HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC PERCEPTION OF REALITY: THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC THINKING or 'reason'

Theme: The progress in science is a function of human reason which involves contemplation... Progress in human knowledge advances with formulation of the 'right' questions. Inquiry is the primary tool for thinking. The spirit of inquiry runs through the entire history of philosophy as 'science'. The worldview and value system of modern science can be traced back in terms of the critique of reason as an organizing principle. The historical development of 'reason'.... 'systems theory'... Complex systems have ‘emergent properties’ that describe their characteristics as wholes and these properties are conditioned, but not determined by the constituent parts of the systems... 'holistic science'...

"Philosophers ask many more questions than they can answer. Asking a good clear question is one of the most important things we can do. We find many instances in the history of both science and philosophy where a question was unanswered for centuries until some genius came along and rephrased the question, and all of a sudden it was found that the answer was very simple to find as well. For this reason a great deal of time is spent on this book in clarifying issues. Clarification of a difficult problem is a great step forward. It certainly avoids much fruitless and apparently endless debate and hence clears the air for fruitful work and the solution of the problem." ( John G, Kemeny A Philosopher Looks at Science Van Nostrand Rheinhold Company, l959 xii)

role of contemplation in science... human ability to look at a problem from different perspectives and make new connections... sudden shift in the way a problem is viewed i.e. 'insight' depends on freedom from fear and conflict... 'freedom of thought'...

theory-making process: 'inductive reasoning' or 'induction'... empiricism and 'scientific method'

"The world view and value system that lie at the basis of our culture and that have to be carefully re-examined were formulated in their essential outlines in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries". (Fritjof Capra The Turning Point p.54)

Neils Bohr: a new theoretical planetary model of the atom combined the notion of discrete quanta with the discontinuous pattern of the hydrogen atom's spectral lines...

Systems thinking or 'holistic perspective'... the sciences are conceptual systems which correspond with reality.

"Thinking itself remains just what it has been all the time, a matter of following up and testing the conclusions suggested by the facts and events of life." (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1933 p.89)

"The history of culture shows that mankind's scientific knowledge and technical abilities have developed, especially in all their earlier stages, out of the fundamental problems of life."(John Dewey 216)

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Definition of science... 'science' is a human activity involving a given perception of reality... perspective of the world... a 'worldview' or 'paradigm'. Beliefs are structured within the framework of the assumptions of a given paradigm....

The 'protosciences' of the ancients were based on the belief that complex natural phenomena could be explained by theological revelation and an understanding of the 'soul.' In most ancient civilizations people knew that knowledge was a fearful thing... that knowing the name of something implied having power over it - 'magic'. In ancient myths and legends, eating from the tree of knowledge meant banishment from some garden... the 'janus-like quality of knowledge'.

ancient Greece- reality organized through classical logic... Early 'philosophy' was the 'queen of sciences'.. thinking meant discovering the truth through contemplation and observation. See Plato's 'philosopher-king' (Republic) Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics.

middle ages in Europe - reason was generally dormant - medieval Scholaticism... exercised by Church patriarchy to provide a rational basis for the revealed scriptural knowledge of their theology... using the thought process of deduction, philosophers made rational 'proofs' of spiritual 'truths'...such as the existence of God... ..'absolute' non-dualistic reality'... through reason.

Reason as process of logical proof... deductive reasoning or 'deduction? Ddeductive reasoning is seeing reality the way that one imagines it should be and not the way it is... 'immature mind'... EDUCTIVE REASONING IS SEEING REALITY THE WAY THAT ONE IMAGINES IT "SHOULD"(REALITY IS CONSCIOUSNESS AND AWARENESS)

"Rationalism and the rationalistic approach referred to the search of truth by the power of reason alone. The term 'reason' referred to the philosophical process of 'logical thought'. The process of logical thought was referred to as 'reasoning'. The process of 'reasoning' was considered to be the natural procedure for obtaining information about 'reality'. In the logical thought process of rationalism, conclusions were drawn on the basis of given 'self-evident' premises. The given premises were fabricated out of the imagination and impeccably logical philosophies were built on false premises. Conclusions were deduced through a process of logical proof or 'deduction'. Logical deduction leads to a conclusion regardless of the truth or untruth of the premises. If the premise is false, conclusions are nevertheless deduced from the false premise through a process of logical proof. In this way, a conclusion is logically deduced from a given premise, regardless of whether or not the premise is true. In this way impeccably logical philosophies can be built on false premises. The logical thought process which leads to the conclusion is known as 'logical deduction'. Adding nothing new, the deductive approach of rationalism hindered progress in knowledge of nature for centuries. The deductive approach of rationalism served to maintain the false perceptions of reality. The approach of rationalism added nothing new to our knowledge of nature. For centuries, rationalism hindered progress in our knowledge of nature". (Beck, W. Modern Science and the Nature of Life, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1961.)

Logical deduction leads to a conclusion regardless of the truth or untruth of the premises. Conclusions are drawn on the basis of given 'self-evident' premises. If the premise is false, conclusions are nevertheless deduced from the false premise through a process of logical proof. The logical thought process which leads to the conclusion is known as 'logical deduction'.

In this way, a conclusion is logically deduced from a given premise, regardless of whether or not the premise is true. In this way impeccably logical philosophies can be built on false premises.

As a thought process, deduction is valid if the premises are correct... but deduction is invalid if the premises are incorrect.

Previous to 'scientific method', no one had thought of a systematic way to to draw conclusions....measurements were not made and compared.... observations were made and conclusions were drawn rationally ...in a thought process of 'deduction'...using reason and logic... but on the basis of given premises.. The conclusions were deduced on the basis of given premises which might have beem false in the first place... The conclusions which were drawn deductively on the basis of false premises were innacurate... mistaken categories or 'category errors' because it is not possible to draw conclusions about transcendant qualities - 'absolute' non dualistic reality'- through reason. When the ultimate reality is conceived by reason alone two opposites... incompatible dualisms... dichotomies... are created... generated instead of the wholistic understanding of the nondualistic reality. Using reason alone it is not possible to conceive of something as being and not being at the same time. Category error was committed again when empirical science was used to explain the ultimate reality. It denied the validity of contemplation in gaining knowledge of reality. Science became 'scientism'- exclusive empiricism - all knowledge is based in experience

Empirical science denied the validity of contemplation in gaining knowledge of reality.

Previous to scientific method, observations were made and conclusions were drawn rationally (using reason and logic) but on the basis of given premises. No one had thought of a systematic way to draw conclusions. Measurements were not made and compared.

Aristotle's comprehensive system of ideas concerning the universe or 'nature': the 'Aristotelian system': Aristotle (384 to 322 B.C.) was a philosopher who set out to formulate the "essential nature of science and the laws of science...and a general method for 'all' scientific work." (Korzybski, Science and Sanity ). He formulated a general theory of the universe, a system of philosophy, the 'Aristotelian system largely by what was considered to be the natural procedure for obtaining information about reality i.e. the process of philosophical logical thought...or 'deductive reasoning'. 'Reason' was used to refer to process of 'logical proof' from self evident principles or premises... 'logical deductionism'... or 'deduction'. As a theory making process deduction is valid if the premises are correct, but invalid if the premises are incorrect. Aristotle's theory of the universe... system of ideas... philosophical system... was internally consistent and 'logical' even though it was built on false premises.

