GROUP 1: COPERNICIAN

Copernican Intellectual Revolution: How to view the world… the universe rather.

“Where are we?”

The quest in understanding how the days and nights happen, and understand the heavenly bodies
like stars, moon and sun. This quest was primarily attempted by Greek philosophers. In this intellectual
revolution, there are two major concepts to be understood which involves understanding of the universe.

Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy proposed Geocentrism at around 150 BCE, and that is why it is sometimes
referred as the “Ptolemaic Model of Universe”. He is a Greek mathematician, astronomer, geographer,
and astrologer.

He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt under the rule of the Roman
Empire, and used Babylonian observations and Babylonian lunar theory in understanding the universe.

Geocentrism
Geocentrism or the Geocentric view is the belief that the Earth is fixed at the center of the
Universe. That the sun, moon, stars and even the planets revolve around our planet.

Claudius proposed his “cosmological almagests”, also called as the “mathematical syntaxes”, and
it was also said that his almagests were edited by Hypatia, one of the few recorded natural philosophers.
The almagests stated that the heavens move like a sphere, the earth and the heavenly bodies are spheres,
and the earth is the center of the universe.

“The concept of Geocentrism was challenged by another concept on how to view the universe many
times, this concept is the Heliocentrism.”

Heliocentrism
Heliocentrism or the Heliocentric view is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets
revolve around the Sun at the center of the Solar System. That the earth is not the center of the universe,
and it is just part of the universe.

Aristarchus of Samos
Heliocentric view of the universe was initially introduced by Aristarchus of Samos at
around prior to the formal proposal of the geocentric view at around c. 310 – c. 230 BC. He is an ancient
Greek mathematician and astronomer of Ionia who came up with revolutionary hypothesis.
However, because of lack of evidence, the concept was refuted and not accepted by the community.

“The heliocentric view was not accepted, instead, the geocentric view was more accepted because it
is more reasonable during the time of Aristarchus.”

Nicole D’ Oresme
The geocentric view flagged the understanding of the universe, this was challenged once again by
Nicole d’ Oresme at around 1370, a Philosopher Astronomer wrote “The Book of Heaven and Earth”,
supporting the heliocentric view of the universe, he provided more evidences and mathematical equations.
But because this concept was against the church and its prevailing belief of geocentrism, it was once
again rejected by the community.

“The geocentric view has once again prevailed, but in the 16th century, a Polish mathematician and
astronomer revisited the concepts of Aristarchus and Nicole d’ Oresme, this was Nicolaus
Copernicus.”
Nicolaus Copernicus
He reintroduced the concept of heliocentric view with his book “De Rev”, or “De Revolutionubus
Orbium Colestium” or The Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres, in this book he stated cosmological
theories like the earth is not the center of the universe, the center of the universe is near the sun and the
earth-sun distance is negligible compared to the distance to the stars. He did not publish this book not
until his later years, because he knew that this book will be controversial. Upon his death, came the rise of
the Copernican intellectual revolution.

Claudius Ptolemy
“The Earth is the center of the Universe.”
Nicolaus Copernicus
“No. You’re mistaken, the center of the universe is near the sun.”

Tycho Brahe
In the same century, Tycho Brahe, a Danish nobleman, astronomer, and writer known for his
accurate and comprehensive astronomical observations, together with his sister Sophia Brahe, took some
concepts from geocentric view and heliocentric view and fused these two concepts and proposed the
geoheliocentric view.

The Dutch king provided him a fully funded

research island with two observatory castles, the
Uraniborg, the castle of the heavens, and the
Stjerneborg, the castle of the stars. Here he also
wrote his book “De Nova Stella” or the New Star.

In 1956, at age 20, Tycho lost part of his nose at a sword fight with his third cousin, Manderup Parberg.
They were fighting because of a mathematical equation.

Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer wrote a book “Astronomia
Nova” or the New Astronomy, where he also proposed three laws of planetary motion. He provided
evidences to strengthen the heliocentric view and he in his own way introduced the concept to the church
saying that his “faith, empirical data, and elegant math, all sync”.

Galileo Galilei
The heliocentric view is slowly being known across Europe, this concept was further
strengthened because of strong evidences, brought by the invention of the telescope.

In 1609, Galileo Galilei did not invent the telescope, this was invented by a Dutch spectacle
maker Hans Lippershey in Holland, however, he is the first person enhance the scientific instrument and
the first to use the telescope to understanding the universe.

Galileo is an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath, from
Pisa. Galileo has been called the "father of observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", the
"father of the scientific method", and the "father of modern science". He has provided more evidences
supporting the heliocentric view of the universe.

