The main scientific achievements of the Middle Ages. Abstract: Cultural achievements of medieval Western Europe The main achievements of science in the Middle Ages

medieval science.

The formation of medieval science

medieval science developed in large cities, where for the first time in Europe there are higher educational institutions - universities. Universities contributed to the development and dissemination of knowledge, as well as the creation of new branches of knowledge, which a little later took shape in various sciences - medicine, astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, etc.

The formation of science is a topic that has been sufficiently developed, but has not lost its relevance today: to understand the nature of science, which determined the nature of industrial civilization, the study of its genesis is of paramount importance. Despite the fact that many aspects of this topic have been studied quite well by historians of science, philosophy and culture, there are still many questions concerning, in particular, the period that could be called the prehistory of the formation of modern European science and which played a very important role in the revision principles of ancient ontology and logic, thereby preparing the transition to a different type of thinking and worldview, which formed the prerequisite for science and philosophy of modern times. This refers to the period of the late Middle Ages of the XIV-XVI centuries. This era is characterized by a general atmosphere of skepticism, which until now has not been sufficiently taken into account, but which is essential for understanding the intellectual shifts that took place at the end of the 16th-17th centuries. and which is called the scientific revolution.

Science and religion

The main interest in the phenomena of nature consisted in the search for illustrations of the truths of morality and religion. Any problems, including natural sciences, were discussed with the help of the interpretation of the texts of the Holy Scriptures. Nature was no longer perceived as something independent, carrying its own purpose and its own law, as it was in antiquity. It was created by God for the good of man. God is omnipotent, and is able at any moment to disrupt the natural course of natural processes in the name of his goals. Faced with unusual, amazing natural phenomena, a person perceived them as a miracle, as the providence of God, incomprehensible to the human mind, too limited in its capabilities.

An idea that would never have arisen in antiquity penetrates into the human mind: since a person is the master of this world, it means that he has the right to remake this world as he needs. It was the Christian worldview that sowed the seeds of a new understanding of nature, which made it possible to get away from the contemplative attitude of antiquity towards it and come to the experimental science of the New Age, which set as its goal the practical transformation of the world. In the Middle Ages, the problems of truth were solved not by science or philosophy, but by theology (the complex of sciences that study the history of creeds and institutional forms of religious life is called). In this situation, science became a means of solving purely practical problems. Arithmetic and astronomy, in particular, were only needed to calculate the dates of religious holidays. Such a purely pragmatic attitude towards medieval science led to the fact that it lost one of the most valuable qualities of ancient science, in which scientific knowledge was considered as an end in itself, the knowledge of truth was carried out for the sake of truth itself, and not for the sake of practical results.

Medieval science contributed to the development of scientific knowledge, consisted in the fact that a number of new interpretations and clarifications of ancient science were proposed, a number of new concepts and research methods that destroyed ancient scientific programs, paving the way for the science of modern times. The most important feature of this worldview is geocentrism - the idea of God as the only true reality. The whole life of a medieval person was one way or another connected with religion. This was especially true of the spiritual culture of the Middle Ages. Therefore, the picture of the world formed at that time cannot be considered scientific, it is a return to the mythological explanation of the world.

Any human activity that was contrary to the dogmas of the church was forbidden. All views on nature were censored by the church and, if there were discrepancies with accepted views, they were declared heretical and subjected to the court of the Inquisition. With the help of cruel torture and burning at the stake, the Inquisition brutally suppressed any dissent. Discoveries of the laws of nature, contrary to the dogmas of the church, cost many medieval scientists their lives. This contributed to the strengthening of the element of contemplative cognition and ultimately led to stagnation (stagnation) and regression of scientific cognition as a whole.

The situation in medieval science began to change for the better from the 12th century, when the scientific heritage of Aristotle began to be used in scientific everyday life. Revival in medieval science was brought by scholasticism, which used scientific methods (argumentation, proof) in theology. The most popular books of the Middle Ages were encyclopedias, reflecting a hierarchical approach to objects and natural phenomena.

Technical discoveries and scientific achievements in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, many technical discoveries were made that contributed to the development of science later, we use many of these achievements to this day. In the XI century. the first watch with a chime and wheels appears, and two centuries later - a pocket watch. At the same time, a modern steering design was created, which made it possible in the 15th century. cross the ocean and discover America. The compass was created. Of greatest importance was the invention of the printing press; printing made the book accessible. Thus, the time, which is considered the period of "darkness and obscurantism" created the prerequisites for the emergence of science. In order to form scientific knowledge, it was necessary to be interested not in what is unusual, but in what is repeated and is a natural law, i.e. from relying on everyday experience, based on the testimony of the senses, to move on to scientific experience, which happened gradually in the Middle Ages.

