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John Wilkins Jane Garnett and Cliff Davies The Invention of Modern Science p.5 Discovering science yesterday and today Alex Halliday and Ken Macdonald QC p.15 Part I Happy Curiosities: John Wilkins Jane Garnett and Cliff Davies p.27 Part II p.29 Introduction Melvyn Bragg p.33 John Wilkins, The Royal Society, and a sociology of science Sir Paul Nurse p.37 and the new baroque Marcus du Sautoy p.40 Questions, curiosity and the wonder of science Jo Dunkley Discovering science yesterday and today Alex Halliday and Ken Macdonald QC This booklet has been produced as part of Wadham’s and Oxford’s celebration of the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Wilkins (1614 –1672). Wilkins was a polymath who amongst other things was an important exponent of natural theology – an understanding of the natural world that sat at the interface between science and religion. In many respects this typified Wilkins; he realised that breakthroughs would come from the alignment of different perspectives. He was interested in many things including manned space flight, but his greatest scientific legacy was that he recognised the strategic importance of science for society. He realised that to achieve real impact, scientists needed to work together, exchange ideas and collaborate. The meetings that were held at Wadham College led to the founding of the Royal Society, the world’s first national academy, in 1660. As such there is a deep historical link between Wadham and the Royal Society. More importantly perhaps there are striking parallels between what Wilkins was trying to achieve in the 17th century, and what researchers at Oxford and elsewhere are seeking to develop in interdisciplinarity today. Working at the interfaces between traditionally distinct disciplines is likely to lead to major discoveries. Wilkins and his colleagues also recognised the role that fundamental science can play in tackling the needs of society. Then as now, the issues were huge. 5 John Wilkins was around at a particularly important time in the development of modern science. Many facets of scientific thinking became firmly established by the research and researchers in Oxford in the 16th and 17th centuries. Perhaps the first of particular note was William Harvey (1578 –1657) who defined the circulation of blood in the human body and the role of arteries and veins, long before oxygen was discovered. However, there was a much broader group of scientific intellectuals who followed, and they were brought together to share ideas and discuss science and the scientific rationale by John Wilkins. The ‘Oxford club’ of experimentalists included many now famous scientists who collaborated, contributing their diverse skills in mathematics, deductive reasoning, experimental design and graphical representation. Robert Boyle (1627–1691) was the founder of modern chemistry. William Petty (1623–1687) developed economics and ‘political arithmetic’. Christopher Wren (1632–1723) was an astronomer with exceptional ability in geometry, design, graphical representation, and, as we all know, architecture. Thomas Willis (1621–1675) is considered the founder of clinical neuroscience, the one who realised the functioning of the brain and the nature of psychological disorders. Robert Hooke (1635–1703) is sometimes referred to as the UK’s Leonardo because his contributions were so far reaching and broad. He was Boyle’s assistant but also developed his own ideas and theories of mechanics in particular. He discovered the nature of life under the microscope and was the first to coin the term ‘cell’. He argued for the role of gravity in planetary motion leading to a long-lasting dispute with Isaac Newton (1643–1727) over the source of his ideas. Hooke was also the first in the UK to recognise 6 the real significance of fossils and the evidence of enormous geological forces that turned seas into land and mountains. Of course 17th-century Oxford scientists cannot claim sole credit for these and the many other discoveries they were involved in; just as today, science is built upon science. For example, Wilkins and Hooke were hugely influenced by the work of Galileo (1564–1642) who built a telescope and made the first detailed drawings of the Moon, demonstrating that it was mountainous like Earth, rather than a perfect sphere as had always been assumed. This led directly to Wilkins and Hooke working on the idea of manned space flight. Similarly, Hooke’s work in palaeontology and geology was influenced by the writings of Nicolas Steno (1638–1686) who also paved the way for the later work of James Hutton (1726–1797) and Charles Darwin (1809–1882) on stratigraphy and natural selection. What was striking about the Oxford group, however, was the astonishing range of discovery that happened in one place and at one time. It was catalysed by interdisciplinary collaboration, a stimulating environment for the exchange of ideas, and a strong sense of the