Editing History of science (section)

===Western Europe===
{{Further|European science in the Middle Ages | Renaissance of the 12th century|Scholasticism|Medieval technology|List of medieval European scientists|Islamic world contributions to Medieval Europe}}
[[File:Roger-bacon-statue.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Roger Bacon]] at the [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]]]]
By the eleventh century, most of Europe had become Christian; stronger monarchies emerged; borders were restored; technological developments and agricultural innovations were made, increasing the food supply and population. Classical Greek texts were translated from Arabic and Greek into Latin, stimulating scientific discussion in Western Europe.<ref>Lindberg, David. (1992) ''The Beginnings of Western Science''  University of Chicago Press. p. 204.</ref>

In [[classical antiquity]], Greek and Roman taboos had meant that dissection was usually banned, but in the Middle Ages medical teachers and students at Bologna began to open human bodies, and [[Mondino de Luzzi]] ({{Circa|1275}}–1326) produced the first known anatomy textbook based on human dissection.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=978-0674057418 |last=Numbers |first=Ronald |title=Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion |page=45 |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-03327-6 |access-date=12 April 2018 |archive-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120190509/https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674057418 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/04/debunking-a-myth/ |title=Debunking a myth |date=7 April 2011 |publisher=Harvard University |access-date=12 April 2018 |archive-date=28 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728101124/https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/04/debunking-a-myth/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

As a result of the [[Pax Mongolica]], Europeans, such as [[Marco Polo]], began to venture further and further east. The written accounts of Polo and his fellow travelers inspired other Western European maritime explorers to search for a direct sea route to Asia, ultimately leading to the [[Age of Discovery]].<ref name= "love2006a">{{cite book | last = Love | first= Ronald S. | year = 2006 | chapter = Historical overview | title = Maritime Exploration in the Age of Discovery, 1415–1800 | pages = 1–8  | location = Westport, Connecticut | publisher = Greenwood | isbn= 978-0313320439}}</ref>

Technological advances were also made, such as the early flight of [[Eilmer of Malmesbury]] (who had studied mathematics in 11th-century England),<ref name="Eilmer">[[William of Malmesbury]], ''[[Gesta Regum Anglorum]] / The history of the English kings'', ed. and trans. R.A.B. Mynors, R.M. Thomson, and M. Winterbottom, 2 vols., Oxford Medieval Texts (1998–99)</ref> and the metallurgical achievements of the [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] [[blast furnace]] at [[Laskill]].<ref name="Laskill">R.W. Vernon, G. McDonnell and A. Schmidt, 'An integrated geophysical and analytical appraisal of early iron-working: three case studies' ''Historical Metallurgy'' 31(2) (1998), 72–75 79.</ref><ref name="Derbeyshire">David Derbyshire, ''Henry "Stamped Out Industrial Revolution"'', [[The Daily Telegraph]] (21 June 2002)</ref>

====Medieval universities====
An intellectual revitalization of Western Europe started with the birth of [[Medieval university|medieval universities]] in the 12th century. These urban institutions grew from the informal scholarly activities of learned [[friar]]s who visited [[Monastery|monasteries]], consulted [[Library|libraries]], and conversed with other fellow scholars.<ref name= "gal2021d">{{cite book | last= Gal | first = Ofer | year = 2021 | chapter = Medieval learning | title = The Origins of Modern Science | pages = 101–138 | location = New York, New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-1316649701}}</ref> A friar who became well-known would attract a following of disciples, giving rise to a brotherhood of scholars (or ''collegium'' in Latin). A ''collegium'' might travel to a town or request a monastery to host them. However, if the number of scholars within a ''collegium'' grew too large, they would opt to settle in a town instead.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> As the number of ''collegia'' within a town grew, the ''collegia'' might request that their king grant them a [[charter]] that would convert them into a ''universitas''.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Many universities were chartered during this period, with the first in [[Bologna]] in 1088, followed by [[Paris]] in 1150, [[Oxford]] in 1167, and [[Cambridge]] in 1231.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> The granting of a charter meant that the medieval universities were partially sovereign and independent from local authorities.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Their independence allowed them to conduct themselves and judge their own members based on their own rules. Furthermore, as initially religious institutions, their faculties and students were protected from capital punishment (e.g., [[gallows]]).<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Such independence was a matter of custom, which could, in principle, be revoked by their respective rulers if they felt threatened. Discussions of various subjects or claims at these medieval institutions, no matter how controversial, were done in a formalized way so as to declare such discussions as being within the bounds of a university and therefore protected by the privileges of that institution's sovereignty.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> A claim could be described as ''[[Papal infallibility#Ex cathedra|ex cathedra]]'' (literally "from the chair", used within the context of teaching) or ''[[List of Latin phrases (E)#ex hypothesi|ex hypothesi]]'' (by hypothesis). This meant that the discussions were presented as purely an intellectual exercise that did not require those involved to commit themselves to the truth of a claim or to proselytize. Modern academic concepts and practices such as [[academic freedom]] or freedom of inquiry are remnants of these medieval privileges that were tolerated in the past.<ref name= "gal2021d"/>