The main scientific achievements of the Middle Ages can be considered as follows e:

· The first steps towards a mechanistic explanation of the world have been made. Concepts are introduced: emptiness, infinite space, rectilinear motion.

· Improved and created new measuring instruments. Mathematization of physics began.

· The development of specific fields of knowledge in the Middle Ages - astrology, alchemy, magic - led to the formation of the beginnings of future experimental natural sciences: astronomy, chemistry, physics, biology.

Mathematical achievements.

The Arabs significantly expanded the ancient system of mathematical knowledge. They borrowed the decimal system from India. It penetrated the Middle East during the Sassanid era (224-041), when Persia, Egypt and India experienced a period of cultural interaction.

Arab mathematicians were also able to sum up arithmetic and geometric progressions. They created a unified concept of real numbers by combining rational numbers and gradually blurred the line between rational numbers and irrationality.

Arab mathematicians improved the methods of solving the 2nd and 3rd degrees, solved certain types of equations of the 4th degree.

Trigonometry was created by Arab mathematicians. Al-Battani's work contains a significant amount of trigonometry, including tables of cotangent values for each degree.

Achievements in physics.

Of the sections of mechanics, statics received the greatest development, which was facilitated by the conditions of the economic life of the medieval East. Intensive monetary circulation and trade required constant improvement of weighing methods, as well as systems of measures and weights. This determined the development of the science of balance, the creation of numerous structures, various types of weights.

The development of kinematics was associated with the need of astronomy for rigorous methods to describe the motion of celestial and "terrestrial" bodies. In particular, the concept of mechanical motions is used to explain optical phenomena, a parallelogram of motions is studied, etc. One of the directions of medieval Arabic kinematics is the development of infinitesimal methods (i.e., consideration of infinite processes, continuity, transitions to the limit, etc.).

Dynamics developed , i.e. study the existence of emptiness and the possibility of movement in emptiness, the nature of movement in a resisting medium, the mechanism for transmitting movement, the free fall of bodies, the movement of bodies thrown at an angle to the horizon.

Astronomy.

A significant contribution was also made by Arab scientists to astronomy. They improved the technique of astronomical measurements, significantly supplemented and refined the data on the motion of celestial bodies. Arzahel compiled the Toledo Planetary Tables (1080). They had a significant impact on the development of trigonometry in Western Europe.

The pinnacle in the field of observational astronomy was the activity of Ulugbek. He built an astronomical observatory in Samarkand, which had a giant double quadrant and many other astronomical instruments (azimuth circle, astrolabes, triquetras, armillary spheres, etc.). The observatory created "New Astronomical Tables", which contained a presentation of the theoretical foundations of astronomy and a catalog of the position of 1018 stars.

In theoretical astronomy, the main attention was paid to the refinement of the kinematic-geometric models of the Almagest, the elimination of contradictions in the Ptolemaic theory and the search for non-Ptolemaic methods for modeling the motion of celestial bodies.

Alchemy in the Middle Ages

In medieval alchemy (it flourished in the 13th-15th centuries), two trends stood out.

First trend- mystified alchemy, focused on chemical transformations (in particular, mercury into gold) and, ultimately, on the proof of the possibility of human efforts to carry out cosmic transformations. In line with this trend, Arab alchemists formulated the idea of a "philosopher's stone" - a hypothetical substance that accelerated the "ripening" of gold in the bowels of the earth. This substance was also interpreted as an elixir of life, giving immortality.

Second trend- was more focused on competitive practical technochemistry. In this area, the achievements of alchemy are undoubted. These include methods for obtaining sulfuric, hydrochloric, nitric acids, saltpeter, mercury-metal alloys, many medicinal substances, the creation of chemical glassware, etc.

The medieval worldview gradually begins to limit and restrain the development of science. Therefore, a change in worldview was necessary, which occurred during the Renaissance.

