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The period from 500 to 1500 is often considered an intellectually sterile period, but in his new book, the science historian Michael Keas gives the facts. "In medieval Europe," writes astronomer George O. Abell in a 1969 textbook, "no new astronomical survey of any importance has been made." Rather than turning to scientific research, the medieval spirit rested on the acceptance of authority and absolute dogma. "This is not true.
As Professor Keas points out in Incredible: 7 myths about the history and future of science and religionAt first, Christian culture in Europe was struggling with the disdain inherited from science originally Roman, but under the influence of Augustine and other thinkers, Christians of what are called the "dark ages Developed modern ideas about the study of nature by reason and experimentation.
Keas notes that Christians invented the institution of the university in which "30% of the program was devoted to science". He cites the example of Roger Bacon, English monk and philosopher of nature (1214-1292), whose work considered the properties of light and other scientific issues. I would add that it is not only the Christians of this period who have contributed significantly to understanding the "nature of things". Rabbi Levi ben Gershon (1288-1344), known as Gersonide, was "the only astronomer before modern times to have correctly estimated stellar distances", as Wikipedia said. For their astronomical research, Bacon and Levi both named craters on the Moon.
It appeals to modern prejudices and flatters the laypersons to forget all this. Dr. Keas' book is a very readable and revealing book that refutes myths prevalent over medieval times, which are not at all "dark". Unbelievable is an important fix for the lies that students are still learning, in textbooks like Dr. Abell's, right now.
Image: Roger Bacon, Museum of Natural History, Oxford University, via Wikimedia Commons.
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