The deductive approach of rationalism added nothing to the knowledge of nature... served to maintain the false perceptions of reality... and hindered scientific progress for centuries. False perceptions of reality were maintained through the deductive approach of searching for truth by the power of reason alone i.e. 'rationalism'.With the rationalistic approach impeccably logical philosophies were built on premises fabricated out of the imagination and arbitrarily assigned as so-called 'self-evident' premises for philosophical systems of logical thought... premises from which conclusions were logically deduced. Even though the premises were in fact false notions of the world (as opposed to functional or 'scientific' language which reflects the structure of the world) reflected in a primitive language of anthropomorphic structure based on primitive mythology... so-called 'self-evident principles' The language which they inherited was not functional because it was not a reflection of the structure of the world. In his day little was known of the scientific data which we have today and naturally the system which he formulated was based on the empirical world as it was understood at the time.. a number of false notions. It was generally accepted that mankind was the most important creation and that the earth on which he lived was stationary and at the center of the universe. It was 'evident' that 'all materials seeks to move toward their natural levels'. Given this premise it was therefore 'reasonable ' to suppose that each kind of material would tend to move toward its 'natural' place... a 'logical deduction. Fire 'naturally' moves upward towards its place with the sun and the stars. Rocks 'naturally' move downward toward their place in the earth. Different objects would move at different rates downwards towards the earth or upwards towards the sky, depending on the extent of their 'earthiness' or 'fieriness'.

There was no one systematic way of drawing conclusions.... conclusions were deduced through a process of logical proof or 'logical deduction'. Logical deduction leads to a conclusion regardless of the truth or untruth of the premise. With the rationalistic approach - using the power of 'reason' and 'rational thought' to search the 'truth' - it seemed 'reasonable' to build impeccably logical philosophies on false premises. The process was considered to be the natural procedure for obtaining information about 'reality'. Aristotle's system of ideas was internally consistent and 'logical' even though it was built on false premises. Observations were made and conclusions were drawn rationally (using reason and logic - 'rationalism')

He and his followers formulated a system of philosophy, science and 'logic' in terms of

The logical deduction of rationalism leads to a conclusion regardless of the truth or untruth of the premises. The conclusions were deduced through a process of logical proof or deduction.

Aristotle's principle... theory... of the man-centered universe fit well with the dogma of Christian theology and ethics. In the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Aristotelian worldview became incorporated into the teachings of the Christian Church. As part of the religious dogma, the ideas of Aristotle remained unchallenged for nearly two thousand years.

..."formulated by those who for nearly two thousand years since Aristotle have controlled our knowlege and methods of orientation, and who for purposes of their own, selected what appears today as the worst of Aristotle... and with their own additions, imposed this composite system upon us... It is this composite system which is called 'aristotelian' and its influence is still with us today, affecting us both consciously and unconsciously... because of the character of his work he has semantically affected perhaps the largest number of people ever influenced by a single man." (Alfred Korzybski Science and Sanity preface to the first edition page xxvii)

. The process of 'reasoning' was considered to be the natural procedure for obtaining information about 'reality'

Rationalism and the rationalistic approach referred to the search of truth by the power of reason alone. The given premises were fabricated out of the imagination and impeccably logical philosophies were built on false premises.

"... Because of the character of his work (Aristotle) has semantically affected perhaps the largest number of people ever influenced by a single man." (Korzybski) .

Claudius Ptolemy Egyptian living in Alexandria around 150 a.d. claimed that the earth was a fixed, inert, immovable mass located at the centre of the universe and that all celestial bodies including the sun and fixed stars revolved around it. He based his cosmology not on observation but on his own conception of what he thought the universe ought to look like if it were to be simple and elegant. This worldview of an earth-centred universe held sway on Western thinking for nearly 2000 years.

thirteenth century Philosophers had been made rational 'proofs' for spiritual 'truths'- existence of God etc. These were innacurate 'category errors' because it is not possible to draw conclusions about trasnscendant qualities - 'absolute' non dualistic reality'- through reason. Two opposites are created when the ultimate reality is conceived by reason alone Incompatible dualisms are generated instead of the wholistic understanding of the nondualistic reality. Using reason alone it is not possible to conceive of something as being and not being at the same time.. (Category error was committed again when empirical science was used to explain the ultimate reality. It denied the validity of contemplation in gaining knowledge of reality. Science understood as 'exclusive empiricism' or 'scientism'- all knowledge is based in experience.)

(St.) Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) professional scholastic theologian and philosopher... had most powerful influence on world thinking since Aristotle. He combined Aristotle's comprehensive system of nature with Christian theology and ethics.. thus putting Christian doctrine into scientific form... So-called 'scholasticism' or 'scholastic theology' was expression of Christian doctrine in accurate, clear and concise language In his writings the Aristotelian worldview... 'philosophy/science' of Aristotle... was incorporated into the teachings of the Christian Church.... established the Aristotelian so-called 'scientific' worldview as part of the religious dogma as a conceptual framework that remained unquestioned throughout the Middle Ages. In this way the ideas of Aristotle remained unchallenged for nearly two thousand years.

With the scientific revolution and the 'heretical' view of the universe set in motion by a Creator, the Christian worldview was supplanted by the worldview of modern science. Man was perceived as separate from nature and in a position to control nature in the interest of humankind. The battle between the two worldviews is evident in the issue of neo-Darwinism versus Creationism. "The world view and value system that lie at the basis of our culture and that have to be carefully reexamined were formulated in their essential outlines in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Between 1500 and 1700 there was a dramatic shift in the way people pictured the world and in their whole way of thinking. The new mentality and the new perception of the cosmos gave our Western civilization the features that are characteristic of the modern era. They became the basis of the paradigm that has dominated our culture for the past three hundred years.

Medieval period or 'middle ages' in Europe - reason was generally dormant - exercised by Church patriarchy to provide a rational basis for the revealed scriptural knowledge of their theology. During the medieval period in Europe and until the 18th century, societies of Europe and North America were dominated by the worldview of the Christian church. The concepts of 'oneness' and 'wholeness' were considered to be metaphysical notions in the realm of theology.

The 'organic worldview' of the Middle Ages implied a value system which was conducive to ecological behavior. Until 1500 the dominant worldview in Europe was characterized by the interdependence of spirirtual and material phenomena and the subordination of individual needs to those of the community... the 'organic worldview'. People lived in small, cohesive communities and experienced nature in terms of organic relationships characterized by the interdependence of spirirtual and material phenomena and the subordination of individual needs to those of the community. In Europe this organic worldview gave rise to a scientific framework which rested on two authorities - Aristotle and the Christian Church. The worldview of the Church was dominant in European societies until the18th century. In North America the dominance of the Church continues in the form of a 'neo-Darwinism versus Creationism' issue.

Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries... new rational ideology and the 'scientific revolution'

The medieval outlook changed radically in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries... 'Age of the Scientific Revolution'.... in reference to the crucial role of science in bringing about far-reaching changes. The notion of an organic, living and spiritual universe was replaced by that of the world as a machine... a development brought about by revolutionary changes in physics and astronomy, culminating in the achievements of Copernicus, Galileo and Newton. The world machine became the dominant metaphor of the modern era.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there was a radical change in the 'medieval worldview' or 'paradigm'. The notion of an organic, living and spiritual universe was replaced by that of the world as a machine. It was the world machine which became the dominant metaphor of the modern era. This development was brought about by revolutionary changes in physics and astronomy, culminating in the achievements of Copernicus, Galileo and Newton.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Age of the Scientific Revolution.because of the crucial role of science in bringing about far-reaching changes. Between 1500 and 1700 there was a dramatic shift in the way people pictured the world and in their whole way of thinking. The notion of an organic, living and spiritual universe was replaced by that of the world as a machine, and the world machine became the dominant metaphor of the modern era. This development was brought about by revolutionary changes in physics and astronomy, culminating in the achievements of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton. Galileo was the first to practise empiricism.

With the scientific revolution and the 'heretical' view of the universe set in motion by a Creator, the Christian worldview was replaced by a scientific worldview based on the belief that the universe was set in motion by a Creator and obeyed certain universal laws of motion. Man was perceived as separate from nature and in a position to control nature in the interest of humankind. The battle between the two worldviews (Christian view of universe set in motion by a Creator and view of modern science) is evident in the debate of neo-Darwinism versus Creationism.

The scientific Revolution overturned the authority of Aristotle and the dogma of the Church. These were replaced by the scientific study of the universe using methods of reductionism which originated with the analytic method of Descartes ... the 'Cartesian method'.... Cartesian 'rationalism'...

About 1600, Kepler and Galileo invented and practised the 'scientific method'.

"It is important to appreciate what the new rational ideology accomplished. It challenged the dogma and rigidity of medieval Scholaticism, releasing humanity from centuries of superstition and oppression by a powerful priesthood. Nature was comprehended and brought under increasing control, harnessed to meet the growing material demands of an expanding middle class. A powerful affiliation of science, the Protestant Reformation, and a rising mercantile class shattered existing religious and civic hierarchies and paved the way for democratic forms of social organization. Enlightenment thought was essential to the development of social freedoms. Yet this new way of apprehending reality and the historic social forms such apprehension assumed contained the seeds of their own reversal." (Kathleen Kesson. "Critical Theory and Holistic Education: Carrying on the Conversation" in Miller et al. The Renewal of Meaning in Education: Responses to the Cultural and Ecological Crisis of our Times. 99)

Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) considered as 'the father of modern astronomy'...

The year which is usually considered as marking the beginning of the 'scientific revolution' is 1543 when Copernicus overthrew the geocentric view of Ptolemy and the Bible that had been accepted dogma for more than a thousand years. Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who became canon of the cathedral of Frauenberg where he spent a secluded academic life. Eventually published a book ( De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium... On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies) describing a new view of the solar system in which the earth was no longer at the center of the universe... Instead the sun was close to the center and the earth a planet that moved in an orbit around it like any other planet... This view marked the beginning of the end of the old Greek view of the universe in which the earth was at the center. According to Copernicus' cosmology ...heliocentric view of the universe the earth was not the center of the universe but merely one of the many planets circling a minor star at the edge of the galaxy. Man was robbed of his proud position as the central figure of God's creation. Copernicus was fully aware that his view would deeply offend the religious consciousness of his time When he advocated that the earth revolves around the sun, he met with recurrent trouble with the church authorities. He was finally forced to recant his 'heretical beliefs' before the Inquisition in Rome. The most 'radical' of his beliefs was the notion that accurate observation and information supply useful information about the universe. To know the truth look at nature and not at Aristotle. He delayed publication of his work until 1543, the year of his death, and even then he presented the heliocentric view merely as a hypothesis His ideas remained obscure for about a hundred years after his death.. It was not until the 17th century that Galileo, Kepler and Newton built on Copernicus' heliocentic theory of the universe. They produced the revolution which swept away the ideas of Aristotle and replaced them with ideas leading to modern astronomy and natural science... hence 'Copernican Revolution'. and man was robbed of his proud position as the central figure of God's creation. Copernicus was fully aware that his view would deeeply offend the religious consciousness of his time; he delayed its publication until 1543, the year of his death, and even then he presented the heliocentric view merely as a hypothesis.

The concpt of a sun-cetered universe had been proposed in 200 b.c. by Aristarchus of Samos an island off the coast of Turkey. It did not survive Aristotle's influence and as a result Western thought stagnated for 2000 years. In the long history of civilisation the belief that our abode in space, the earth, was fixed at the center of the universe was long in dying. It is easy to sympathise with that the heavens rotate with the fixed stars. Yet only three centuries ago people were persecuted for suggesting that this was not the case. The idea that the earth rotated around the sun was preposterous and seemed to contradict not only faith but common sense as well. The egocentric idea that the earth was at the center of the universe was so well established that even after the acceptance of the motion of earth and the planets around the sun, it ws still believed that the stars were fixed and that it was the solar system which was at the centre of the universe.

Kepler Copernicus was followed by Kepler, a scientist and mystic, who searched for the harmony of the spheres and was able through painstaking work, with astronomical tables to formulate his celebrated empirical laws of planetary motion which gave further support to the Copernican system.

Galilei Galileo 'father of modern science' (1564-1642) The real change in scientific opinion was brought about by Galileo... the first to depend on the empirical approach to knowledge and the truth of reality... gathering experimental data information through the senses. He laid the groundwork of 'empiricism'... the first to practise empiricism... from the Greek for 'experience' and 'trial'. The empirical approach to knowledge and the truth of reality is through the sense data. Galileo stressed the importance of observation, experiment and factual knowledge. Galileo was the first to combine scientific experimentation with the use of mathematical language to formulate the laws which he discovered. For this reason he is considered as the father of modern science.

Galileo was an ingenious experimenter first and theoretician second. He carried out experiments on the speeds of balls rolling down inclined planes. He discovered laws governing the velocity of falling bodies (all objects fall to the earth's surface with the same speed regardless of their weight) even though clocks were not yet known measuring time intervals by measuring the weight of water accumulating from a dripping basin. And he discovered mechanical laws governing the motion of objects rolling down inclined planes. He demonstrated that all objects fall to the earth's surface with the same speed regardless of their weight. Already famous for discovering the laws of falling bodies, Galileo turned his attention to astronomy. He developed the telescope and made observations of the planets and discredited Ptolemy's cosmology beyond any doubt. His observations supported the Copernican hypothesis that the earth revolved around the sun as a valid scientific theory... When he advocated the 'heliocentric view' (helios Greek for sun) he met with recurrent trouble with the church authorities which were committed to the geocentric view that the sun revolved around the earth, the scene of Christ's sacrifice. He was eventually tried as a 'heretic' before the Inquisition in Rome but chose to recant rather than accept its judgement. The most 'radical' of his 'heretical beliefs' was the notion that accurate observation and information supply useful information about the universe.... to know the truth look at nature and not at Aristotle. (According to Locke, the mind is like a blank page and experience writes on it). The empiricist gathers information through his senses The story goes that as he rose from his knees in the chamber of penitence he muttered "and yet it (the earth) moves..." He established the Copernican hypothesis as a valid scientific theory.