Typography

The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg (1448) marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of culture and science in the history of mankind. Before Gutenberg, there was a method of printing texts invented by the Chinese: letters were cut out on a wooden plate, covered with paint and printed on paper. Guttenberg also started with wooden materials, but the letters were not cut out in finished text on a wooden surface, but each one individually. This allowed the cut letters to be used repeatedly, typing different texts from them. But the tree gradually loses its shape, it swells, then dries up, and the words in the texts turn out to be crooked, uneven. This led to the idea of casting letters from metal, typing them into a workbench (a ruler with sides) so that they fold into a whole line. This method made it possible to use the cast letters repeatedly, typing new texts from them. And the printing press invented by Gutenberg greatly simplified the task: one book could now be printed in tens and hundreds of copies. The first books of I. Guttenberg were Donat's grammar, calendars, and later - the Bible.

World map

For centuries, people have imagined the earth to be flat. But with the invention of the caravel, a period of great geographical discoveries began that influenced the history of mankind. Navigation, which had a practical goal - the search for lands rich in gold and expensive spices - led not only to negative consequences (plunder and destruction of the ancient values of the conquered peoples, slavery, etc.), but also to a turning discovery: the earth has the shape of a ball, and the available maps are far from perfect and even erroneous. Ancient assumptions about the sphericity of the Earth have not yet been confirmed. In search of India, the Spanish navigator in 1492 sent his caravels west across the Atlantic Ocean. He discovered Cuba and Haiti, several islands in the Caribbean, but did not realize that he had discovered a new mainland. He called these lands India, and his aborigines - Indians. Officially confirmed the existence of a new continent discovered by Columbus and the fact that the earth has the shape of a ball, the Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci in 1499 - 1504. Later (1507), the Lorraine cartographer Waldseemüller named the new continent America in honor of this journey. Taking into account new knowledge about the shape of the Earth, globes began to be created, and a new map of the world was already applied to them.

Culture and science

Medieval achievements also include development in the field of architecture, literature, and philosophy. Architectural masterpieces of the Middle Ages: Notre Dame de Paris (known as Notre Dame Cathedral), built in Paris from 1163 to 1257; Reims Cathedral in French Reims and other temples erected in a new, Gothic style in Western Europe. In oriental architecture, the most famous building is the Taj Mahal in India, built in 1630-1652. The literary monuments of the Middle Ages include the French epic "The Song of Roland" from the era of the Crusades. Astronomy (astrology) and chemistry (alchemy) developed, the first universities opened in Paris, Bologna, Oxford, and Prague. In the fifteenth century there were already about sixty universities in Europe. A prominent representative of the scientific thought of the Middle Ages was a unique person named Ibn Sina, better known as (908-1037), who gave the world new knowledge in the field of medicine and philosophy. The Italian theologian and philosopher Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was the first to introduce the idea of rational knowledge into the concept of God: “I believe in order to understand.” A clear distinction between faith and knowledge was made by the Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas, his famous five proofs of the existence of God are based on a principle contrary to the church: study God's creations and you will comprehend Him.

Scholasticism is the most revered science in the Middle Ages. Combined theology and rationalistic methodology. She demanded from the fundamental structures of science such correspondence to reality, which would not be revealed when comparing them with certain phenomena, but would be guaranteed by their initial correlation with the structure of being.

Scholasticism served as the disciplinary basis without which the modern system of natural science simply could not have arisen. It was scholasticism that led to the emergence of the canons of scientific research, formed by Okkan, which, in the words of modern Catholic philosophers J. Reale and D. Antiseri, "an epilogue of medieval science and at the same time a prelude to new physics." The existing interpretations of the medieval science of Western Europe proceed from the modernization of the language of that distant era, when medieval natural scientists spoke the language of Aristotelian "physics". After all, there was no other language suitable for describing various physical phenomena at that time. The most popular books of the Middle Ages were encyclopedias that reflected a hierarchical approach to objects and natural phenomena. The main scientific achievements of the Middle Ages can be considered the following:

1. The first steps towards a mechanistic explanation of the world have been taken. Concepts are introduced: emptiness, infinite space, rectilinear motion. Of particular importance to us are the discoveries of Galileo in the field of mechanics, since with the help of completely new categories and new methodology, he undertook to destroy the dogmatic constructions of the dominant Aristotelian scholastic physics, based on superficial observations and speculative calculations, overflowing with teleological ideas about the movement of things in accordance with their nature. and purpose, about natural and violent movements, about the natural heaviness and lightness of bodies, about the perfection of circular motion compared to rectilinear, etc. It was on the basis of criticism of Aristotelian physics that Galileo created his program for the construction of natural science.

