Overview
Scientificrevolution,scientificrevolution
Thescientificrevolutionreferredtobymosthistoriansofsciencebeganaround1543,thatNicholasCopernicuspublishedthebook"Derevolutionibusorbiumcoelestium);AndréVesseliuspublished"Dehumanicorporisfabrica"(Dehumanicorporisfabrica)etc.Althoughtheexacttimingofthescientificrevolutionisstillcontroversial,somepeoplebelievethatthegerminationofthehistoryofsciencebeganinthe14thcentury,whileothersbelievethattherevolutionsinchemistryandbiologybeganinthe18thand19thcenturies.
Essence
Thescientificrevolutionisessentiallyarevolutioninthescientificwayofthinking,andamajorchangeinthescientificwayofthinkingistheessenceofthescientificrevolution.
Thetransformationofscientificthinkingmodeisameanstosolvethecrisesthatoccurredintheprocessofscientificprogress.Everymajorbreakthroughinscientificdevelopmentiscloselyrelatedtotheemergenceofnewscientificresearchmethods.Therefore,thelevelofdevelopmentofeachscienceandthewholesciencecanbejudgedaccordingtothedegreeofperfectionofthemethodstheyadopt.Intheprocessofthescientificrevolution,thescientificthinkingmethodformedfromthebreakthroughofacertaindisciplinewillquicklyspreadtootherdisciplines,andevenpenetrateintoawiderangeofsociallife,thusdevelopingintoauniversalscientificthinkingmodeandimprovinghuman’sCognitiveability.
Impact
Scientificrevolutionisaqualitativeleapinhumanunderstandingoftheobjectiveworld,anditwillinevitablyhaveahugeimpactonhumansocialpractice.Thepositiveimpactofthescientificrevolutiononsocietyismanifestedintwoaspects.
Ontheonehand,onthebasisofnewscientifictheories,newtechnologies,newproductiontools,andnewcraftsmanshiphavebeeninvented,sothatsocialproductiveforceshavedevelopedtoanewstage.
Ontheotherhand,thenewscientificthought,newscientificthinkingmodeandnewscientificspiritbredbythescientificrevolutionasahugeculturalforceprofoundlyaffectpeople'sspirituallifeandsocialandculturalprogress.Inthehistoryofthedevelopmentofhumansociety,scientificrevolutionsareoftentheforerunnersofsocialrevolutions.
ThewritersofMarxistclassicsattachgreatimportancetothestudyofscientificrevolutionissues,andhavelaidatheoreticalandmethodologicalbasisforthestudyofscientificrevolutions.EngelscalledCopernicus'sastronomicalrevolutionasnaturalsciencetodeclarehisindependentrevolutionarybehavior.Hepointedoutthattheprogressofmaterialproductionwasthebasisofthisscientificrevolutionandconnectedthenaturalsciencerevolutionwiththerevolutionarychangesexperiencedbysociety.Engelsalsoanalyzedthenaturalsciencerevolutioncausedbythethreediscoveriesofnaturalscienceinthe19thcentury.Leninanalyzedfromthephilosophicalepistemologythephysicalrevolutioncausedbythediscoveryofradioactivityattheendofthe19thcentury.
In1962,T.S.Kuhn's"StructureoftheScientificRevolution"waspublished,whichtriggeredfurtherin-depthresearchontheissueofscientificrevolutionincontemporaryphilosophyofscienceandsociologyofscience.
Kuhn’sviewofscientificrevolutionisthetheoryof“paradigm”(theearliermainlandtranslationwastranslatedas“norm”,theTaiwantranslationwastranslatedas“model”,and“paradigm”wasanewtranslationbyPekingUniversityPressin2003Used),thisisahugeinnovationinthehistoryofscience,denyingthecontinuousaccumulationtheoryoflogicalpositivismandPopper'sscientificviewof"continuousrevolution".Kuhnhimselfalsocausedgreatcontroversybecausethedefinitionof"paradigm"wasalwaysunclear.Duringthetransitionalperiod,Kuhnredefineditandinterpreted"paradigm"as"scientificsubstrate."AlthoughKuhn’stheoryofthescientificrevolutionisoneofthemostbasicreadingsinthehistoryofscience,someChinesescholarshaverecentlyarguedthatitemphasizesquantitativechangeswhileignoringqualitativechanges,denyingtheconnectionbetweenthetwo“paradigms”beforeandafterthescientificrevolution.However,Kuhn’sscienceisindisputable.Thetheoryofrevolutionisdefinitelyanepoch-makingconceptinthehistoryofscience.