"The empirical approach with the use of a mathematical description of nature have remained important criteria of scientific theories up to the present day. The scientist's obsession with measurement and quantification during the past four hundred years has exacted a heavy toll. Experiences of feelings, motives, intentions, consciousness, spirit, values have been ignored." (Fritjof Capra The Turning Point p.54).

The science of the seventeenth century was based on a new method of inquiry, advocated forcefully by Francis Bacon and which involved the mathematical description of nature and the analytic method of reasoning conceived by the genius of the sixteenth century thinker Rene Descartes. Descartes provided the metaphysical basis for Bacon's theory making process of 'induction'... the separateness of the observed from the the scientist as an 'objective observer' who was to discover the laws of nature by measuring the objects and explaining the causes for their interactions.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and the beginnings of 'empiricism'... Bacon advocated a new method of inquiry. Bacon was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge when he questioned the validity of 'deductive rationalism' of Aristotele... old Aristotelianism which for centuries had yielded no progress in scientific knowledge and instead barren dispute. Since deductive thinking based on a given premise yields conclusions which reiterate some aspect of the same premise then no new knowledge results. He resolved to establish a new philosophy which would reform human knowledge and allow for man's control of nature... a control which was believed to have been lost with the so-called 'fall of Adam'. He only began the task when his political career... Bacon was Lord Chancellor under James I... climaxed in exile. Although he didn't live to complete the task, he secured fame by the method which he suggested be used. He argued that science as 'philosophy' is not a science of things divine or human nor is it a search for abstract truth ; but is rather a practical activity based on the need to improve conditions for human life by increasing our power over nature and exploiting natural resources. .. understanding of nature... described in his opus New Method or Novum Organum... a challenge to Aristotle's Method or Organon and a direct attack on medieval thought, on 'rationalism' and the defects of Aristotelian 'logic' which argued causes and ignored facts. Bacon claimed that our knowledge of the natural world comes from only from our sense impressions and the only way we can access true knowledge is through a systematic and orderly observation and collection of observations of natural phenomena. These should be recorded and classified as lists of data which he thought would automatically reveal the 'laws of nature' when they became long enough. The pursuit of data should not be left to chance so scientific 'societies' should be created for the sharing of scientific knowledge and competent leadership to "send forth armies to win the great battle for knowledge". In this way he proposed an alliance between science and power. In emphasizing the limitations of deductive logic, he stressed the value of inductive reasoning... The difference between the two is the hinge upon which empiricism hangs - conclusion from observational data providing something new which is not implicit in a given premise therefore new knowledge. In the process of induction, conclusions are inferred from observation. Bacon recognized that empiricism leads to new knowledge via inductive inference... inductive thinking... Bacon was unaware of the probability factor involved in the acquistion of knowledge and erroneously claimed that this would lead to certain knowledge or 'truth'. Bacon believed that his method would provide answers to significant philosophical questions... that it would reveal the 'eternal truths'.. Bacon's method of inquiry involved the mathematical description of nature and the analytic method of reasoning conceived by the genius of Descartes.

"Since Bacon, the goal of science has been knowledge that can be used to dominate and control nature, and today both science and technology are used predominantly for purposes that are profoundly antiecological." (Fritjof Capra The Turning Point p. 61)

"Most ancient civilizations knew what we have forgotten: that knowledge is a fearful thing. To know the name of something is to hold power over it ...in ancient myths and legends..eating from the tree of knowledge meant banishment from one garden or another....In the modern world, this Janus-like quality of knowledge has been forgotten. Descartes, for example, reached the conclusion that 'the more I sought to inform myself, the more I realized how ignorant I was.' Instead of taking this as a proper conclusion of a good education, Descartes thought ignorance was a solvable problem and set forth to find certain truth through a process of radical skepticism. Francis Bacon went further to propose an alliance between science and power which reached fruition with the Manhattan Project and the first atomic bomb."(David Orr 'The Dangers of Education' in Ron Miller p. 27)

Immanuel Kant ... Science and Philosophy became distinct disciplines Before Kant differentiation was made between experimental philosophy and abstract philosophy... after Kant experimental philosophy became 'science'.

Theory making process of 'induction'. The traditional idea of the progress of science is that scientific knowledge can be acquired through the process of 'induction'. It is derived from the writings of Francis Bacon, a seventeenth century 'natural philosopher', who argued that the methods of natural philosophy should not be based on 'deduction' from the preconceived notions of Aristotle or the Church. Bacon taught that the guide to knowledge is experience rather than the appeal to authority. The sixteenth century thinker Rene Descartes who believed in the separateness of the observer and the observed, provided the metaphysical basis for Bacon's theory making process of induction As an 'objective' observer, the scientist was to measure the objects, and then explain the causes for their interactions and discover the laws of nature. Using the process of induction to correlate the observations of Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and other scientists, Isaac Newton formulated a theory of mechanics which contained three laws and one assumption. The theory was used to describe the movements of the planets, the formation of tides, the paths of cannonballs, and many other phenomena in a mechanical universe As a result of Newton's success, the nineteenth century mathematician Pierre de LaPlace predicted the deduction of a single mathematical formula to describe nature. Recently, the cosmologist Stephen Hawking predicted the resolution of major problems in physics by the end of the twentieth century. With time, the belief in the strictly mechanical view of nature, in the separateness and pure objectivity of the scientist, and in the infallibility of induction as a theory making process was called into question. The nineteenth century British empiricists John Locke, Bishop George Berkeley and David Hume had emphasized that knowledge is derived from the observer's sensations. The early twentieth century theories, relativity and quantum theory, "cast doubt over whether or to what extent a scientist is separate from what he observes and hence raised questions about the meaning of objectivity."(21)

As a theory making process defined by Bacon and applied by Newton, 'induction' was effective within the framework of determinism, that matter is governed by determinate laws of cause and effect. Subatomic events described by the new quantum theory were shown to be determined by laws of probability. In quantum theory individual events do not always have a well defined cause. For example, the jump of an electron from one atomic orbit to another, or the disintegration of a subatomic particle, may occur spontaneously without any single event causing it. We can never predict when and how such a phenomenon is going to happen; we can only predict its probability. This does not mean that atomic events occur in completely arbitrary fashion; it means only that they are not brought about by local causes but by nonlocal connections to a whole system of which they are a part. The behavior of any part is determined by its nonlocal connections to the whole, and since we do not know these connections precisely, we have to replace the narrow classical notion of cause and effect by the wider concept of statistical causality. The laws of atomic physics are statistical laws, according to which the probabilities for atomic events are determined by the dynamics of the whole system. Whereas in classical mechanics the properties and behaviour of the parts determine those of the whole, the situation is reversed in quantum mechanics; it is the whole that determines the behaviour of the parts.

Observers of nature, the 'working scientists', required a new philosophical framework (indeterminism) and an appropriate theory making process.

The quantum revolution was so cataclysmic because it attacked not one or two conclusions of classical physics but its very cornerstone, the foundation upon which the whole edifice was erected, and that was the subject-object dualism...It was abundantly clear to these physicists that 'objective measurement and verification could no longer be the mark of absolute reality, because the measured object could never be completely separated from the measuring subject-the measure and the measurer, the verified and the verifier, at this level, are one and the same.' Now at about the same time that the 'rigid frame' of scientific dualism was collapsing in physics,

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) and the Cartesian dogma of a mechanical universe... Descartes is usually regarded as the founder of modern philosophy. His belief in the certainty of knowledge or 'truth' - the 'Cartesian belief' - was the basis for his method of analytic reasoning - the 'Cartesian method' - which he claimed was a function of the 'soul' - 'Cartesian doctrine'. He viewed the universe as a machine designed by divine reason or 'God' - the 'Cartesian dogma'.