Galileo improved and invented many technical devices - a lens, a telescope, a microscope, a magnet, an air thermometer, a barometer, etc.

2. New measuring instruments have been improved and created.

Mechanical clocks appeared in medieval Europe primarily as tower clocks, which served to indicate the time of worship. Before the invention of mechanical clocks, a bell was used for this, which was beaten by a sentry, who determined the time using an hourglass - every hour. The mechanical clock on the tower of Westminster Abbey appeared in 1288. Later, the mechanical clock tower began to be used in France, Italy, and the German states. There is an opinion that the mill masters invented the mechanical clock, developing the idea of continuous and periodic movement of the mill drive. The main task in creating the watch mechanism was to ensure the accuracy of the movement or the constancy of the speed of rotation of the gears. The development of watch mechanisms was impossible without technical knowledge, mathematical calculations. The measurement of time has a direct connection with astronomy. Thus, watchmaking combined mechanics, astronomy, and mathematics in solving the practical problem of measuring time.
The compass, as a device that uses the orientation of a natural magnet in a certain direction, was invented in China. The Chinese attributed the orientation ability of natural magnets to the influence of the stars. In the I - III centuries. the compass began to be used in China as a "pointer to the South." How the compass got to Europe is still unknown. The beginning of its use by Europeans in navigation dates back to the 12th century. The use of the compass on ships was an important prerequisite for geographical discoveries. The property of the compass was first presented in detail by the French scientist Pierre da Maricourt (Peter Peregrine). In this connection he described both the properties of magnets and the phenomenon of magnetic induction. The compass became the first working scientific model, on the basis of which the theory of gravity developed, up to the great theory of Newton.

Optics

The first magnifying glasses appeared a very long time ago, around 700 BC. Many scientists of the Middle Ages, based on the experience of Arab scientists, were engaged in the study of optics.

Robert Grosseteste (1168-1253) was born in Sussex. From 1209 he was a teacher at the University of Paris. His main works are devoted to optics and refraction of light. Like Aristotle, he always tested scientific hypotheses in practice.

Grosseteste's pupil, Roger Bacon (1214-1294) was born in Summerset. He studied at Oxford University, and in 1241 he left for Paris. He did not leave independent experiments, but conducted a series of studies on optics and the structure of the eye. He used Al-Haysan's diagram of the eye to make the images. Bacon understood the principle of light refraction well and was one of the first to propose the use of magnifying lenses as glasses.

They consisted of two convex lenses that magnified objects so that people could see them.

The manufacture and use of spectacles led to the invention of the spyglass and microscope and led to the creation of the theoretical foundations of optics.

The advent of optics provided not only a huge amount of material for observations, but also completely different means for science than before, made it possible to design new instruments for research.

The compass, spyglass, as well as the growing technique of maritime affairs, made it possible at the end of the 15th and 16th centuries. make great geographical discoveries.

Optics gave rise to such a measuring device as binoculars (determining the distance to an object), used to measure stars and measure the refraction of light. The compass as a measuring device is used to determine the change in the magnetic field.

3. Mathematization of physics began.

Physics

Physics, in the sense that medieval philosophers and scientists themselves put into this concept, was synonymous with the science of motion. “Since nature is the beginning of movement and change, and the subject of our study is nature, it cannot be left unexplained what movement is: after all, ignorance of movement necessarily entails ignorance of nature.” These opening lines of the third book of Aristotle's Physics were well known to all natural philosophers of the Middle Ages.

Movement, according to Aristotle, is always movement towards a certain final state. Natural movement is simply movement towards a state of rest. It has no other definitions than indicating the destination.

With this approach, the movement is described by specifying two points, the start and end points, so that the path traveled by the body is a segment between these points. So motion is what happens between two positive states of rest.

When considering the motion of a body, along with the positions at the initial and final points of its motion, it is always possible to single out an arbitrary number of intermediate points-positions. Instead of movement, in this case we have a set of rest points, between which only a jump-like transition is possible. It is precisely the concept of continuity that should remove these difficulties. In order to avoid jumps, it is necessary to prohibit the existence of two points between which no intermediate point can be chosen. This prohibition constitutes the definition of continuity according to Aristotle. But the possibility of choosing an arbitrarily large number of intermediate points can itself be considered as an argument against the existence of motion.