The Copernican intellectual revolution did not die along with Copernicus, in fact this has become a
progressive series of events which eventually led to birth of modern astronomy.
Science is not a one man team, this is a team effort, based on the series of events, contributions of various
astronomers, this has led to our current understanding of the universe, and until now, the humanity still
seeks to further understand the universe.

The Copernican intellectual revolution did not only change the way how we view the world but also the
universe.

GROUP 2: DARWINIAN
Darwinian Intellectual Revolution: Fit & Right

“What is life?”
In the early 18th hundreds, the English society is slowly moving away from the traditional way of
thinking about life, which was called “Natural Theology”. William Paley wrote a book in 1802, the
Natural Theology, which inspired Charles Darwin in his pursuit of trying to understand the “how” of life.

Charles Darwin
He was born from a wealthy family where he afforded to go to Cambridge University to study
beetles and he graduated in the age of 22 without definite plan. His family sent him to South America,
thru the ship Beagle for five years, where he eventually became a theorist because of his experiences.

In his voyage, he was able to collect different fossils and compare it, where he started to think
about the possibilities of ancestral lineage of the species. Darwin’s most notable experience was his travel
in the Galapagos island, where he took accounts on iguanas, mockingbirds, thrushes, tortoise, and the
different finches.

He became obsessed with finches and collected it, and fortunately, the people also stated that
different species seemed to vary according to island, this turned out to be one in a number of clues that
would lead to developing the theory of evolution by natural selection.

Upon his return to London, he published his book on “the Voyage of the Beagle”, where he
became a naturalist, John Gould a fellow naturalist attested that the finches he found in the Galapagos
island are different species not varieties of one species.

He then was inspired once again by the “Essay on the Principle of Population” by Thomas Robert
Malthus, a proponent of the Malthusian theory of population, he related the population and its
environment, he then stated that living beings compete over resources and the most fit for a certain region
survives, where coined the term “Natural Selection”.

Darwin haven’t published his theory then because he had to collect incontrovertible proof, for
many years he ventured on studying pigeons and collecting further evidences, and in 1858 he received a
letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, a fellow naturalist, asking for his advice. They both then published a
joint letter in the Linnaean Society of London, presenting a summary of a theory of natural selection.

And a year later, 1859, he published his 500 paged book on “The Origin of Species by means
Natural Selection”.

In this book he stated that the natural selection modifies the current population where the fittest
survive and reproduces, then passing their traits. He stated his observations on finches where the long
beaks get more food and survive when scarce happens, and the unfit species die, then the population
diverges into new species.
In this book he also stated a chapter on the difficulties in his theory, and he only presented things
he knew mostly about beetles, finches, pigeons, barnacles and fossils.

Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace was born from poor family, he was inspired by both Malthusians essay on
the principle of population and Darwin’s voyage of the beagle, he then pursued to become a naturalist
himself. In 1844, he met Henry Walter Bates and decided to venture on how evolution works to apply that
knowledge to the human society and in attempt to save the people from greed and individualism.

After surviving the incident he still ventured his way to naturalism and went to southeast Asia in
1854 to collect specimens and pay for his debts. He traveled different islands of what is now Malaysia,
Indonesia and Singapore, where he observed different environments produce different populations. He
then coined the term “self-acting process”, where the fittest would survive, then he sent a letter to Charles
Darwin, where they both published a joint letter.

After their joint publication, he continued working in southeast Asia and later on published his
work on “Malay Archipelago” in 1869. He observed that there seems to be an invisible line now called as
the “Wallace’s Line” in Indonesia, where he stated that resemblance of species based on its geographic
location. Then he invented the principle of biogeography, a field where the biological species and
geological formations together.

The Darwinian intellectual revolution was initially intended to challenge the “how” of life of
living organisms. Both naturalists have agreed on the principle of natural selection. In 1864, a fellow
biologist, Herbert Spencer re-coined the term as the “Survival of the Fittest”. This principle was initially
intended for animals, but has slowly been applied to the human society by the “Social Darwinism”, in a
way Darwin and Wallace would not agree off.

The Darwinian intellectual revolution did not only challenge the way how we view the life, but the “how”
of life.

GROUP 3: FREUDIAN
Freudian Intellectual Revolution: To do or not to do?

The human behavior and personality is a puzzle for many people and many years, one psychologist
sparkled the venture in this discipline in the late 19th Century, Sigmund Freud. He was an Austrian
neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis.

Sigmund Freud
Personality is a distinctive and enduring characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving
of an individual. Psychologist study personality in attempt understand differences in specific
characteristics and look at how all their various parts of each person mesh together as a whole.

Sigmund Freud introduced the “Psychoanalysis” also referred as the psychoanalytic perspective.
He believes that the unconscious mind plays a vital role in the human personality, and that our personality
is shaped by the enduring conflict between our impulses to do whatever we feel like, and our restraint to
control these urges.