Fourscientificrevolutions
Thefirst
Ittookplaceinthe16thand17thcenturies,representedbyCopernicus’s"Heliocentrictheory",whichinitiallyformedTheemergingscientificsystemofmedievaltheologyandempiricalphilosophywascompletelydifferent,markingthebirthofmodernscience.Later,undertheimpetusofalargenumberofscientistsrepresentedbyKeplerandGalileo,especiallyNewton,amodernnaturalsciencesystemwasestablished.
Thesecondtime
Ittookplaceinthe19thcenturyandfocusedonmajortheoreticalbreakthroughsinchemistry,physics,andbiology.Thereareachievementsinthelawofconservationandtransformationofenergy,celltheory,andtheoryofevolution.Thesethreemajorachievementsareknownasthethreemajordiscoveriesofnaturalsciencesinthe19thcentury,formingtheentireexperimentalscientificsystemofphysics,biology,andpsychology.
Thethirdtime
Fromtheendofthe19thcenturytothebeginningofthe20thcentury,thediscoveryofX-rays,electrons,naturalradioactivity,DNAdoublehelixstructure,etc.madehumansunderstandthestructureofmatterfromthemacroThedomainentersthemicrodomain.Theestablishmentofthetheoryofrelativityandquantummechanicshasbroughtaboutmajorchangesinthetheoryofphysicsandtheentirenaturalsciencesystem,aswellastheoutlookonnatureandtheworld.Therapiddevelopmentoforganicchemistry,molecularbiologyandgeneticengineering,biotechnology,microelectronicsandcommunicationtechnologyhasmarkedthedevelopmentofscience.Developmenthasenteredthemodernera.
Thefourthtime
AccordingtoZengBangzhe’spointofview,thefourthscientificrevolutionissystemsscience,theoldandnewtheoriesandthetechnologiesofcomputerscience,artificialintelligence,nanochemistry,biomedicine,etc.Integrationandmethodintegration,thebirthofsystemsbiologyscienceopenedthefourthrevolutioninscienceandtechnology,includingsystemsbiologyandsystemsmedicine,systemsgeneticsandsystemsbiotechnology,syntheticbiologyandsystemsbioengineering,etc.,whichwillleadtothe21stcenturyThetransformationalmedicineandthebioindustrialrevolutionhaveformedacompleteexperimentalandsystematictwo-dimensionalscientificsystem.
Thesignificanceofthescientificrevolution
Thesignificanceofthescientificrevolutionisfirsttochangepeople'sviewsofscience.Becauseeverychangeinthescientificoutlookhasbroughttotheworldatremendousdevelopmentofproductivitythatwasimpossibleundertheconditionsoftheoldscientificoutlook.
Duringthefirstscientificrevolution,peoplebelievedthatscientificknowledgewasprovenknowledge.Scientifictheoriesarederivedstrictlyfromempiricalfactsobtainedthroughobservationandexperiment.Scienceisbasedonwhatwecansee,hear,andtouch...Personalopinionsorhobbiesandspeculativeimaginationhavenoplaceinscience.Scienceisobjective.Scientificknowledgeisreliableknowledgebecauseitisobjectivelyprovenknowledge.ThisscientificrevolutionoccurredmainlyintheseventeenthcenturyandwascausedbythegreatpioneerscientistsGalileoandNewton.
ThephilosopherFrancisBaconandmanyofhiscontemporariessummarizedthisscientificattitudeatthetime.Atthattime,theyinsisted:Ifwewanttounderstandthenaturalworld,wemustaskthenaturalworldforadvice,notfromConsultAristotle'swritings.