The curriculum of these medieval institutions centered on the [[Liberal arts education#History|seven liberal arts]], which were aimed at providing beginning students with the skills for reasoning and scholarly language.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Students would begin their studies starting with the first three liberal arts or ''[[Trivium]]'' (grammar, rhetoric, and logic) followed by the next four liberal arts or ''[[Quadrivium]]'' (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music).<ref name= "gal2021d"/><ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> Those who completed these requirements and received their ''[[Bachelor's degree|baccalaureate]]'' (or [[Bachelor of Arts]]) had the option to join the higher faculty (law, medicine, or theology), which would confer an [[Legum Doctor|LLD]] for a lawyer, an [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]] for a physician, or [[Doctor of Theology|ThD]] for a theologian.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Students who chose to remain in the lower faculty (arts) could work towards a ''[[Magister degree|Magister]]'' (or [[Master's degree|Master's]]) degree and would study three philosophies: metaphysics, ethics, and natural philosophy.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> [[Latin translations of the 12th century|Latin translation]]s of Aristotle's works such as {{lang|la|[[De Anima]]}} (''On the Soul'') and the commentaries on them were required readings. As time passed, the lower faculty was allowed to confer its own doctoral degree called the [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]].<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Many of the Masters were drawn to encyclopedias and had used them as textbooks. But these scholars yearned for the complete original texts of the Ancient Greek philosophers, mathematicians, and physicians such as [[Aristotle]], [[Euclid]], and [[Galen]], which were not available to them at the time. These Ancient Greek texts were to be found in the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic World.<ref name= "gal2021d"/>

====Translations of Greek and Arabic sources====
Contact with the Byzantine Empire,<ref name=Lindberg1992p162/> and with the Islamic world during the [[Reconquista]] and the [[Crusades]], allowed Latin Europe access to scientific [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] texts, including the works of [[Aristotle]], [[Ptolemy]], [[Isidore of Miletus]], [[John Philoponus]], [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]], [[Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī|al-Khwarizmi]], [[Ibn al-Haytham|Alhazen]], [[Avicenna]], and [[Averroes]]. European scholars had access to the translation programs of [[Raymond of Toledo]], who sponsored the 12th century [[Toledo School of Translators]] from Arabic to Latin. Later translators like [[Michael Scotus]] would learn Arabic in order to study these texts directly. The European universities aided materially in the [[Latin translations of the 12th century|translation and propagation of these texts]] and started a new infrastructure which was needed for scientific communities. In fact, European university put many works about the natural world and the study of nature at the center of its curriculum,<ref>Huff, Toby. ''Rise of early modern science'' 2nd ed. pp. 180–181</ref> with the result that the "medieval university laid far greater emphasis on science than does its modern counterpart and descendent."<ref>Grant, Edward. "Science in the Medieval University", in James M. Kittleson and Pamela J. Transue, ed., ''Rebirth, Reform and Resilience: Universities in Transition, 1300–1700'', Ohio State University Press, 1984, p. 68</ref>