It is driven mostly by the sexual aggressive urges and social control, this is the pleasure principle.
The Psychoanalytic Theory involves three fundamental structures of the mind;
ID – it is the most aggressive of the three structures, is concerned with instant gratification of basic
physical needs and urges, the unconscious mind. The structure of the mind that says, “I want to do that
now!”

Super Ego – is the most rule governed structure of the mind, concerned with social rules and morals, it is
often called the conscience or the moral compass. The structure of the mind that says, “It’s not right to do
that.”

Ego – is the rational and pragmatic part of the personality as it pacifies both id and superego. The
structure of the mind that says, “maybe we can compromise.”

In this principle he introduced the concept of defense mechanism, where he stated that our
defense mechanism is tied up mostly with our personalities, whether it be regression, repression, reaction
formation, projection, rationalization, displacement or denial.

Sigmund Freud also introduced the psychosexual theory, where the personality development is
focused on the changing seat of sensual pleasure of an individual. The childhood stages of development
during which, according to Sigmund Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous
zones.

The Psychosexual Theory

involves five different stages and different erogenous zones; (OAPhaLaGe)

Orals Stage (birth -18 months) – Center of pleasure is on the mouth, examples are sucking, biting, and
chewing.

Anal Stage ( 18-36 months) – Center of pleasure is anus and bladder, examples are bowel, bladder
elimination, and toilet training.

Phallic Stage (3-6 years) – Center of pleasure is the child’s genitals, examples are incestuous sexual
feelings, this is mostly the development of Oedipus complex or Electra complex.

Latent Stage (6-puberty) – there is no particular center of pleasure because it is repressed however, this
also shows dormant sexual feelings.

Genital Stage (puberty onwards) – the center of pleasure is genitals and directed to full sexual maturity
and adult sexual interests.

According to Freud, if this stages faces an unsettled issue, one may undergo fixation. It is a
lingering focus of pleasure seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were
unresolved.

Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic and psychosexual theories has indeed revolutionized

psychology, he was then followed by the Neo-Freudians, or a group psychiatrists and psychologists in the
mid-twentieth century who were influenced by Sigmund Freud but extended his theories in different
aspects.

Non-Freudian Psychologists
Non-Freudian psychologists focused on the non-sexual motivations and the conscious mind,
some of them are Karen Horney, a German psychologist and psychoanalyst, founder of feminist
psychology, who refuted his theory and she proposed the principle of self-help analysis.
Carl Gustav Jung
a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology, who once was a
friend of Sigmund Freud, but because of their theoretical differences, they separated, he believed that the
sexual drive do not solely dictate ones behavior and it is just part of an equation.

Carl Jung also believed in the “Collective Unconsciousness” where a group of shared image of
archetypes that are universal to all humans, and this is also why different cultures share similar myths and
imagery.

Alfred Alder
a psychologist from Vienna, agreed on the importance of childhood, but he put an emphasis on
ongoing social tensions, and not on sexual ones, as most crucial to the formation of personality. He
introduced the concept of “inferiority complex”, where much of the adult behavior is linked to childhood
struggles with feeling of inferior. And there were many more psychologist that aims to uncover the puzzle
in the human personality.

Freuds psychoanalytic theory revolutionized how people view the human behavior and personality by
exploring the mental life and personality. But the psychoanalytical approach is only one perspective on
what makes us who we are.

Humanistic Theories
rose in attempt to explain the personality with the focus on the potential for healthy personal
growth. Some of them are Abraham Maslow with his “hierarchy of needs”, Carl Rogers with his “person-
centered perspective”, where they both believed in the goodness based on nurturing in a growth
promoting environment that requires three conditions; genuine, acceptance, and empathy.

The humanistic theories in psychology developed the “self-concept” where a mix thoughts and
feeling that aims to answer the question “Who I am?”

Psychoanalytic and Humanistic Theories

Psychoanalytic and humanistic theories of personality were incredibly influential, and up to date,
many psychologists and neurologists attempts to explain the human behavior and personality. This has
also brought to the development of personality measurements and assessments that is being used today.
The Freudian intellectual revolution challenged and changed the way how we view the human mind and
its relationship to our behavior and personality.

GROUP 4: NEWTONIAN
Isaac Newton
One of the greatest physicists and mathematicians of all time, Isaac Newton’s discoveries and
inventions widened the reaches of human thought and demonstrated the power of the scientific way of
thinking.

Newton’s Discoveries
Isaac Newton’s discoveries gave physics its theoretical foundation, granted powerful tools to
mathematics and created a launch pad for future developments in science. As one of the greatest scientists
of all time, Sir Isaac Newton’s discoveries led to a deeper understanding of nature and gave physics
[known as Natural Philosophy in his time] a firm physical and mathematical foundation.