discovery and power of the scientific rationale itself. Science was not only important in its own right; many scientific applications were important for society at large. The 17th century was not an easy time in England. Civil War was tearing the country apart and Oxford was both divided and attacked in the process. London and other areas were decimated by the Great Plague. Then there was the Great Fire of London, requiring a major 7 Previous page: An engraving from David Loggan’s Oxonia Illustrata (1675) The Wind Car from Mathematical Magick (1648) rebuild of the city. Through all of this difficulty science thrived because it was seen as so important. Scientists were key to providing modern solutions. For example, Wren designed and built dozens of churches and Hooke laid out the streets of London after the fire. Of course, science is just as relevant today. Scientific progress is breathtakingly fast as it was in the days of Wilkins. However, the scale is vastly bigger, the collaborations are global and the implications and risks of not taking scientific advice are enormous. As we face up to the challenges of climate change, security threats, the cyberworld, energy provision, dementia, obesity and food security, science has to be strong and heavily supported by governments. Young people looking to the future do understand this and see the opportunities that science provides for addressing societal issues. However, they also bring that fresh creative approach that Wilkins sought to capitalise upon. Today, Wadham, Oxford more generally, as well as many other academic institutions the world over, reach out to young people to encourage them to pursue careers in science. This is not just because science is deeply relevant to society – it is also fascinating and we need brilliant young people to just enjoy discovery. Edmond Halley (1656–1742) came to Oxford University at the age of sixteen and by the time he was twenty he was setting up telescopes in St Helena to observe and catalogue the stars of the southern hemisphere. While there he observed the transit of Mercury across the Sun and went on to plan observations of the transit of Venus. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society when he 11 was 22. Science is for young people. Discovering something new that the people of this world did not know before is one of the most amazing thrills one can have in life. If you want to follow a career creating, designing and building the devices for the future, science is for you. If you want to be a leader or policy maker who makes informed decisions for the benefit of a secure society, science is for you. If you just want to have a lot of fun and get paid to do it, science is for you, just as it was for Galileo, Wilkins, Newton and Halley. Alex Halliday is Head of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division of the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Wadham College. Ken Macdonald QC is Warden of Wadham College. 12 John Wilkins by Mary Beale (1633–99) 13 Part I Happy Curiosities: John Wilkins Jane Garnett and Cliff Davies “He abounded in happy curiosities: he was interested in theology, cryptography, music, the manufacture of transparent beehives, the course of an invisible planet, the possibility of a trip to the moon, the possibility and the principles of a world language.” So wrote Jorge Luis Borges in an essay of 1942 celebrating ‘The Analytical Language of John Wilkins’s (published in his collection Oltras inquisiciones in 1952, and in English translation in 1964). Wilkins’s Essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language, setting out the contours of a universal language and categorisation of existence, was published under the aegis of the Royal Society in 1668. Commenting on the necessary arbitrariness of Wilkins’s classificatory system, as of all such attempts at universality, Borges observed, however, that ‘the impossibility of penetrating the divine scheme of the universe cannot dissuade us from outlining human schemes, even though we are aware that they are provisional’. One of the twentieth century’s great philosophical writers, famously fascinated by the challenges of ordering complexity, was attracted to Wilkins for his eclectic 15 spirit of curiosity and for his creative hypotheses. Indeed, Wilkins’s work on language was taken up more widely in the twentieth century, especially in the context of internationalist cultural idealism: the women’s rights activist Sylvia Pankhurst discussed him in 1927 in an essay on international language (in a series called ‘To-day and To-morrow’), and Umberto Eco, in 1993, in a book on the search for the perfect language concurrently published in Munich, Oxford, Barcelona, Rome and Paris (as part of a series called ‘Making Europe’). Eco recalled berating a BBC journalist who had asked him to explain semiotics for not realising that Wilkins had been a key pioneer in the field.
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