At the beginning of the 13th century, there were reasonably accurate Latin translations of the main works of almost all the intellectually crucial ancient authors, allowing a sound transfer of scientific ideas via both the universities and the monasteries. By then, the natural philosophy in these texts began to be extended by [[Scholasticism|scholastics]] such as [[Robert Grosseteste]], [[Roger Bacon]], [[Albertus Magnus]] and [[Duns Scotus]]. Precursors of the modern scientific method, influenced by earlier contributions of the Islamic world, can be seen already in Grosseteste's emphasis on mathematics as a way to understand nature, and in the empirical approach admired by Bacon, particularly in his ''[[Opus Majus]]''. [[Pierre Duhem]]'s thesis is that [[Stephen Tempier]] – the Bishop of Paris – [[Condemnation of 1277]] led to the study of medieval science as a serious discipline, "but no one in the field any longer endorses his view that modern science started in 1277".<ref name="Stanford">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/condemnation/ |title=Condemnation of 1277 |first=Hans |last=Thijssen |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |date=30 January 2003 |access-date=14 September 2009 |publisher=[[University of Stanford]] |archive-date=11 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311030803/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/condemnation/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, many scholars agree with Duhem's view that the mid-late Middle Ages saw important scientific developments.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rediscovering the Science of the Middle Ages |url=http://biologos.org/blog/rediscovering-the-science-of-the-middle-ages |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301161246/https://biologos.org/articles/rediscovering-the-science-of-the-middle-ages |archive-date=1 March 2023 |access-date=26 October 2014 |publisher=BioLogos}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://icucourses.com/pages/023-a03-the-middle-ages-and-the-birth-of-science|title=023-A03: The Middle Ages and the Birth of Science – International Catholic University|work=International Catholic University|access-date=26 October 2014|archive-date=26 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026061525/http://icucourses.com/pages/023-a03-the-middle-ages-and-the-birth-of-science|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=History: A medieval multiverse|volume=507|issue=7491|pages=161–163|journal=Nature News & Comment|doi=10.1038/507161a|pmid=24627918|year=2014|last1=McLeish|first1=Tom C. B.|author-link1=Tom McLeish|last2=Bower|first2=Richard G.|last3=Tanner |first3=Brian K.|last4=Smithson|first4=Hannah E.|last5=Panti|first5=Cecilia|last6=Lewis|first6=Neil|last7=Gasper|first7=Giles E.M.|url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/16743/1/16743.pdf|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=23 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723044419/http://dro.dur.ac.uk/16743/1/16743.pdf|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Medieval science====
The first half of the 14th century saw much important scientific work, largely within the framework of [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] commentaries on Aristotle's scientific writings.<ref>Edward Grant, ''The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional, and Intellectual Contexts'', (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996), pp. 127–131.</ref> [[William of Ockham]] emphasized the principle of [[Occam's razor|parsimony]]: natural philosophers should not postulate unnecessary entities, so that motion is not a distinct thing but is only the moving object<ref>Edward Grant, ''A Source Book in Medieval Science'', (Harvard Univ. Press, 1974), p. 232</ref> and an intermediary "sensible species" is not needed to transmit an image of an object to the eye.<ref>David C. Lindberg, ''Theories of Vision from al-Kindi to Kepler'', (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1976), pp. 140–142.</ref> Scholars such as [[Jean Buridan]] and [[Nicole Oresme]] started to reinterpret elements of Aristotle's mechanics. In particular, Buridan developed the theory that impetus was the cause of the motion of projectiles, which was a first step towards the modern concept of [[inertia]].<ref>Edward Grant, ''The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional, and Intellectual Contexts'', (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996), pp. 95–97.</ref> The [[Oxford Calculators]] began to mathematically analyze the [[kinematics]] of motion, making this analysis without considering the causes of motion.<ref>Edward Grant, ''The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional, and Intellectual Contexts'', (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996), pp. 100–103.</ref>

In 1348, the [[Black Death]] and other disasters sealed a sudden end to philosophic and scientific development. Yet, the rediscovery of ancient texts was stimulated by the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453, when many Byzantine scholars sought refuge in the West. Meanwhile, the introduction of printing was to have great effect on European society. The facilitated dissemination of the printed word democratized learning and allowed ideas such as [[algebra]] to propagate more rapidly. These developments paved the way for the [[Scientific Revolution]], where scientific inquiry, halted at the start of the Black Death, resumed.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Renaissance: The 'Rebirth' of Science & Culture|url=https://www.livescience.com/55230-renaissance.html|first=Jessie|department=Historical development|last=Szalay|date=2016-06-29|website=LiveScience.com|access-date=2019-07-19|archive-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027214636/https://www.livescience.com/55230-renaissance.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oK4HTBcdSJsC&pg=PR14|first=Robert S.|last=Gottfried|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0-02-912370-6|title=The Black Death: Natural & Human Disaster in Medieval Europe|year=1985|access-date=2019-07-19|page=xiv|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803141629/https://books.google.com/books?id=oK4HTBcdSJsC&pg=PR14|url-status=live}}</ref>