Most Famous Discoveries

1. Newton’s three laws of motion set the foundation for modern classical mechanics.
2. His discovery of the gravitational force gave man the ability to predict movements of celestial
objects, while simultaneously validating Kepler’s Laws and the Heliocentric Copernican Model of the
Solar System.
3. His co-discovery of calculus provided a potent mathematical tool, aiding the precise analytical
treatment of the physical world.

Newton’s Discoveries in Theoretical Physics

Newton’s Magnum Opus – The Principia
Sir Isaac Newton contributed to many branches of human thought, among which physics and
mathematics were the fields in which he contributed substantially. In 1687, the sum total of his
discoveries in mechanics were published in the legendary book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia
Mathematica [Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy].

In this book, [fondly referred to as the Principia by scientists], he synthesized what was known,
into a logically whole and consistent theoretical framework, through his laws of motion and theory of
gravitation. Creating the great generalizations which bind all the loose threads of clues into a coherent
whole, is an art that has been mastered by only a few till date. Sir Isaac Newton was one of them.

The greatest of Newton’s discoveries came when he experienced pristine solitude, in which he
could meditate on his vague ideas and assimilate them together into a logically coherent whole. The
principle that guided Newton’s discoveries was simplicity. Like Newton, another theoretical physics
giant, Albert Einstein was also guided by simplicity and elegance in his thinking about physical laws. One
of Newton’s quotes, precisely proves the point;

“Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.”

Discovery of Laws of Motion

First Law of Motion: An object will continue moving (or staying still) unless acted upon
by an external force
Second Law of Motion: Force = Mass x Acceleration
Third Law of Motion: When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body
simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to that of the first
body.
Newton’s second law of motion defines a ‘Force’

Newton’s laws of motion defined the concept of inertia and force. They are stated as follows:
1. Every object stays in its state of rest or uniform motion, unless disturbed by an external force.
[Law of Inertia]
2. The force acting on a body is defined as the rate of change of its linear momentum, with time.
[Force Law]
3. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. [Action-Reaction Law]

These laws define the effect that the absence or presence of a force has on objects. This troika of axioms
defined the framework of mechanics, through which the dynamics of forces and their effects can be
analyzed. With these laws, physics made the transition from an empirical field to a science with sound
theoretical foundations.

Discovery of Law of Gravitation

A falling apple supposedly made Newton think about the ‘Gravity’ of the situation!

While the three laws of motion define a type of mechanics, Newton’s law of gravitation defines
the universal force of gravity, whose implications can be studied in the mechanical framework that he
created through the laws of motion. The Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that:

Every particle of matter attracts every other particle with a force along the straight line
joining them and is directly proportional to their masses, while inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them.

Using this law and making extrapolations based on it, Newton derived Kepler’s empirical laws of
planetary motion, which naturally emerged from his gravitational theory. Many people may have
observed apples and all kinds of other things falling down, before Newton, but none of them followed the
broad generalization that it represented. Even moon falls towards the Earth and Earth towards
the Sun, in the same way! That is what Newton figured out. For the first time, man could understand the
motion of planets and satellites and give it a rational explanation.

Newton validated Kepler’s laws and the heliocentric model of the solar system

A paradigm shift brought about by Newton’s Law of Gravitation was the concept of action at a distance.
A gravitational force acts between two particles even though they are not in contact with each other. That
is, it manifests as an action at a distance. This concept proved to be the undoing of Newton’s theory later
and which was overthrown by Einstein’s theory of General Relativity.

Even though now superseded by general relativity, Newton’s idea of gravitation serves well in
understanding the motion of planets and stars to incredible accuracy.

Discovery in Optics
Newton was fascinated with the field of optics and not surprisingly, made some major
discoveries. His prime focus was unraveling the nature of light and its properties. Using prisms and
lenses, he studied the refraction and diffraction of light. The description of these
experiments and his discoveries detailing light associated phenomena were published in 1706, through the
book – Opticks. What the principia did for mechanics, this book did for the field of optics, fundamentally
revolutionizing it. Here are some of his most important findings.

1. He discovered white light to be composed of component color wavelengths. He demonstrated

this with the use of a prism which dispersed a beam of white light into wavelengths of different hues. It’s
the same effect which leads to the formation of rainbows in the sky. Through this finding, he overturned
the prevalent notion since Aristotelian times which stated that light was inherently white and colorless.

2. One of the fundamental problems which Newton explored was – ‘How do various colors
arise?’ His experiments revealed that color arose from reflection and transmission of light and primarily
from selective absorption of light by materials. From observation of the different angles at which
individual wavelengths of light dispersed from a prism, he concluded that color arises from a fundamental
property of light itself, though revealed only through interaction with matter.