Theprogressiveforcesintheseventeenthcenturyfinallyrealizedthatthemedievalnaturalphilosopherswereobsessedwithancientpeople,especiallytheworksofAristotle,andtheyusedtheBibleandothermajorreligiousclassicsasscientificknowledgeThesourceofiswrong,anditcannotbefalsified.Inspiredbythesuccessof"greatexperimenters"suchasGalileo,theyincreasinglyregardexperienceasasourceofknowledge.Sincethen,thisevaluationhasonlybeenreinforcedbythebrilliantachievementsofexperimentalscience.J.J.Daviswroteinhisbook"OntheMethodofScience":"Scienceisbuiltondefactobuildings."H·D·Anthony’slatestevaluationofGalileo’sachievementsisasfollows:
WhatcausedthebreakwithtraditionwasnotsomuchtheobservationandexperimentthatGalileomade,asitwashisattitudetowardsobservationandexperiment.Forhim,factsbasedonobservationsandexperimentsaretreatedasfacts,andhavenothingtodowithsomepreconceivedopinion...Theobservedfactsmayormaynotconformtotherecognizedcosmicschema.InGalileo’sview,Theimportantthingistoacceptthesefactsandestablishatheorythatconformstothesefacts.
Futureprospects
Thethoroughscientificrevolutionsinhistoryareallbasedonthechangeofscientificconceptastheprecursorandapproach.Thecontemporaryworldscientificrevolutionhasgraduallyunfolded,andChinanowurgentlyneedstorealizethetransformationofthescientificview-thatis,toreplacethenarrowscientificviewwitharevolutionaryscientificviewthatcanintegrateEasternandWesternsciences(referringtothescientificviewwithWesternlearningastheonlyscientificparadigm)).Withoutthisconceptualchangeasthefoundation,Chinacannotentertheeraofscientificrevolution,andcanonlybecomeafollowerandelementaryschoolstudentofWesternscientificrevolutionagain.Inthatway,Chinacanonlymakeupforthechangeofscientificoutlookafterfollowingthewesternscientificrevolution,andthenChinawillonceagainlosethehistoricalopportunitytoenterthedevelopedcountries.
Thechangeofscientificoutlookisofgreatsignificancetothecontemporaryscientificrevolution.IfChinacontinuestoidentifywiththeconceptofsmallscience,thenitcanonlytakethedevelopmentpathoftechnologicalprogress,andwillneverbetheleaderoftheworldscientificrevolution.However,afterthescientificrevolution,itwillstillfollowthesuccessofthescientificrevolutionandchangetheconceptofscience;ifChinaitselffirstBychangingthenarrowviewofscienceintoabigscientificviewthataccommodatesEasternandWesternscience,Chinacantaketheleadinlaunchingandleadingtheworldscientificrevolution,andpromptingothercountriesandtheworldtorealizethetransformationofscientificviewandscientificrevolutionassoonaspossible.
Scientificrevolutionsareoftentheforerunnersofsocialchangesandpromotesocialprogress.Thescientificrevolutionmayinvolvetheentirescientificknowledgesystem,mayalsoinvolveawiderangeofscientificfields,oronlyinvolveacertaindiscipline.Whentheoriginaldominantscientificconceptsandtheoreticalsystemsencounteredgreatdifficultiesinthefaceofnewfacts,theywereunabletosatisfactorilyexplainandexplainthenewfacts,indicatingatheoreticalbreakthrough.Thistheoreticalcrisisisasignofthematurityofthescientificrevolution.
Theestablishmentofnewbasicscientificconceptsandtheoreticalsystems,andreplacingtheoriginalconceptsandtheoreticalsystems,isthecontentofthescientificrevolution.Therefore,thescientificrevolutionisafundamentaltransformationofthescientificsystem.Therelationshipbetweenoldandnewconceptsandtheoriesisverycomplicated.Sometimesnewconceptsandtheoriesoverthrowandcompletelyreplacetheoriginalconceptsandtheories;sometimesnewconceptsandtheoriesincludetheoriginalconceptsandtheories,asaspecialcase,totheoriginalconceptsandtheories.Strictrestrictionsandnewdefinitionsareimposedonthescopeandboundariesofapplication;sometimesitappearsasamajorrevision,supplementanddevelopmentofnewconceptsandtheoriestotheoriginalconceptsandtheories.Thescientificrevolutionshowsaqualitativeleapinpeople'sunderstandingoftheobjectiveworld.Alongwiththeestablishmentofnewscientifictheories,people'sunderstandingofthenaturalworld,theso-calledviewofnature,willalsoundergocorrespondingmajorchanges.Philosophycontrolstheworldbytheknowledgeprovidedbyscience.Therefore,everymajorscientificrevolutionleadstoachangeintheoutlookonnature.