"Most ancient civilizations knew what we have forgotten: that knowledge is a fearful thing. To know the name of something is to hold power over it. In ancient myths and legends, eating from the tree of knowledge meant banishment from one garden or another. In the modern world, this Janus-like quality of knowledge has been forgotten. Descartes, for example, reached the conclusion that 'the more I sought to inform myself, the more I realized how ignorant I was.' Instead of taking this as a proper conclusion of a good education, Descartes thought ignorance was a solvable problem and set forth to find certain truth through a process of radical skepticism." (Miller et al. The Renewal of Meaning in Education: Responses to the Cultural and Ecological Crisis of our Times Brandon, VT: Holistic Education Press, 1993 27)

Descartes' perception of 'human nature'... The "essence of human nature lies in thought, and all the things we conceive clearly and distinctly are true". In this way Descartes demonstrated the value of error and proved his doctrine - the 'Cartesian doctrine' - that human reason was a valid means of searching for certain knowledge or 'truth'.

Cartesian belief in the certainty of scientific knowledge or 'truth': Descartes was a brilliant mathematician who was greatly affected by the new physics and astronomy of his time. He did not accept the traditional knowledge of Aristotle and the Church and set out to build a whole new system of thought... a complete and exact natural science He devised an analytic method (Cartesian method) ushering in the so-called 'scientific revolution' which overturned the authority of Aristotle and the dogma of the Church. At age twenty-three in a sudden flash of insight... he experienced an illuminating vision.that was to shape his entire life.. he envisioned a plan for building a complete and exact natural science ... the foundations of a marvellous science' which would unify all knowledge.. This is the 'Cartesian belief' in certainty of knowledge truth led him to his plan for building a complete and exact natural science based on a new system of thought ...a new method of analysis or reasoning' involving the breaking up of a problem into pieces and rearranging them in a logical order.analytic reasoning His method of analysis known as the 'Cartesian method'

....These were replaced by the scientific study of the universe using methods of reductionism which originated with the analytic method of Descartes ... the 'Cartesian method'.

'Cartesian method' of analytic reasoning is based on the belief in the certainty of knowledge: The method involved the breaking up of the parts of a problem into smaller pieces or thoughts and then rearranging them in a logical order. He presented his analytic method in his famous introduction to science entitled Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and Searching the Truth in the Sciences. Descartes' Discourse on the Method is probably his greatest contribution to science... to human knowledge... because it proved the validity of human reason in the search for certain truth.... and laid the foundation for the general belief that complex phenomena can be understood by reducing them... fragmenting them... to their constituent parts... represents the origin of 'reductionist science' or 'reductionism'.

The crux of Descartes' analytic method was doubt. Descartes was a sceptic who systematically doubted everything which he could manage to doubt - all traditional knowledge, all sense impressions and even his own body. He rejected "as absolutely false all opinions I could suppose the least ground for doubt, in order to ascertain whether after that there remained aught in my belief that was wholly indubitable". He doubted that philosophical and scientific concepts could be derived solely from the senses. He realized that the more he doubted, the more ignorant he was and in his own words "the more I sought to inform myself, the more I realized how ignorant I was." He finally reached the conclusion that ignorance was a solvable problem and set forth to find certain truth through a process of analytical reasoning.

He decided to find the certain truth by way of a thought process which combined 'radical skepticism' with 'analytical reasoning' He at last came upon one proposition which his doubt could not conquer. There was one thing he could not doubt and that was his own existence as a thinker. He could not doubt that he was doubting. He was unable to doubt that he was doubting He proved that he could not doubt his own existence as a thinker... n his celebrated statement, "Cogito, ergo sum," "I think, therefore I exist." I think therefore I am. From this premise he deduced that "the essence of human nature lies in thought, and that all the things we conceive clearly and distinctly are true".With this proposition he established the famous premise which he believed was a valid basis for a rationalistic philosophy which could be used in the search for truth. Descartes demonstrated the value of error as the source of discovery and that progress can be made from the discovery of error... the problem of ignorance was a solvable one. He proved beyond doubt that human reason is valid in the process of finding certain truth. Because of his recognition of the importance of an unshakable base for a rationalistic philosophy, Descartes is regarded as the greatest of the rationalists... and even as the founder of modern philosophy. Descartes showed the world that it was possible to make new discoveries through a process which combined radical skepticism with analytical reasoning.

Cartesian method explains the mental creation of concepts The key feature of the Cartesian method was that it explained the mental creation of concepts... innate cognitive disposition... which he called 'innate ideas'. Descartes believed that in experiences of learning the clarity of concepts could not be attributed to the senses. Their creation had to be the product of innate cognitive processes or 'intuition' by the 'pure and attentive mind'... depends on the reasoning of sound thinking or 'sanity', common sense and a cognitive process of forming concepts... the 'conception of the pure and attentive mind' or 'intuition' which is functional in learning experiences which provide opportunities for the creation of concepts. He believed that the search for scientific truth was only possible through intuition and deduction from a true premise. In his own words "there are no paths to the certain knowledge of truth open to man except evident intuition and necessary deduction...." He believed this premise to be unshakable and therefore a valid basis for a rational philosophy of science. Descartes was the greatest of the rationalists and the founder of modern scientific philosophy. With the rationalism of Descartes, the scientist was perceived as an 'objective' observer whose job it was to measure the objects, and then explain the causes for their interactions and discover the laws of nature.

(Descartes' concept of innate ideas was refuted by Hobbes and Locke who maintained that there was nothing in the mind that was not first in the senses. According to Locke, the mind is like a blank page and experience writes on it. The empiricist gathers information through his senses. The empirical approach to knowledge and the truth of reality is through the sense data. Locke's famous phrase, the human mind at birth was a blank tablet or 'tabula rasa' upon which ideas were imprinted through sensory perceptions. It was this notion which served as the starting point of empiricism and the mechanistic theory of knowledge according to which sensations were the basic elements of the mental realm and these were combined into more complex structures by the process of association.

The empirical approach with the use of a mathematical description of nature have remained important criteria of scientific theories up to the present day. The scientist's obsession with measurement and quantification during the past four hundred years has exacted a heavy toll. Experiences of feelings, motives, intentions, consciousness, spirit, values have been ignored.

"Overemphasis on the Cartesian method has led to the fragmentation that is characteristic of both our general thinking and our academic disciplines, and to the widespread attitude of reductionism in science - the belief that all aspects of complex phenomena can be understood by reducing them to their constituent parts". (Fritjof Capra The Turning Point p. 59) .

Cartesian doctrine: mind-body dualism At the time of Descartes, the connection was not made between the mind and the brain. Descartes based his whole view of nature on the fundamental division between two independent and separate realms: physical reality and spiritual reality... body and soul or 'mind' independent of the brain.