3. A major discovery was the fact that most colors are created from overlapping of certain color
components. He also stated the fact which most neuroscientists will agree with today, that human
perception of color is essentially a mental phenomenon or subjective experience.

4. He predicted the dispersion and aberration of light in telescopes and suggested remedies to
correct the same. In the process,he invented a new kind of telescope. Newton promoted the concept of a
universal ether through which light propagates. This was later proved wrong by experimental tests of the
special theory of relativity.

5. Newton showed white light to be made of component colors.

6. He also put forward the theory that light is made up of corpuscles, which was later proved
wrong by Huygens’ wave theory of light. However, the idea got a sort of new life when Einstein
introduced light to be made of photons which are energy corpuscles. However, photons are far different
from the corpuscles that Newton imagined. Nevertheless, he provided the impetus to new lines of
thought.

Discovery of Law of Cooling

Among his other stellar discoveries, Newton also came up with an empirical theory explaining
the rate at which your hot cup of coffee cools. The law discovered by him states that the rate of cooling in
a body is directly proportional to temperature difference between the body and its surroundings.
Mathematically, it can be stated as follows:

dT/dt = – K (T – Ts)
where, T is temperature of the body, K is a constant, dT/dt is a time derivative representing change of
temperature and Ts is the temperature of surroundings. (The derivative is ‘negative’ as the body is
cooling).

Discoveries in Mathematics
Binomial Theorem
Under the tutelage of Isaac Barrow at Cambridge, Newton’s mathematical genius
flowered. His first original contribution to mathematics was the advancement of binomial
theorem. Through the usage of algebra of finite quantities in an infinite series, he included
negative and fractional exponents in the binomial theorem.

Calculus
Isolated during the plague years (1665-1666) at Woolsthorpe Manor, Newton came up
with his greatest breakthroughs in physics and mathematics. Through the invention of
Infinitesimal Calculus, (credit for which also belongs to Leibniz), Newton provided a
mathematical framework which enabled the study of continuous changes. He called it the Science
of Fluxions. The invention of calculus ranks right up there with invention of fire or the building
of the first steam engine. His approach to calculus was geometrical, in contrast to Leibniz, who
was inclined more towards the analytical side.
Newton-Raphson Method
He also made contributions to numerical analysis in the form of the Newton-Raphson
method. In the book, De Analysi per Aequationes Numero Terminorum Infinitas (Latin for On
Analysis by Infinite Series), published in 1771, Newton described this iterative method of
approximation to calculate roots of real-valued functions. The method is described by the
following formula.

xn+1 = xn – f(xn) / f'(xn)

where xn+1 is the root calculated from the n+1th iteration, xn is approximate root from the
previous iteration, f(xn) is the function to be solved and f'(xn) is the derivative of the function

Newton’s Inventions
Newton wasn’t just an abstract theoretician, but also a practical experimenter, as his research in
optics reveals. Here are some of his widely and lesser known inventions, besides his lofty theoretical
physics triumphs.

A replica of Newton’s second reflecting

telescope, which he presented to the Royal
Society in 1672.

Reflecting Telescope

Newton’s Reflecting Telescope

During his investigation in optics, Newton also developed an alternative telescope design, which
side-stepped some of the inherent flaws of the prevalent refraction-based design. What is now known as
the Newtonian telescope is designed with a paraboloid mirror at the base which reflects the incoming
light onto a slanted flat secondary mirror. This flat mirror ultimately reflects the collected light to an
eyepiece for observation. Besides solving the problem of chromatic aberration, it is also comparatively
cheaper to build.

Check out those fancy milled edges

The Perfect Coin

Working as Warden at the Royal Mint,
Newton recalled all English coins and had them
melted down and remade into a higher-quality, harder-to-counterfeit design. It was a bold move,
considering that the entire country had to live without a currency for an entire year. You know those
ridges on the edge of a U.S. quarter? Those are milled edges, a feature introduced by Newton on English
coins to prevent clipping.

GROUP 5: EINSTEIN
Albert Einstein
Considered by many to be the greatest scientist of the twentieth century, Albert Einstein
revolutionized scientific thought with new theories of space, time, mass, motion, and gravitation. Born in
Ulm, Germany in 1879, Einstein grew up in Munich. Unable to find a teaching job after graduating from
a technical institute in Zurich, Switzerland, he accepted a post as an examiner in a Swiss patent office. He
worked there from 1902 to 1909, devoting his spare time to his own scientific interests. In 1905 Einstein
received his doctorate in physics from the University of Zurich, and published three scientific papers,
each of which had a profound effect on the field of physics.
The first paper explained the already-observed photoelectric effect -- by which beams of light
cause metals to release electrons which can be converted into electric current -- by suggesting that light be
thought of as discrete packets, or quanta, of energy particles. For this work, Einstein in 1921 received the
Nobel Prize in Physics.