The prerequisites underlying the Aristotelian concept of the continuity of movement were thoroughly thought out and logically strictly formulated in the teachings of William of Ockham (XIV century). Ockham wrote: “This is what it means to be moved by a movement of displacement: this means that a certain body first occupies one place - and no other thing is accepted at the same time - and at a later time occupies another place, without any intermediate stop and without any entity other than a place, this body and other permanent things, and thus continues uninterrupted. Therefore, besides these permanent things (the body and the places it occupies), there is no need to consider anything else, but it should only be added that the body is not simultaneously in all these places and does not rest in any of them.

For Ockham, as well as for Aristotle, to give a logical definition to something means to indicate something unchanging that underlies it. Therefore, Ockham cannot and does not want to use in his definition any other things than constants. He shows that movement can be defined through them in a negative way. The particle “not”, which is included in the definition of motion (is not located, is not at rest), does not denote any independent entity. Therefore, Ockham concludes that "no other thing is required than body and place" to define motion.

Thus, such a point of view is limited to stating that the state of motion does not coincide with the state of rest. But what it is, Aristotle cannot say, and Ockham no longer considers the question itself meaningful.

4. The development of specific areas of knowledge in the Middle Ages - astrology, alchemy, magic - led to the formation of the beginnings of future experimental natural sciences: astronomy, chemistry, physics, biology. The industrial revolution that took place in modern times was largely prepared by the technical innovations of the Middle Ages.

Astronomy

By the XIV century. scientists learned many ideas of antiquity. But they interpreted them too straightforwardly, believing that the Universe was created unchanged and perfect, and the Earth is at its center.

Jean Buridan (1300-1385), lecturer at the University of Paris, adopted the ancient "push theory". According to this theory, God created the planets and stars, but they move around the Earth independently and at a constant speed. Buridan was afraid to publish his work, because he contradicted the teachings of Aristotle that the will of God moves the planets.

Nicolas Oresme (1320-1382) was born in Normandy. Since 1340, he studied in Paris, with Buridan, and went much further than his teacher in criticizing the works of Aristotle. Oresmus argued that the Earth is not stationary, but rotates around its axis every day. To calculate the movement, he used mathematical calculations. Oresmus' ideas later helped scientists formulate new ideas about the structure of the universe. This made it possible in the 17th century. Galileo and other scientists to reject Aristotle's system

Alchemy

Alchemy is a practical art (not included in the number of theoretical disciplines), black art, you can’t do without demons.

The alchemists, many of whom were the most learned men of their time, sought to obtain the Philosopher's Stone. Copper was combined with tin, thinking that they were approaching gold. Without even thinking that they are making bronze, which has long been known to mankind.

It was believed that it was enough to change the properties of a simple metal (color, malleability, malleability) and it would become gold. The belief that for the transformation of some metals into others a special substance is needed - the "philosopher's stone" has increased. Alchemists struggle with the problem of obtaining this "magisterium", or "elixir of life." They often worked under the patronage of some noble aristocrat. The alchemist received money and time from him... Very little time. Results were needed, and since they were not available, few representatives of the “venerable alchemical art lived to old age.

Albert von Bolstedt, nicknamed the Great Albert, was considered the greatest alchemist of all time. He was the offspring of a noble family. I studied for many years in Italy. At the end of his studies, he joined the monastic order of the Dominicans and, by order of the order's authorities, went to Germany to teach the local clergy everything that had previously been taught to him: to read, write and think.

The great Albert was a very educated man for his time. His fame was so great that the University of Paris invited him to be a professor in the department of theology. But even louder than the recognition of the scientist, his black glory of the sorcerer and sorcerer thundered. There is a legend about him that he was one of the few who possessed the secret of the philosopher's stone. As if with the help of this magic tool, he not only mined gold, but also cured the incurable and returned youth to the elders.

Little by little, the alchemists despaired of finding the Philosopher's Stone and turned to other theories. Their main goal is the manufacture of drugs.

Magic- was understood as a deep knowledge of the hidden forces and laws of the Universe without violating them and, therefore, without violence against Nature. The magician is more of a practitioner-experimenter than a theoretician-conceptualist. The magician wants the experiment to be a success, and resorts to all sorts of techniques, formulas, prayers, spells, etc.