The Cartesian doctrine taught that the process of reasoning or 'knowing' was a function of the 'soul' and took place independently of the brain. Human reason - sound thinking, intelligence, sanity and sense as a function of the 'soul'

Descartes based his view on the clear distinction between the realms of 'physical reality' and 'spiritual reality'. Physical reality was thought to be the reality of unconscious matter governed by mechanical laws which could be studied using a mathematical approach and so it was possible to describe it by science. Spiritual reality was thought to be the reality of the conscious spirit, the mind or 'soul' beyond the reach of scientific investigation... could not be described by science. it was only possible to use a mathematical approach in studying the physical world and not the spiritual world. This dualism was useful for the scientific research of the time because it enabled scientists to free themselves of the authority of the church from their work..The body-matter realm was believed to be governed by mechanical laws but the mind-soul realm was believed to be free and immortal. the spiritual world did not lend itself to a mathematical approach of study

The dualistic perception of human consciousness - the 'mind-body problem' - a notion inherited from Greek philosophy... had been portrayed earlier by Plato in his Phaedrus. In a powerful and influential image of the psyche, a charioteer drives two horses one representing the bodily passions and the other the higher emotions of the 'soul'. The metaphor embodies the two approaches to consciousness - the biological and the spiritual..... the same dichotomous view of human nature which has been adopted and pursued throughout Western philosophy and science - . Descartes based his whole view of nature on the fundamental division between two parallel but fundamentally different realms, the physical realm and the spiritual realm.each of which could be studied without reference to the other: that of mind or soul - 'res cogitans' the 'thinking thing' and that of matter, or the body - 'res extensa', the 'extended thing'. Descartes claimed that the physical interaction between body and soul occurred through the 'pineal gland' of the brain. (In his time it was not understood that the mind is a function of brain functioning.) Even human emotions were described in a mechanical way in terms of combinations of six 'elementary passions'. Descartes' naive models of the 'psyche' led to mechanistic models of psychology. The Cartesian form of 'mind/body dualism' - mind/soul-body/matter or 'soul-body' or 'mind-matter' had a profound effect on Western thought and shaped the development of Western science and scientific psychology.

The soul was believed to be free and immortal, not governed by mechanical laws and not able to be described by science. This notion was useful at the time because it allowed for scientific investigation which was free from the authority of the church.

The 'mind-body problem' is reflected in many schools of psychology, most notably in the psychologies of 'scientific psychology' of Freud defined self-knowledge in terms of the separate existence of a psychological 'ego' and a physical body.

The dualistic notion of 'mind-body' and the analytic method of Descartes resulted in the replacement of an organic universe with a mechanical universe produced by divine reason...

"According to Descartes, mind and body belonged to two parallel but fundamentally different realms, each of which could be studied without reference to the other. The body was governed by mechanical laws, but the mind - or soul - was free and immortal. The soul was clearly and specifically identified with consciousness and could affect the body by interacting with it through the brain's pineal gland. Human emotions were seen as combinations of six elementary 'passions' and described in a semimechanical way. As far as knowledge and perception were concerned, Descartes believed that knowing was a primary function of human reason, that is, of the soul, which could take place independently of the brain. Clarity of concepts, which played such an important role in Descartes' philosophy and science, could not be derived from the confused performance of the senses but was the result of an innate cognitive disposition. Learning and experience merely provided the occasions for the manifestation of innate ideas." (Capra Turning Point1 166)

Descartes believed that both mind and matter were creations of God. He believed that God created the world as a perfect machine which was governed by mathematical laws. With his view of nature as a perfect machine, Descartes created the conceptual framework for seventeenth century science. After his death, the mechanical picture of nature remained the paradigm of science. The Cartesian view of the universe as a mechanical system provided a 'scientific' sanction for the manipulation and exploitation of nature that has become typical of Western culture. When Francis Bacon proposed an alliance between science and power, Descartes shared Bacon's view that the aim of science was the domination and control of nature...

Cartesian dogma: mechanical universe designed by 'divine reason' or 'God' "The Cartesian view of the universe as a mechanical system provided a 'scientific' sanction for the manipulation and exploitation of nature that has become typical of Western culture. Descartes himself shared Bacon's view that the aim of science was the domination and control of nature." (Fritjof Capra. The Turning Point. page 61)

As a result of the combined effects of the Cartesian doctrine (mind-body dualism) and the Cartesian method (analytic reasoning) the worldview of an organic universe was replaced by the worldview of a mechanical universe produced by divine reason. Descartes believed that both mind and matter were creations of God. He believed that God created the world as a perfect machine which was governed by mathematical laws. Man was considered to be the central figure of God's creation. In his time, humankind was perceived as separate from nature and in a position to control nature in its own interest.

The organic worldview of the Middle Ages had implied a value system conducive to ecological behaviour. With the rationalism of Descartes, the scientist was perceived as an 'objective' observer whose job it was to measure the objects, and then explain the causes for their interactions and discover the laws of nature. And in the 19th century the mind-matter dualism became an obstacle because it placed consciousness and other mental phenomena outside of ordinary physical reality and thus outside of the domain of the natural sciences.

In subsequent centuries scientists omitted any explicit reference to God and developed their theories according to the Cartesian division, the humanities concentrating on the 'res cogitans' and the natural sciences on the 'res extensa.'

With his view of nature as a perfect machine, Descartes replaced the 'organic worldview' of the Middle Ages and created the conceptual framework for seventeenth century science. Both Descartes and Galileo made a clear distinction between 'physical reality' and 'spiritual reality'. With the origins of reductionism in science...'Cartesian method', the authority of Aristotle and the dogma of the Church was replaced by the scientific study of the universe as divine creation of Cartesian dogma. Although his view of nature as a perfect machine remained a vision during his lifetime (see Newton) the mechanical picture of nature remained the paradigm of science and the mechanical universe... the world machine became the dominant metaphor. In his time, humankind was perceived as separate from nature and in a position to control nature in its own interest. When Francis Bacon proposed an alliance between science and power, Descartes shared his view that the aim of science was the domination and control of nature. Scientists have been obsessed with measurement and quantification science has become 'scientism' preventing progress in the human sciences. Scientific goals have been directed to the control of nature and human nature. The Cartesian view of the universe as a mechanical system has provided the so-called 'scientific' justification... sanction for the manipulation and exploitation of nature that has characterised Western culture.

For four hundred years the empirical approach and its mathematical description of nature have remained important criteria of scientific theories.

The Cartesian mentality and worldview has given to Western civilization its characteristic features. amongst others, scientific goals are directed to the control of nature and human nature.

The Cartesian division between mind and matter has had a profound effect on Western thought. Descartes' naive model of the psyche taught us to be aware of ourselves as isolated 'egos' existing 'inside' our bodies; it led us to set a higher value on mental than on manual work. Experiences of human feelings, human motives, human goals, human values have been ignored. Implications for education: In the present shift of scientific paradigm, dualistic concepts such as 'unconscious matter' and 'conscious spirit' are being replaced by holistic concepts such as 'consciousness'. A parallel shift in the paradigm of education is replacing traditional education with holistic education. Descartes' naive models of the 'psyche' led to the mechanistic model of the founder of psychoanalysis Freud. Freud defined the human psyche in terms of the separate existence of the 'id', the 'ego' and the 'superego'. The mind-matter dualism became an obstacle to progress in psychology because it placed mental phenomena of consciousness - moral consciousness or 'conscience' - outside of ordinary physical reality and thus outside of the domain of the natural sciences.