The second paper, on the electrodynamics of moving bodies, put forward Einstein's special theory
of relativity and contained the famous equation E = mc2. This equation, which showed that energy and
matter are interchangeable, provided the key to the development of atomic energy.

The third paper virtually demonstrated the reality of atoms by showing that Brownian motion --
the irregular movement of particles suspended in a liquid or a gas -- is a consequence of molecular
motion.

These papers earned Einstein professorships in Bern, Zurich, and Prague. In 1914 he was
appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin and offered a professorship at the
University of Berlin; two years later, in 1916, he published his epochal paper on gravitational fields, "The
Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity." When Hitler and the Nazis came to power inGermany in
1933, Einstein emigrated to the United States, where he joined the newly formed Institute for Advanced
Study at Princeton. He became a U.S. citizen in 1940 and died here in 1955. In 1942, after having been
naturalized, he was elected to full Academy membership and affiliated with the Academy's Physics
Section.

Einstein’s contribution to Science

1. Einstein showed that absolute time had to be replaced by a new absolute: the speed of light.
Einstein went against the grain and totally dismissed the "Old Physics." He envisioned a world where
space and time are relative and the speed of light is absolute. At the time, it was believed that space and
time were absolute and the speed of light was relative.

The Special Theory of Relativity is an explanation of how speed affects mass, time and space. As
an object approaches the speed of light, the object’s mass becomes infinite and so does the energy
required to move it. It is called special because it applies only to frames of reference that are in constant
or unchanging motion.

The two postulates of the Special Theory of relativity is 1) the laws of physics are the same in all
inertial frames of reference; and 2) the speed of light is constant and independent of the relative motion of
the source.

Albert Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity had consequences such as time dilation and length
contraction.

Using the Special Theory of Relativity, Einstein asserted the equivalence of mass and energy,
which would lead to the famous formula E=mc2

2. Einstein challenged the wave theory of light, suggesting that light could also be regarded as a
collection of particles. This helped to open the door to a whole new world--that of quantum physics. For
ideas in this paper, he won the Nobel Prize in 1921.

When a beam of light is directed at a metal surface, the photons of light collide with the atoms of
the metal. If the photon’s frequency is sufficient to knock off an electron, electrons are ejected from the
surface of the metal. This phenomenon is called the photoelectric effect.
Energy of the photon = minimum energy to remove the electron + maximum kinetic energy of the emitted
electron
E= is the energy of the photon =hf, where h is Planck’s constant and f is the frequency of light
Φ= work function or the minimum energy to remove the electron from the meta
KE= is the kinetic energy of the emitted .electron= ½ mv2

Einstein explained the photoelectric effect by describing light as composed of discrete particles
called photons. The study of photoelectric effect led to important steps in understanding the quantum
nature of light and electrons which later led to the concept of the wave-particle duality.

An understanding of photoelectric effect led to the development of automatic door openers, light meters
used in photography, solar panels, photostatic copying etc.

3. His paper concerning the Brownian motion of particles blended his ideas from kinetic theory
and classical thermodynamics to derive an equation for the mean free path of such particles as a function
of the time. According to Einstein, the temperature of a substance is proportional to the average kinetic
energy with which the molecules of the substance are moving or vibrating.

Average Kinetic Energy = 3/2 (R/N) T where

R is the gas constant
N is Avogradro’s Number
T is the temperature in kelvin scale

Using his Brownian Theory of Motion, Einstein showed how to calculate Avogadro's number and
the size of molecules.

4. In 1910, Einstein answered a basic question: 'Why is the sky blue?' His paper on this
phenomenon called critical opalescence solved the problem by examining the cumulative effect of the
scattering of light by individual molecules in the atmosphere.

5. Einstein later published a paper in 1915 called "General Relativity." General Relativity took
over when Special Relativity started to fail. In the General Theory of Relativity,

Albert Einstein proposed that gravity is a curved field in the space-time continuum created by the
existence of mass. It is essentially a theory of gravity. Instead of being an invisible force that attracts
objects to each other, gravity is regarded as a curving or warping of space. The more massive an object,
the more it warps the space around it.

The General Theory of Relativity has been used to explain the existence of black holes, light
bending due to gravity, the behavior of the planet Mercury in its orbit, etc.

In 1917, Einstein published a paper which uses general relativity to model the behavior of an
entire universe. General relativity has spawned some of the weirdest, and most important results in
modern astronomy.

