 On the origin of Species 17 books, 155 articles, 10,000 pages Poor health prevents him from debates Supporters and detractors argue loudly in his absence Darwin/Wallace theory: Pattern Evolution occurred Common descent Process Gradually happened Population speciation Natural selection Shift from typological to variational focus Darwin's books (1839): Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by H. M. S. Beagle. (1839-43): Edited The zoology of the voyage of H. M. S. Beagle. Pt. I: Fossil Mammalia, by R. OWEN (1840). Pt. II: Mammalia, by G. R. WATERHOUSE (1839). Pt. III: Birds, by J. GOULD (1841). Pt. IV: Fish, by L. JENYNS (1842). Pt. V: Reptiles, by Th. BELL (1843). (1842): The structure and distribution of coral reefs. - - - - (1842) Note: first draft of the Origin was complete at this time - - - - (1844): Geological observations on the volcanic islands, visited during the voyage of HMS Beagle. (1851): A monograph of the fossil Lepadidae: or, pedunculated cirripeds of Great Britain. (1851): A monograph of the sub-class Cirripedia, with figures of all the species. The Lepadidae: or pedunculated cirripeds. (1854): A monograph of the fossil Balanidae and Verrucidae of Great Britain. (1854): A monograph of the sub-class Cirripedia, with figures of all the species. The Balanidae (or sessile cirripedes), the Verrucidae etc. (1859): On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. (1862): On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing. (1868): The variation of