Conclusion

Summing up, I would like to note that medieval culture is very specific and heterogeneous. Since, on the one hand, the Middle Ages continue the traditions of Antiquity, that is, scientists-philosophers adhere to the principle of contemplation (one of the followers of Aristotle, who, at the invitation of Galileo to look through a telescope and see for himself the presence of spots on the Sun, answered: “In vain, my son. I I read Aristotle twice and found nothing in him about spots on the Sun. There are no spots. They come either from the imperfection of your glasses or from the lack of your eyes.") In those days, Aristotle for many pundits was almost an "idol", whose opinion was perceived as reality. His views on ontology had a serious influence on the subsequent development of human thought. No, I'm not saying he was wrong!!! Aristotle is a great philosopher, however, at the same time he is the same person as everyone else, and people tend to make mistakes.

Theological worldview, which consists in interpreting the phenomena of reality as existing according to the "province of God." That is, many scientists-philosophers believed that everything around was created by God according to the laws understandable only to him, and a person should accept these laws as something sacred and in no case try to understand them. As well as their fundamental rejection of experimental knowledge. The specific methods of natural magicians were not yet an experiment in the generally accepted sense of the word - it was something similar to spells aimed at evoking spirits, otherworldly forces. In other words, the medieval scientist operated not with things, but with forces hidden behind them. He could not yet understand these forces, but he was clearly aware of when and on what they act.

On the other hand, the Middle Ages breaks with the traditions of ancient culture, "preparing" the transition to a completely different culture of the Renaissance. In the 13th century, interest in experimental knowledge arose in science. This is confirmed by the significant progress of alchemy, astrology, natural magic, medicine, which have an "experimental" status. Despite the prohibitions of the church, accusations of freethinking, a clear desire to “know the world” formed in the mind of a medieval scientist, more and more often he began to think about the origin of all things and try to explain his assumptions from a different point of view than the church one, later this point of view would be be called scientific.

Dogmatics- a section of theology in which a systematic presentation of the dogmas (positions) of a religion is given. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and other religions have a system of dogmas.

Scholasticism is a type of religious philosophy that seeks to give a rational theoretical justification for a religious worldview through the use of logical methods of proof. Scholasticism is characterized by an appeal to the Bible as the main source of knowledge.

Theology - (from Greek theos - God and ... logic) (theology) - a set of religious doctrines and teachings about the essence and action of God. Assumes the concept of an absolute God, informing a person of knowledge about himself in revelation.

Form start

11th century
Alhazen's research in physiological optics. The theory of visual rays of the ancient Greek thinkers is being replaced by Alhazen's theory of vision, according to which the visual images of bodies are created by rays emanating from visible bodies. Once in the eye, these rays cause visual sensations. Alhazen already knew the camera obscura.

Decomposition of the velocity of a thrown body into two components - parallel and perpendicular to the plane (Alhazen).

The rediscovery by the Arabs of the properties of the orientation of the magnetic needle (arrow), the appearance of the compass (the property of the magnetic needle to orient in a certain direction was known to the Chinese as early as 2700 BC).

1121...1122
The Arab scientist Algazini wrote a treatise - "The Book of the Scales of Wisdom" - a kind of course in medieval physics. It contained tables of specific gravities of solid and liquid bodies, a description of experiments on the "weighing" of air, the observation of the phenomenon of capillarity; it also indicated that the law of Archimedes is applicable and. for air, that the specific gravity of water depends on temperature, body weight is proportional to the amount of substance contained in it, speed is measured by the ratio of the distance traveled to time, the use of a hydrometer is described.

1269
The first handwritten treatise on magnetism "On Magnets" by P. Peregrino appeared (published in 1558), which describes methods for determining the polarity of a magnet, the interaction of poles, magnetization by touch, the phenomenon of magnetic induction, some technical applications of magnets, etc.

1272
A treatise on optics by Erasmus Vitellius (Vitello) was published, which became widespread in the Middle Ages. Along with a presentation of what Euclid and Alhazen did, it contains the law of reversibility of light rays discovered by Vitellius during refraction, the fact that parabolic mirrors have one focus is proved, and the rainbow is studied in detail.

13th century
R. Bacon measures the focal length of a spherical mirror and discovers spherical aberration, puts forward the idea of a telescope, one of the first considers lenses as scientific instruments, considers the speed of light to be finite, sees the basis of knowledge in experience. It is a harbinger of the experimental method.

OK. 1250
Discovery of the 33rd element - arsenic (Albert the Great).

13th century (the end)
Invention and distribution of glasses. The time and place of their invention is not known. They may have originated in Venice. Glasses quickly spread to Western Europe and then to Asia. In Russia, they appeared no later than the 15th century.