6. Einstein recognized that there might be a problem with the classical notion of cause and effect.
Given the peculiar, dual nature of quanta as both waves and particles, it might be impossible, he warns, to
definitively tie effects to their causes.

7. In 1924, Einstein received a short paper from a young Indian physicist named Satyendra Nath
Bose, describing light as a gas of photons, and asking for Einstein's assistance in publication. Einstein
realized that the same statistics could be applied to atoms, and published an article in German (then the
lingua franca of physics) which described Bose's model and explained its implications. Bose Einstein
statistics now describes any assembly of these indistinguishable particles known as bosons.
8. Einstein developed a refrigerator design that used ammonia, water and butane and required
almost no energy to run. Considering the energy demands of the planet. Companies may realize the
importance of cooling and refrigerator without energy and develop this idea further in the near future.

GROUP 6: AFRICAN
African Intellectual Revolution: We’re all African

The Egyptians were great builders, they created measurement mathematics for construction
purposes, they invented the cubit system and used it to build the Pyramids of Egypt. Africa is known to be
the oldest civilization known in the history of humankind, its history of science and technology is rich and
diverse. In the northern region of Africa, where the Egypt, Nubia, and Aksum is located, is where the
development of a complex state system happened. Africa became to be known as the “cradle of
civilization” because it is the first state systems that were built along the Nile river.

The ancient African civilization were first to dwell with the applied sciences in agricultural
economy, metallurgical sciences, textile and engineering productions, ancient natural remedies and field
sciences dominated across the region.

Asian civilization and culture also adopted some of the variety of African plants, including
coffee, palm oil, African rice, and other agricultural crops. They have mastered the art of nature, they can
are the first shamans to practice natural medicine using natural remedies.

One of the most powerful empire was built in the regions of Africa, is Ancient Egypt. It is the
oldest known civilization that lived up to date. The Nile river became the life blood of Egypt as it
sustained life and agriculture of the Ancient Egypt. Until now, the river still flows.

It is one of the most iconic and powerful civilization in the history, its territory stretched as far as
north, today as Syria, and as far as south, today as Sudan. Long before it became an empire, it was a
series of independent city states, namely the cities of Heliopolis, Memphis, Abydos, Thebes, and Nekhen,
which were all located along the strait of the Nile river.

In 3100 BC, all the cities were united to form one Egyptian state. It was so powerful that it
sustained its power along with the succession of 300 Pharaohs. The Pharaohs are protectors, rulers and
serves as liaisons of the people to the gods. Upon their death, they believe that they will transcend as god
themselves, they are mummified, and buried in labyrinth tombs, like the pyramid.

The Pyramids did not only serve as tombs but served as representation of the innovative
infrastructure of the state. They developed mathematics, particular to measurement mathematics, which
harnessed their way of living.

They developed cubit as a measurement of length – it is the length of the arm to the fingers, it
was said that they used this to build the pyramid and other massive structures of the ancient Egyptian
state. Their infrastructures also shows sophistication on architecture and using nature to as means of
lighting, the pyramid as an example.

The Egyptians also combined mathematics and astronomy where they were able to make a 24
hour division in a day, and they also used this to create the first solar calendar to feature a 365 day ratio in
one year.
They also developed methods in engineering like methods in surveying of the lands along the
Nile river, creation of dams, canals, and even the irrigation systems that supported the life and allowed
the flourish of agriculture of the state.
Egyptians also developed a writing system, Hieroglyph, it is known to be one of the oldest
writing systems. It was developed at around 3150 BC, during the old kingdom and was used to inscribe
on the walls, pots and other clay products.

Following this was further development of new writing system which is like a cursive form called
the Hieratic, this writing system uses ink and later on was written on papyrus.

Papyrus, which is somehow similar to papers were derived from the papyrus plant, which are
very richly growing along the Nile river. This writing system was more modern way of keeping records
and was used to sustain culture.

The word and the discipline of “chemistry” derived from the Egyptian word “Khem”, referring to
the “first matter” from the land of Khem, Egypt. Ancient Egyptians had applied this term meant “black
land”, as a representation of the dark richness of the Egyptian soil. Chemical principles were applied in
ancient Egypt like mummification, leather tanning, cloth dyeing.

The art of mummification is one of the most known ancient scientific practices of the ancient
civilization, for it is the art and science of preservation. This practice can somewhat be observed in the
ancient Philippine society. They also developed distillation systems that came from the process of
fermentation of beverages and brewing of beers in different regions of Africa.

The African intellectual revolution is the first societal intellectual revolution since it is the cradle
of civilization. Their civilization has enormously contributed to the body of knowledge, their long and
best cultural contributions in linguistic, mathematics, science, and technology, has largely influenced a
lot of succeeding civilizations and various civilization all around the world.