Overemphasis on the Cartesian method ...led to 'reductionism' in science ...the general belief that complex phenomena can be understood by reducing them to their constituent parts ...i.e. fragmentation...

Misunderstanding of importance of human needs as human motives or 'values' in mature growth or 'self-actualisation': The lack of respect for human values has prevented progress in the human sciences including the science of education. In the present shift of scientific paradigm from reductionism to holistic science dualistic concepts such as 'unconscious matter' and 'conscious spirit' are being replaced by holistic concepts such as 'consciousness'. A parallel shift in the paradigm of education is replacing traditional education with holistic education. We need to abandon the dualistic concept of unconscious matter and conscious spirit, and to adopt holistic concepts of the holistic worldview.

The new mentality and the new perception of the cosmos led to the characteristic features of Western civilization of the modern era. They became the basis of the paradigm that has dominated our culture for the past three hundred years and is now about to change.

We need to abandon the dualistic concept of unconscious matter and conscious spirit, and to adopt holistic concepts of the holistic worldview.

"Descartes has taught those who came after him how to discover his own errors." (Montesqieu)

The Cartesian view of the universe as a mechanical system provided a 'scientific' sanction for the manipulation and exploitation of nature that has become typical of Western culture.With the scientific revolution and the 'heretical' view of the universe set in motion by a Creator, the Christian worldview was supplanted by the worldview of modern science. Man was perceived as separate from nature and in a position to control nature in the interest of humankind. The new mentality and the new perception of the cosmos gave our Western civilization the features that are characteristic of the modern era. They became the basis of the paradigm that has dominated our culture for the past three hundred years and is now about to change.

The scientific study of the universe and Cartesian dogma replaced the authority of Aristotle and the dogma of the Church. The dualistic notion of 'mind-body' and the analytic method of Descartes resulted in the replacement of an organic universe with a mechanical universe produced by divine reason. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, studies of the nervous system replaced the naive models of the psyche with the mechanistic models of 'psychology'. For four hundred years, the study of the human mind has emphasized underlying mechanisms and ignored experiences of feelings and consciousness. For four hundred years the goals of science have been directed to the control of nature and human nature. Scientific paradigms have produced the root metaphors of modern Western culture. Overemphasis on the metaphors of a man-centered mechanistic universe, dualistic reality, neutral technology and individualism has resulted in today's multifacted global crisis. Descartes shared Bacon's view that the aim of science was the domination and control of nature.

Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there was a radical change in the 'medieval worldview' or 'paradigm'. The notion of an organic, living and spiritual universe was replaced by that of the world as a machine. It was the world machine which became the dominant metaphor of the modern era. This development was brought about by revolutionary changes in physics and astronomy, culminating in the achievements of Copernicus, Galileo and Newton. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was born in

England

in the same year that Galileo died. In seventeenth century science before Newton there had been two opposing methods of science - the empirical ‘inductive method’ and the rational ‘deductive method’.

empirical science - logic revived in the service of secular society... ideology of 'positivism' as combination of empiricism and logic has guided the development of modernist culture.

"It is important to appreciate what the new rational ideology accomplished. It challenged the dogma and rigidity of medieval Scholaticism, releasing humanity from centuries of superstition and oppression by a powerful priesthood. Nature was comprehended and brought under increasing control, harnessed to meet the growing material demands of an expanding middle class. A powerful affiliation of science, the Protestant Reformation, and a rising mercantile class shattered existing religious and civic hierarchies and paved the way for democratic forms of social organization. Enlightenment thought was essential to the development of social freedoms. Yet this new way of apprehending reality and the historic social forms such apprehension assumed contained the seeds of their own reversal... The extreme form is the debasement of nature and the total alienation of man from nature. With Hitler, the rejection of Enlightenment reason and exaltation of nature. "Hitler appealed to the unconscious in his audiences by hinting that he could forge a power in whose name repressed nature would be lifted. In this way, repressed natural drives were harnessed to the needs of Nazi rationalism." (Kathleen Kesson. Critical Theory and Holistic Education: Carrying on the Conversation in Ron Miller et al. The Renewal of Meaning in Education: Responses to the Cultural and Ecological Crisis of our Times. p. 99)

Acknowledging the crucial role of science in bringing about these far-reaching changes, historians have called the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Age of the Scientific Revolution.

Descartes created the conceptual framework for seventeenth science but his view of nature as a perfect machine remained a vision during his lifetime. The man who realized the Cartesian dream and completed the Scientific Revolution was Isaac Newton.

Newton and the 'mechanical universe'. It was Newton who realized the 'Cartesian dream' and completed the 'Scientific Revolution'. Newton developed a complete mathematical formulation of the mechanistic view of nature. He formulated a theory of mechanics which contained three laws and one assumption.

Newtonian physics which was the crowning achievement of seventeenth century science, provided a consistent mathematical theory of the world that remained the solid foundation of scientific thought well into the twentieth century.

" Newton unified the two trends and developed the methodology upon which natural science has been based ever since. ...The stage of the Newtonian universe , on which all physical phenomena took place, was the threedimensional space of classical Euclidean geometry. All changes in the physical world were described in terms of a separate dimension, time,which again was absolute having no connection with the material world and flowing smoothly from the past through the present to the future. Thge elements of the Newtonian world which moved in this absolute space and absolute time were material particles....The Newtonian model of matter was atomistic...all the particles were thought to be made of the same material substance. ..The motion of the particles was caused by the force of gravity which acted instantaneously over a distance....both the particles and the force of gravity created by God... The physical phenomena themselves were not thought to be divine in any sense, and when science made it more and more dificult to believe in such a god, the divine disappeared completly from the scientific worldview, leaving behind the spiritual vacuum that has become characteristic of the mainstream of our culture. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries used Newtonian mechanics with tremendous success... The picture of the world as a perfect machine, which had been introduced by Descartes, was now considered a proved fact and Newton became its symbol." (Capra The Turning Point 67)

Francis Bacon and 'inductive method'... Descartes and 'deductive method'... Newton and 'scientific method'...

laws of motion... law of gravity...

shift from Newtonian mechanics to quantum mechanics...

The inductive method was devised by Francis Bacon The inductive method involved empirical observation, systematic experimentation, experimental evidence and inductive reasoning - a theory making process devised by Francis Bacon. Bacon’s inductive method was effective within the framework of the paradigm based on the notion that the understanding of the physical world depends on understanding its determinate laws of cause and effect i.e. ‘determinism’.

The deductive method was defined by Rene Descartes The deductive method was a theory-making process defined by Rene Descartes who had created the conceptual framework for seventeenth century science with his view of nature as a perfect machine - a view which remained a vision during his lifetime. The deductive method involved deduction from first principles... deductive reasoning, systematic interpretation and mathematical analysis.

Newton emphasized that neither method by itself would lead to reliable theory and went beyond both Bacon and Descartes.