14th century
The concept of acceleration is introduced (probably by W. Gatesbury from (beginning) Oxford).

14th century
Albert of Saxony introduced the division of motion into translational and rotational, uniform and variable.

The concept of uniformly variable motion, angular velocity is introduced.

The French mathematician N. Oresme was the first to give a graphical representation of motion and established the law of uniformly variable motion, connecting the path traveled by the body with time.

Renaissance (XV - XVI centuries)
15th century
N. Kuzansky in his treatises (published in 1515) develops the idea that motion is the basis of everything that exists, there is no fixed center in the Universe (the idea of relative motion), the latter is infinite, the Earth and all celestial bodies are created from one and the same primary matter.

The 83rd element is known - bismuth.

The study of free fall and motion of a body thrown horizontally, the impact of bodies, the expansion of the concept of the moment of forces, the definition of the center of gravity of the tetrahedron, the invention of a number of mechanisms for converting and transmitting movements - a conical ball bearing, chain and belt drives, a double connection (now called "cardan") and others (Leonardo da Vinci).

The origin of dynamics (clarification of the nature of inertia), the establishment of the fact that the action is equal to the reaction and opposite to it. Study of the mechanism of friction and its influence on equilibrium conditions, determination of friction coefficients, study of the resistance of beams to tension and compression (Leonardo da Vinci).

The study and description of the flight of birds, the discovery of the existence of environmental resistance and lifting force, the creation of the project of the first aircraft, parachute and helicopter (Leonardo da Vinci).

The creation of a number of hydraulic engineering devices by Leonardo da Vinci (he knew the law of communicating vessels for liquids of various densities and the law discovered over time by Pascal).

The study of sound reflection and the formulation of the principle of the independence of the propagation of sound waves from various sources (Leonardo da Vinci).

The study of the laws of binocular vision, the study of the influence of the environment on the color of bodies, an attempt to experimentally determine the intensity of light depending on the distance, the first description of the camera obscura (Leonardo da Vinci).

Acquaintance in translation with the treatises of the ancient Greek scientists Archimedes, Heron, Euclid, etc.

The Italian scientist N. Tartaglia in the treatises "New Science" (1537) and "Problems and Various Inventions" (1546) studies the trajectory of projectiles, proves that the trajectory of their movement is curvilinear and the greatest flight range is achieved when the cannon barrel is tilted under an angle of 45° to the horizon.

FIRST SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 1543

Heliocentric system of Nicolaus Copernicus - 1473-1543- a scientific revolution in natural science: for the first time he explained the actual picture of the apparent movement of celestial bodies by the movement of the Earth in orbit around the Sun and around its axis (the book "On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres", 1543). The work of N. Copernicus "On the rotation of the celestial spheres" was published, containing an exposition of the heliocentric system of the world, reflecting the true picture of the universe and leading to revolutionary transformations in the worldview and natural science.

1. There is no one center for all celestial orbits or spheres. 2. The center of the Earth is not the center of the world, but only the center of gravity and the center of the lunar orbit.
3. All spheres move around the sun .The teaching was forbidden by the Catholic Church from 1616 to 1828.

Giordano Bruno (1550-1600) and the infinite universe. For Bruno, who takes a further step in development of the pantheistic tendencies of Cusan, not only God is infinite, but also the world . The difference between God and the world, so fundamental for Christianity, is essentially removed by Bruno. , which causes those persecutions of him by the church, which ended, ultimately, so tragically.

The Ages, called the Middle Ages, occupy a different period in the history of each country. In the general case, as a rule, the interval from the 5th to the 15th centuries is referred to in this way, counting it from the year 476, when the Western Roman Empire fell.

The culture of Antiquity perished under the pressure of the barbarians. This is one of the reasons why the Middle Ages are so often called dark or gloomy. With the decline of the Roman Empire, both the light of reason and the beauty of art disappeared. However, scientific discoveries and inventions in the Middle Ages are excellent evidence that even in the most difficult times, humanity manages to preserve valuable knowledge and, moreover, develop it. This was partly facilitated by Christianity, but a large proportion of ancient developments were preserved thanks to Arab scientists.

