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Historia De La Ciencia (1543 - 2001) John Gribbin Historia de la ciencia (1543 - 2001) www.librosmaravillosos.com John Gribbin 1 Preparado por Patricio Barros Historia de la ciencia (1543 - 2001) www.librosmaravillosos.com John Gribbin Introducción 1. Los hombres del Renacimiento 2. Los últimos místicos 3. Los primeros científicos 4. La ciencia encuentra su fundamento 5. La .revolución «newtoniana» 6. Horizontes de expansión 7. La ciencia ilustrada I. La química se pone al día 8. La ciencia ilustrada II. Avances en todos los frentes 9. La «revolución darwiniana» 10. Átomos y moléculas 11. Hágase la luz 12. El último gran triunfo de la ciencia clásica 13. El espacio interior 14. El ámbito de la vida 15. El espacio exterior CODA: el placer de descubrir Bibliografía 2 Preparado por Patricio Barros Historia de la ciencia (1543 - 2001) www.librosmaravillosos.com John Gribbin Agradecimientos Quiero dar las gracias a las siguientes instituciones por haberme facilitado el acceso a sus bibliotecas, así como a otros materiales: Académie Française y Jardín des Plantes, de París; Bodleian Library, en Oxford; Museo Británico y Museo de Historia Natural, Londres; Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge; Sociedad Geológica, Londres; Downc House, Kent; Linnaean Society, Londres; Royal Astronomical Society; Royal Geographical Society; Royal Institution; Trinity College, Dublin; Biblioteca de la Universidad de Cambridge. Como siempre, la Universidad de Sussex me proporcionó base y apoyo, incluido el acceso a Internet. Sería injusto destacar a alguna de las muchas personas que se prestaron a comentar conmigo ciertos aspectos del proyecto, pero ellas saben quiénes son y cuentan todas con mi agradecimiento. En este texto utilizo el pronombre personal de primera persona tanto en singular como en plural. El «yo», por supuesto, aparece allí donde presento mi propia opinión sobre algún tema científico, mientras que «nosotros» se utiliza para incluir a la coautora, Mary Gribbin, siempre que sea necesario. Su ayuda para garantizar que las palabras que siguen sean comprensibles a quienes no son científicos ha resultado imprescindible, aquí como en todos mis libros. 3 Preparado por Patricio Barros Historia de la ciencia (1543 - 2001) www.librosmaravillosos.com John Gribbin Introducción Lo más importante que la ciencia nos enseña sobre el lugar que ocupamos en el universo es que no somos especiales. El proceso comenzó en el siglo XII con la obra de Nicolás Copérnico, quien planteó que la Tierra no estaba en el centro del universo, se aceleró después de que Galileo, a principios del siglo XVII, utilizara un telescopio para obtener la prueba definitiva de que la Tierra es en realidad un planeta que describe una órbita alrededor del Sol. Figura 1. Un encuentro mítico entre grandes mentes: Aristóteles, Hevelius y Kepler discuten sobre la órbita de los cometas. (Extraído de la Cometographia de Hevelius, 1668.) Con las oleadas sucesivas de descubrimientos astronómicos que se produjeron 4 Preparado por Patricio Barros Historia de la ciencia (1543 - 2001) www.librosmaravillosos.com John Gribbin durante los siglos siguientes, los astrónomos se dieron cuenta de que, del mismo modo que la Tierra es un planeta ordinario, también el Sol es una estrella ordinaria (una de los varios cientos de miles de millones de estrellas que forman nuestra galaxia, la Vía Láctea) y la propia Vía Láctea es tan sólo una galaxia ordinaria (una de los varios cientos de miles de millones que hay en el universo visible). Llegaron incluso a plantear, a finales del siglo XX, que este universo puede no ser el único. Mientras sucedía todo esto, los biólogos intentaban sin éxito hallar alguna prueba de la existencia de una «fuerza vital» especial que diferenciara a la materia viva de la materia inerte, llegando a la conclusión de que la vida no es más que un conjunto de procesos químicos bastante complicados. El historiador se encuentra con una curiosa coincidencia: uno de los grandes hitos del comienzo de la investigación biológica sobre el cuerpo humano fue la publicación de De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Sobre la estructura del cuerpo humano) de Andrés Vesalio (Andreas Vesalius) en 1543, el mismo año en que Copérnico publicó finalmente De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (Sobre las revoluciones de los cuerpos celestes). Esta coincidencia hizo que 1543 fiera el punto de partida para la revolución científica que habría de transformar primero Europa y luego el mundo. Por supuesto, cualquier fecha que elijamos para fijar el comienzo de la historia de la ciencia será siempre arbitraria, y, mi relato, además, está también limitado en el espacio geográfico, lo mismo que en el espacio de tiempo que cubre. Mi propósito es esbozar el desarrollo de la ciencia occidental desde el Renacimiento hasta aproximadamente el final del siglo XX. Esto significa dejar a un lado los logros de los antiguos griegos, los chinos y los científicos y filósofos islámicos, que tanto hicieron