Reading and reflection on science related book

 

Reading and reflection on science related book
Name of the book: An introduction to the history and philosophy of science
Author: R V G Menon
Publishers: Pearson

 

About the author

R. V. G. Menon is a professor of engineering in Kerala. He was the principal of Government College of Engineering, Kannur. He was deputed as the director of Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT). He is the author of the book ‘ An Introduction To The History And Philosophy of Science’ which is a part of the engineering curriculum in Kerala. He served as president of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, the "Peoples' Science Movement"

BOOK REVIEW

This book aims to build an idea about history, philosophy as well as scientific methods among its readers. The content of the book is divided into 11 chapters which titles as
1.Introduction
2.Origin of science enquiry
3.European origin of science
4.Contribution of early India
5.Science in China
6.The role of the Arabs in the history of science
7.Science in middle ages
8.Newton and after
9.The advancing frontiers: Modern Medicine to Nanotechnology
10.Basic concept in the philosophy of science
11.Some issues in the philosophy of science

1. Introduction

The first chapter give us information about general definition of science and it also emphasis on importance of history of science. This chapter also give an idea about why one should be aware of the history and philosophy of science in order to lead a scientific life. This chapter also mentions about some discoveries in science happened in ancient period especially in India and Greece. This chapter also says about the scientific procedures in a general point of view.


2. Origin of science enquiry

In this chapter, the book mentions about the important discoveries that happened in Palaeolithic age, Neolithic age and Bronze age .Fire pottery was developed in Palaeolithic age
About 10 000 years ago.  In the Neolithic age, men found agriculture, crop and there happened beginning of cities. In Bronze Age which began about 400BC they found out metals like copper and bronze, wheeled vehicles, the sailboat, bricks, Fertilisers etc.


Then they mentions about the discoveries made by man after civilisation. The discoveries happened in Tigris-Euphrates valley about 7000 years ago are Babylonian calendar, pyramids in Egypt, in Indus valley they planned and made cities which include high engineering and architect skills. Since 1600 BC china had horse drawn chariots time keeping devices abacus and in medical field also they were well organised.

3. European origin of science

This chapter give information about the contributions in science from Europe. It mentions about various philosophers such as Thales, Anaximander, Pythagoras, Empedocles of Agrigento, Leucippus and their contribution. This chapter also give idea about Greek medicines. It specially gave a brief note about the Athens and classic Greece and the world renewed philosophers Plato, Aristotle and Theophrastus. This chapter also contains a note on the contributions of Romans in science and mathematics especially the roman number system and Julian calendar.

4. Contribution of early india
This chapter emphasis on contributions of Indian ancient textbooks on mathematics and science. It says that arithmetic’s and geometry was developed in Vedic period and contributions of Aryans to the science. It mentions about Vedic mathematics, Vedic astronomy and Vedic medicine. It specially mentions about kanada muni who said about atoms as the paramanu.
Indians divided substances into nine forms i e , earth, water, fire, air, akasa, time, space and atman. It also says about the achievements during Buddhist period where universities like Nalanda and Thakshasila were emerged and scholars across world came there to discuss about science philosophy mathematics and geometry. This chapter gives a brief note on Ayurveda and advancement made in India in the field of medicine.

5.Science in china

Philosophers like Confucius ,Lao Tzu lived in china in the period 500bc. Chinese made record of all uneven phenomena such as eclipse, appearance of unknown celestial bodies. The most famous astronomer who lived in china was Shin Shan (350 BC). He prepared a star chart of 800 charts and gave rules for predicting eclipse. The astronomical calculations of the Chinese were algebraic unlike those of Greeks which was geometrical.
China has medicinal treatments like acupuncture, radiant heating, massage, gymnastics, plasters etc.


6.The role of the Arabs in the history of science

 

In this chapter contributions of Arabs are emphasized. It initially tells about Mohammed prophet and formation of Islam. Then the chapter discuss about how Palestine and Iraq are formed and how they invaded Syria and Egypt. The Arab welcomed physicist, chemist, technicians, physicians etc. Arabs were more anxious to sweep all knowledge into their empire. The most characteristic Arab scientific development was happened between 900 AD  to 110 AD. Jabir Ibn hayyan was known as the father of Arab alchemy. The Arab alchemist had performed many practical of chemistry. Abu Ali, Hassan ibn al-haitham contributed to field of optics. He opposed works of Euclid and Ptolemy. In mathematic they made significant contribution in the field of algebra. The word algebra is itself derived from the Arab word Al-jabar .  Al-Khwarizmi and his disciple Omar Khayyam made contributions in the field of mathematics.