Newton combined the two methods Newton claimed that reliable theory is derived from the correct combination of the both inductive and deductive methods. Experimental evidence of the inductive method should be combined with the systematic interpretation by deduction from first principles i.e. deductive logic from a given premise. Newton combined deductive logic from a given premise with inductive reasoning from empirical observation and from the combination he derived a tentative premise known as a 'hypothesis'. The hypothesis had substantiated with evidence... It had to be tested with empirical observation and experiment to be validated. The job of the scientist was to be an 'objective' observer, measure the objects, and then explain the causes for their interactions. This was how the laws of nature were thought to be discovered. In unifying the two methods Newton developed the methodology upon which natural science has been based ever since... 'scientific method'...

Quest for understanding natural law depends on experiment (empirical observations or 'facts') and reasoning Newton taught that the quest for the further understanding of reality would only be possible if it were based on the notion that the universe is governed by laws which can be understood rationally and which can be applied experimentally as well.

Since only simple interactions could be tested, modern science developed as the science of Galileo and Newton. It could handle relatively simple relationships between forces or bodies, and it presented a world picture of a universe that is reducible to such relationships in all essential respects.

Newtonian science looked upon the physical universe as an exquisitely designed giant mechanism, obeying elegant deterministic laws of motion. Complex sets of events could be understood by this science only when broken down to their elementary interactions. Whatever was clearly known behaved like a reliable mechanism and the rest was assumed to do likewise (with the possible exception of 'mind' - a phenomenon which Newtonian science could not even begin to comprehend).

First law of motion Newton's first great contribution to science was the 'law of motion' which stated that an object moving in a straight line will continue to do so forever unless acted upon by an external force. Furthermore, the direction and speed of a moving object will be altered according to the direction, mass and speed of the force acting upon it.

Law of 'gravity' Newton's second great contribution was the 'law of gravity' which stated that the same force pulling an apple downward keeps the moon in orbit around the earth and the planets around the sun.

laid the foundation for higher mathematics, celestial mechanics and physical optics. His method : combining deductive logic with reason he extracted a tentative premise - the hypothesis. The theory of gravitation - hypothesis - was tested with empirical observation.

When he was twenty three years old, Newton used the process of induction to correlate the observations of Copernicus, Kepler, Bacon, Galileo, and Descartes and accomplished a synthesis of their works. Kepler had derived empirical laws of planetary motion by studying astronomical tables ... Galileo had performed ingenious experiments to discover the laws of falling bodies. Newton combined those two discoveries...According to legend, the decisive insight occurred to Newton in a sudden flash of inspiration when he saw an apple fall from a tree. He realized that the apple was pulled toward the earth by the same force that pulled the planets toward the sun. This was

the key to his grand synthesis - his theory of gravitation – which was the formulation of the general laws of motion governing all objects in the solar system, from stones to planets. Newton's theory of gravitation was originally a hypothesis which was tested with empirical observation. According to the theory of gravitation, the universe - the 'Newtonian universe' - in which all physical phenomena took place, was perceived in terms of the 'three dimensional space' of classical Euclidean geometry. All changes in the physical world were described in terms of a separate fourth dimension - 'time' - which was considered to be separate from the three dimensions of space. As a separate dimension, time was thought to have no connection with the material world and was perceived as flowing smoothly from a past through a present and towards a future. Time was an absolute.

Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (Principia) Newton presented his theory to the world in great detail in his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. He described the mixture of both methods in his Principia as the work is usually called for short after its original Latin title. The Principia comprises a comprehensive system of definitions, propositions, and proofs which scientists regarded as the correct description of nature for more than two hundred years.With his work, he laid the foundation for higher mathematics, celestial mechanics and physical optics. His theories were used to describe the movements of the planets, the formation of tides, the paths of cannonballs, and many other phenomena in a mechanical universe. The picture of the world as a perfect machine, which had been introduced by Descartes, was now considered a proved fact and Newton became its symbol.

Newton's model of matter was atomistic Using his own mathematics, he tested his ideas and compared his predictions with observations made by astronomers, thus demonstrating that both earthly and celestial masses are governed by the same laws of motion and gravity. The world was thought to be a mechanism, made up of a large number of uniformly behaving parts.

Newton's model of the matter in the universe was 'atomistic'. The elements of the Newtonian universe which moved in absolute space and absolute time were material particles all thought to be made of the same material substance. The motion of the particles was assumed to be caused by the force of gravity acting instantaneously over a distance. Both the particles and the force of gravity were believed to be created by God but the physical phenomena themselves were not thought to be divine in any sense.

Continued progress in science made it more and more difficult to believe in a God and eventually the divine disappeared completely from the scientific worldview.

Newton's 'mechanics' was crowning achievement of seventeenth century science Newtonian mechanics was the crowning achievement of seventeenth century science. It provided a consistent mathematical theory of the world that remained the solid foundation of scientific thought in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when it was used with tremendous success.

Consider Newton's theories in their historical context Looking at Newton's theories in their historical context, one can appreciate that they were remarkable. He based his theories on sound experimental evidence and described events which were unobservable in the l600s.

Newton's physics was a direct challenge to the power of the church which had been considerable for fifteen hundred years.

Consider the philosophical implications of Newtonian physics. His new science which he called 'natural philosophy' vindicated the importance of the human individual in the universe.

Newton interpreted his physical laws as manifestations of 'God's perfection'... Newton regarded the universe as a great machine. Contrary to the authoritarian position of the church, his criteria for the validity of a hypothesis was the ability to reproduce the experiment and get the same results. During the Inquisition and shortly before Newton's birth, Galileo had been forced to recant his theory of the revolution of the earth around the sun. His philosophical viewpoint justified the notion that predictions about the future could be made on the basis of an understanding of events in the present.

But in time even the paradigm of Newtonian mechanics was called into question.

End of nineteenth century At the end of the nineteenth century Newtonian mechanics had lost its role as the fundamental theory of natural phenomena. Concepts that clearly went beyond the Newtonian model indicated that the universe was far more complex than Descartes and Newton had imagined such as Maxwell's electrodynamics and Darwin's theory of evolution.

Nevertheless, the basic ideas underlying Newtonian physics, though sufficient to explain all natural phenomena, were still believed to be correct.

Radical change... paradigm shift... first three decades of twentieth century The first three decades of the twenty-first century changed this situation radically. Two developments in physics, culminating in relativity theory and in quantum theory, shattered all the principal concepts of the worldview of Descartes (Cartesian worldview) and the mechanical worldview of Newton (Newtonian mechanics). Doubts were raised about the beliefs in the strictly mechanical view of nature, the separateness and pure objectivity of the observer or 'scientist', and the infallibility of induction as a theory-making process. In physics the mechanistic paradigm had to be abandoned at the level of the very small – in atomic and subatomic physics – and the level of the very large - in astrophysics and cosmology. There followed a paradigm shift from the science of mechanics to the science of interconnectedness and wholeness or ‘holistic science

Newton's theories considered in their historical context were remarkable... he described events which were unobservable in the l600s and based his theories on sound experimental evidence.

He introduced a determinism in thinking about the universe which marked the final downfall of the ancient cosmologies and the theologies associated with them thus freeing the human mind for scientific progress. He formulated a theory of mechanics... developed a complete mathematical formulation of the mechanistic view of nature... mathematical theory of nature thus realising the dream of Descartes... 'Cartesian dream'... and completing the 'Scientific Revolution'. Newtonian physics remained the solid foundation of scientific thought well into the twentieth century.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was born in England 1642, the year of Galileo's death. D