Western science, like so many other aspects of western civilization, was born with the ancient

Greeks. They were the first to explain the world in terms of natural laws rather than myths
about gods and heroes. They also passed on the idea of the value of mathematics and
experiment in science, although they usually thought only in terms of one to the exclusion of
the other. It is easy for us to be critical of their early scientific theories, but we must remember,
they were living in different conditions back then, everything they learned about the natural
world had to be done with the unaided senses in whatever rational deductions they could make
based on them.
Three necessary observations laid the foundations for Aristotle's view of the universe in laws of
motion. First, there was the theory of the elements, some Greeks observed the four essential
elements that correspond to the states of matter, earth, solid, water, liquid, air, gas, plus fire,
and plasma. Since few objects are made of just one element, it was logical to assume they were
compounds of two or more of the terrestrial elements. For example, wood is composed of
earth because it is solid, fire because it burns, and air because the ash left behind floats on top
of the water. The second foundation was that the observation that stars, the sun, planets, and
the moon seemed to orbit the earth in perfect circles. Finally, all dropped objects seem to fall
toward the center of the earth.
Several factors worked both to overthrow Aristotle's system and to preserve it. First, Aristotle's
theories relied very little on experiments which left them vulnerable to anyone who chose to
perform such tests. However, attacking one part of Aristotle's system involved attacking the
whole thing which made it a daunting task for even the greatest thinkers of the day. Secondly,
the church had grafted Aristotle's theories on to its theology, thus, making any attack on
Aristotle an attack on the tradition and the church itself. Finally, there were the Renaissance
scholars who were uncovering other Greek authors who contradicted Aristotle. This was
unsettling since these scholars had a reverence for all ancient knowledge as being nearly
infallible, however, finding contradicting authorities forced renaissance scholars to try to figure
out which ones were right. When their findings showed that neither theory was correct, they
had to think for themselves and find a new approach that worked. This encouraged skepticism,
free thinking, and experimentation all of which are essential parts of modern science.
These clashes of both old and new knowledge paved the way for a shift in thinking in science
rather than remaining in its philosophical roots. It outgrew its tenets and re-established itself as
a study based on facts and provenance. It is still a school of thought but it bases its logic on
evidence and its evolving secular doctrine, much like how Isaac Newton postulated, later
proven that the force that keeps us grounded also keeps planets from flying out of orbit. With
applications of Descartes law of motion and centripetal movement this force of course is
gravity.
This postulate through countless careful experiments remains to be the foundation of
gravitation until Einstein used it to re-evaluate how gravity works on larger objects and even
today both Newton and Einstein's views on gravity are proven to be true. This paradigm shift of
the philosophical approach into an evidence-based approach started slowly, however, due to
the technological advancement saved by the industrial revolution, the shift began to grow
faster as devices became more advanced and sophisticated. Evidence gathering became
advanced in, as well the days of thought experiments in axioms were slowly replaced with
apparatuses, in laboratories measurements became necessary, observations were logged in,
and samples were studied in complete scrutiny. This led to the complete divide between
ancient and modern technology as well as traditional and contemporary knowledges of science

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian scientist regarded as the father of psychoanalysis. His study was
a form of theories and techniques employed to uncover the unconscious mind, every impulse,
desire, emotions, and memories that are suppressed can be found in it. To learn more about
Sigmund Freud in his works, you can always refer to 02 Reading 17 and 18 as well as on 02
Handout 2.

Another paradigm shift is the advent of technology as an aid in the movement of information
before man transfers information using crude equipment found in nature, cavern walls, stone
tablets, strings of varying lengths and colors, as well as animal skins, and matted grass fibers
were used as media for documentation used in conjunction with sharp tools or with materials
that can leave marks such as coal. With the advancements in parchment and paper production
and ink technology more information was stored. Back then, each copy of an important
document must be painstakingly copied by hand. With the advent of the printing system, more
and more information was made public and stored, news was disseminated faster, publications
and entertainment became more affordable, and more people were educated, however, the
future of information technology lies not in printed media. It is in the invention known by many
names but we know it now as the computer, capable of handling a large amount of information
it is a technological wonder. With it, comes the advancements of information storage, magnetic
data storage, optical storage, and cloud services became the norms of information storage.

Mesoamerican civilizations, the famous ones being the Olmecs, Aztecs, and the Mayans
flourished sometime between 1500 BC up until the 1500s. These civilizations had traditions and
ways of living that were vastly different from other ancient civilizations such as in China and the
Indus Valley.

Despite the strides that western civilization has done, we cannot ignore the contributions of the
Asian cultures. Asians have developed strides in both science and technology however both are
steeped with religion. (You can refer to 02 Handout 2 for details)
In the Middle East, ancient Arabs also delved into the philosophy and development of science.
they firmly believe that both science and religion could coexist without undermining the other
hence there had not been records of conflicts in the Islamic scientific community they were
willing to share their knowledge and learn new things and they get them through various
means through the mathematics developed by India and Greece they developed algebra and
trigonometry including the functions that we use and angle related problems they also
developed physics especially in the field of optics in medicine the only concern that can be
learned here was their application of Mercury to treat skin and eye problems
the peak of their scientific revolution allowed other civilizations to study and learn from them
however because of the various conflicts they encountered with the other ancient civilizations
made them guarded their trust with foreigners began to dwindle leading to the stagnation of
their ideas Fortunately their ideas didn't die out due to their previous interactions with Western
Europe This is why we still study algebra and trigonometry in high school these are fundamental
mathematics that shall pave the way to learn both theoretical and applied Sciences such as
engineering and physics

Heading further West from Arabia another civilization paved the way for another paradigm shift
African science stressed on the importance of using numerals to aid in counting and infractions
as well as the importance of charting the movements of celestial bodies their research is paved
the way to develop toolmaking and metallurgy create impressive architectural wonders made
strides in ancient medicine in the fields of wound treatment and bone setting among others and
seafaring