por mantener activa la búsqueda del conocimiento de nuestro mundo durante el período que los europeos denominamos «la edad oscura» y «la Edad Media». Sin embargo, también significa narrar una historia coherente, fijando claramente en el espacio y el tiempo el comienzo de la evolución de la visión del mundo que constituye el núcleo de nuestra forma de comprender el universo y el lugar que ocupamos en él actualmente. y es que la vida humana resulta no ser diferente de cualquier otro tipo de vida existente en la Tierra. Tal como quedó ya establecido en el siglo XIX en las obras de Charles Darwin y Alfred Wallace, todo lo que se necesita para hacer seres humanos a partir de las amebas es el proceso de 5 Preparado por Patricio Barros Historia de la ciencia (1543 - 2001) www.librosmaravillosos.com John Gribbin la evolución por selección natural y un montón de tiempo. Figura 2. Grabado de "Breve compendio de la esfera y de la arte de navigar", de Martín Cortés de Albacar, 1551. Todos los ejemplos que he mencionado aquí ilustran otra característica del proceso de contar la historia. Lo natural es describir los acontecimientos clave refiriéndose a la obra de los individuos que marcaron un hito en la ciencia —Copérnico. Vesalio, Darwin, Wallace y los demás. Pero esto no significa que la ciencia haya avanzado como resultado del trabajo de una serie de genios insustituibles dotados de una visión especial de cómo funciona el mundo. Pueden ser unos genios (aunque no siempre lo sean), pero ciertamente no son insustituibles. El progreso científico se construye paso a paso y, cuando llega el momento oportuno, como muestra el ejemplo de Darwin y Wallace, dos o más individuos, cada uno por su lado, pueden dar el paso siguiente. Es la suerte o un accidente histórico lo que decide cuál de ellos será recordado como descubridor de 6 Preparado por Patricio Barros Historia de la ciencia (1543 - 2001) www.librosmaravillosos.com John Gribbin un fenómeno y pasará con su nombre a la posteridad. Mucho más importante que el genio humano es el desarrollo de la tecnología, y no es sorprendente que el comienzo de la revolución científica «coincida» con el desarrollo del telescopio y el microscopio. Sólo se me ocurre una excepción parcial a esta situación, e incluso ese caso lo consideraría más especial de lo que lo consideran la mayoría de los historiadores de la ciencia. Isaac Newton fue claramente un caso especial, en parte por la amplitud de sus logros, pero sobre todo por la claridad con que fijó las reglas básicas con las que debía funcionar la ciencia. Sin embargo, hay que tener en cuenta que Newton se basó también en sus predecesores inmediatos, particularmente en Galileo Galilei y René Descartes, y en este sentido sus contribuciones eran una consecuencia natural de los logros anteriores. Si Newton no hubiera vivido, el progreso científico podría haberse retrasado durante unas cuantas décadas. Pero sólo unas pocas décadas, porque Edmond Halley o Robert Hooke podrían haber dado con la famosa ley de la gravitación universal, donde se dice que la fuerza de atracción entre dos masas es inversamente proporcional al cuadrado de la distancia que las separa; de hecho, Gottfried Leibniz inventó el cálculo independientemente de Newton (y lo hizo mejor); y la teoría ondulatoria de la luz de Christiaan Huygens, aun siendo excelente, quedó eclipsada porque Newton optó por hacerle la competencia con una teoría de partículas. Nada de esto me impedirá contar buena parte de mi versión de la historia de la ciencia refiriéndome a las personas que participaron en ella, incluido Newton. Mi elección de los personajes que destacan en esta historia no pretende se exhaustiva, ni tampoco es mi intención que los comentarios sobre sus vidas y obras sean completos. He elegido pasajes que son representativos del desarrollo de la ciencia en su contexto histórico. Algunos de estos pasajes y los personajes que participan en ellos resultarán conocidos, pero otros (así lo espero) no tanto. La importancia de las personas y de sus vidas estriba en que reflejan la sociedad en la que vivieron, y al comentar, por ejemplo, el modo en que el trabajo de un científico determinado fue consecuencia del de otro, lo que pretendo es indicar el modo en que una «generación» de científicos influyó en la siguiente. Podría parecer que aquí surge necesariamente la pregunta sobre cómo rodó el balón por primera vez, es decir, 7 Preparado por Patricio Barros Historia de la ciencia (1543 - 2001) www.librosmaravillosos.com John Gribbin sobre la «causa inicial». Pero en este caso es fácil encontrar la causa inicial: la ciencia occidental se puso en marcha porque existió el Renacimiento. Una vez que éste comenzó, con el impulso que recibió la tecnología quedó garantizado un progreso continuo que no se detendría. Las nuevas ideas científicas hicieron que la tecnología siguiera mejorando y esta tecnología más avanzada proporcionaba a los científicos los medios necesarios para comprobar sus nuevas teorías cada vez con mayor precisión.
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