Eastern Roman Empire

Science in the first place developed in monasteries. After the fall of Rome, Byzantium became the repository of ancient wisdom, where by that time the Christian church had already played a prominent, including political, role. In the libraries of the monasteries of Constantinople, the works of outstanding thinkers of Greece and Rome were kept. Bishop Leo, who worked in the 9th century, devoted a lot of time to mathematics. He was among the first scientists who began to use letters as mathematical symbols, which in fact gives the right to call him one of the founders of algebra.

On the territory of the monasteries, scribes created copies of ancient works, comments on them. Mathematics, which developed under their arches, formed the basis of architecture and made it possible to erect such a sample of Byzantine art as the Hagia Sophia.

There is reason to believe that the Byzantines created maps while traveling to China and India, they were aware of geography and zoology. However, today most of the information about the state of science in the Middle Ages in the Eastern Roman Empire is unknown to us. She is buried in the ruins of cities that were constantly subjected to enemy attacks throughout the entire period of the existence of Byzantium.

Science in Arab countries

Many ancient knowledge was developed outside of Europe. developed under the influence of ancient culture, actually saved knowledge not only from the barbarians, but also from the church, which, although it favored the preservation of wisdom in monasteries, welcomed far from all scientific works, trying to protect itself from the penetration of heresy. After some time, ancient knowledge, supplemented and revised, returned to Europe.

On the territory of the Arab Caliphate in the Middle Ages, a huge number of sciences developed: geography, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, optics, and natural science.

Numbers and the movement of the planets

Astronomy was largely based on Ptolemy's famous treatise Almagest. It is interesting that the work of the scientist received such a name after it was translated into Arabic and then returned to Europe again. Arab astronomers not only preserved Greek knowledge, but also increased it. So, they assumed that the Earth is a ball, and were able to measure the arc of the meridian in order to calculate. Arab scientists gave the name to many stars, thereby expanding the descriptions given in the Almagest. In addition, they built observatories in several large cities.

The medieval discoveries and inventions of the Arabs in the field of mathematics were also quite extensive. It is in the Islamic states that algebra and trigonometry originate. Even the word "digit" is of Arabic origin ("sifr" means "zero").

Trade Relations

Many scientific discoveries and inventions in the Middle Ages were borrowed by the Arabs from the peoples with whom they constantly traded. Compass, gunpowder, paper came to Europe from India and China through Islamic countries. The Arabs, in addition, made a description of the states through which they had to travel, as well as the peoples they met, including the Slavs.

Arab countries have also become a source of cultural change. It is believed that this is where the fork was invented. From the territory, it first came to Byzantium, and then to Western Europe.

Theological and secular science

Scientific discoveries and inventions in the Middle Ages on the territory of Christian Europe mainly appeared in monasteries. Until the 8th century, it is true, the knowledge that received attention concerned sacred texts and truths. Secular sciences began to be taught in cathedral schools only during the reign of Charlemagne. Grammar and rhetoric, astronomy and logic, arithmetic and geometry, as well as music (the so-called ones were originally available only to the nobility, but gradually education began to spread to all strata of society.

By the beginning of the 11th century, schools at monasteries began to be transformed into universities. Secular educational institutions appeared gradually in France, England, the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, and Poland.

A special contribution to the development of science was made by the mathematician Fibonacci, the naturalist Vitellinus, and the monk Roger Bacon. The latter, in particular, assumed that the speed of light has a finite value and adhered to a hypothesis close to the wave theory of its propagation.

The inexorable movement of progress

Technical discoveries and inventions in the 11th-15th centuries gave the world a lot, without which it would not be possible to achieve the level of progress that is characteristic of humanity today. The mechanisms of water and windmills became more perfect. The bell that measured time was replaced by a mechanical clock. In the XII century, navigators began to use the compass for orientation. Gunpowder, invented in China in the 6th century and brought by the Arabs, began to play a significant role in European military campaigns only in the 14th century, when the cannon was also invented.

In the 12th century, Europeans also became familiar with paper. Production facilities were opened that made it from various suitable materials. In parallel, xylography (wood engraving) developed, which was gradually supplanted by printing. Its appearance in European countries dates back to the 15th century.

Inventions and scientific discoveries of the 17th century, as well as all subsequent ones, are largely based on the achievements of medieval scientists. Alchemical searches, attempts to find the end of the world, the desire to preserve the heritage of Antiquity made possible the progress of mankind in the Renaissance and Scientific discoveries and inventions in the Middle Ages contributed to the formation of the world we know. And therefore, perhaps, it would be unfair to call this period of history hopelessly gloomy, remembering only the Inquisition and church dogmas of that time.