Caliph al Mammon founded an astronomical observatory at Baghdad, there worked Al Battani in the field of eclipse, precession of equinox, eccentricity of sun etc. Many observatories were emerged in Arabs during the period 800-1420 AD. About 800 AD hospitals were made at Baghdad.  Ibn al Nafis who lived in 13^th century gave a detailed idea about circulation of blood.

7.Science in middle ages

This chapter tells about the effect of renaissance and its effect on science. They understood that in order to increase trade and manufacture, science has to be developed. Interest in navigation and formation of ships demanded progress in science thus fluid mechanics was developed. Increased metal usage increased mining. Leonardo-da-Vinci is an important figure to be discussed when talking about science in middle ages. He made plans and design models for flying machines, helicopters, parachutes, guns etc. He also shows brilliance at anatomical drawings.
This chapter tells about some important revolutions happened in the field of science. It tells about how the geo centric view of the universe is smashed by young vibrant physicist such as Copernicus, Tycobrahe, Johannes Kepler etc. This chapter also tell us about the martyrs of science such as Bruno and Galileo who suffered a lot because of their contributions to science.

This chapter also give account on the advancement happened in India during medieval period. The works of Arayabhata, Madhava, Parameswara etc in the field of mathematics is world known. Trigonometric functions and Taylor series was discovered by Madhava in the period 1340 -1425.
It gave a note on experiments conducted by Gilbert, Bacon.
Works of Descartes about solar systems, coordinate geometry, mathematical methods in physical science is also mentioned.

8.Newton and after

In this chapter discussion about scientific enquiries in the 17^th century across the globe is carried out in an elegant manner. Due to the invention of telescope made by Galileo and invention of microscope much advancement in science is carried out. Another factor contributed in the enhancement of scientific discoveries was the establishment of scientific academies.

One sub-unit of this chapter gives a detailed explanation of life of Sir Isaac Newton. This section mentions about the important discoveries in science made by Newton such as reflecting telescope, composite nature of light, laws in mechanics, water cloaks, water wheels, sundials, working model of wind mills. It also mentioned about the famous book written by Newton i e the principia mathematica. This chapter also gave details about persons who were lived in the time of Newton.

 

9.The advancing frontiers: Modern Medicine to Nanotechnology

This chapter tries to discuss about the advancement made in science in the eighteenth century. It was in the 18^th century the government of many states began to setup public hospitals. While discussing about advancement in the field of medicine in 18^th century, an important figure is the name of john hunter who contributed to modernising the surgery, advancement in dentistry, deep study of inflammation and so on. Other important physicians are Ignaz Semmelweis, Joseph Lister, Louis Pasteur, his discovery of vaccine, Robert Koch and his experiment with anthrax bacteria. The advanced technologies such as MRI, NMR, X-Rays, ECG, EEG made diagnosis of disease quite easy than before.

In this chapter other biological topics such as how Linnaeus scientifically classified plants, Gregory Mendel’s contribution to genetics, Thomas Hunt Morgan’s experiment with fruit flies.
How James Watson and Francis Crick discovered DNA, The human genome project, emergence of biotechnology were discussed.

How 18th century scientist contributed about structure of atom was explained in a good manner. It mentions about Michelson-Morley experiment, Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory, contributions by Albert Einstein, Contributions of JJ Thomson , How Rontgen discovered X rays , How Henry Becquerel discovered Radioactivity , How Marie Curie and Pierre Curie contributed to chemistry by isolating polonium and Radium, How Rutherford performed experiments with alpha particles and found out the nucleus, quantum theory of Max Planck , Bohr’s contributions to structure of atom, how new quantum theory was developed , dual nature of matter, uncertainty principle , developments in nuclear physics , Developments of frontier technologies such as Information Technology, Nano-Technology And Biotechnology , what was the contribution of Homi J Bhaba on cosmic rays and fundamental particles are discussed in this chapter.

10.Basic concept in the philosophy of science

This chapter purely explains about scientific methods ie the process involved in science. It gave a note to distinguish between difference of science and pseudo science which people get confused in certain times. The methods of induction as well as deduction are explained and components of science are explained.

11. Some issues in the philosophy of science

Science gave us more knowledge and due to the applications of science, i e the technologies, our heavy tasks become much easier. In this chapter various philosophical dimensions of science is mentioned. This chapter mentions about mills cannons and criticism of philosophical approach is done in a good manner. Various controversies about science and scientific methods are described in a non biased manner.

Reflection

This book gives us an idea about historical developments of all fields of science in a highly organized order. In each case, without going into deep analysis of the situation, the book is written for a general audience. We can suggest this book to higher secondary students so that they will understand the story behind each of the topics they study. It helps us to understand the methods involved in science and it give a positive notion towards research. This book will encourage people who love science to pursue their dream in science. It s a worth read book. The language used in this book is simple and people can maintain the link between various branches of science when reading this book.