GROUP 7: MIDDLE EASTERN

Middle-East Intellectual Revolution: If it goes easy, something is wrong

The Middle-East civilization has a very rich culture and tradition, they also have an enormous
contribution to science and technology.

Islamicate scholars are people influenced by Islamic civilization regardless of their religious
views. They gave us mathematical terms like algebra, azimuth, algorithms, and many more.

Their culture flourished during the time of Abbasid Caliphate (750-1517), where it served as a
crossroad trading Zones for Persia, India, Byzantine cultures, and various religions, and many languages
flourished in the civilization.

The blended culture by the civilization and various belief systems made the early Islamic science
very inclusive. They have a very high literacy rate, furthermore, they are adherent to treat others equally.

Baghdad, the first capital of Abbasid, was founded by Caliphate Al-Mansur in 754 AD, and
became the largest urban area in 930 AD.

The city housed the “Bayt al-Hikmah” or the house of Wisdom, a great library that began from
the collections of Caliphate Al-Mansur, which he then opened up to the visiting scholars, even the
delegations from other state like India.
His successor, Caliphate Al-Rashid, carried on this tradition, and supported the “Translation
Movement”.

In 832 AD, Caliphate Al-Mamun re-founded the House of Wisdom as an international center for
translation and research, which eventually became the largest library in the world by 850.

He sponsored families of scholar-translators to bring useful texts from different parts of the world
with rich philosophical foundations like Greek, Chinese, Sanskrit, Persian, and Syriac to translate it to
Arabic.

Caliphate Al-Mamun invested his power in the Greek and Persian translation because he found
this as a sign of civic status, a worthy cause, and a highly practical calling.

This helped them to have a better understanding in astronomy which helped them to accurately
observe timekeeping for mosques and they were also able to improve their knowledge on geography that
helped them align their prayers facing to Mecca.

Because of the fluid trade of knowledge collection, many Baghdad scholar-translators were
influenced by the works of Aristotle like Ibn Rushd, he is sometimes called “The Commentator”, being
Aristotle’s top fan.

There were also schools of Mu’tazila, their principles believed that rationalism could be used in
order to understand both the physical world and spiritual world.

They brought the Greek Aristotelian reason based debate about nature of the cosmos into the
Islamic social context.

They established a lot of infrastructures as house of knowledge, like observatories, hospitals,

public libraries, and Madrasas, an Islamic college.

They have a very rich pool of culture and religion with accumulated knowledge. In Madrasas,
they can study law, Greek natural philosophy, logic arithmetic, astronomy, and astrology during that time.

Number of ancient philosophers, astronomers and polymaths from Persia, like Abu Mashar, Al-
Razi, and Al-Biruni, also attempted to propose the heliocentrism, their theories were against Aristotle but
with observed data.

Al-Mamun created a team that attempted to measure the circumference of the earth using
astronomical observations and derived the number of 24,480 miles, and in modern calculation, the earth’s
circumference is 24,901 – which is less than 2 % accurate than the one made by Al-Mamun’s team. Not
bad!

In 820 AD, Al-Khwarizmi wrote kitab “al-Jabr”, or the Compendious book on calculations by
completion and balancing, an original manual of practical math. He introduced rational, irrational
numbers and different forms of numeric systems and calculations.

Middle-east civilization also invented the astrolabes, which are widely used in navigations and
developed algebra, trigonometry and other numeric related systems. Their scholars practiced both the
techne and the episteme of knowledge.
The Abbasid state focused also on improving the application of art such as hydraulic engineering,
and agricultural science. They constructed buildings, large dams, waterwheels, and underground channels
to tap ground water.

In 850 AD, the House of Wisdom, the Banu-Musa brothers wrote “the book of Ingenious
devices”, it as a compendium of one hundred devices and how to use them, this includes the earliest
programable machine, “an instrument that plays by itself”.

Medieval Automaton
In 1206, Diyarbakir, Turkey, polymath al-Jazari wrote an even more amazing book on machines,
“The book of knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices”, it also covers hundreds of machines, and
with instructions on how to build them. Like, waterwheel, watermill, giant water clock, elephant and
castle shaped clock, fountain, candle clock, musical automata, and water flute.

His most notable inventions were “medieval automations”, he invented a lot of medieval
programmable devices for music, household, and many more.

The Middle-east civilization also contributed in the health sciences. In 854 AD, a Persian
polymath Abu Bakr al- Razi, wrote dozens of book with detailed accounts of his work.

He is a major contributor in the medieval field of psychology and ophthalmology, he was the first
to identify small pox and measles, and most of his medicinal works are based on Greek humoral medicine
and natural philosophy.

He also wrote “al-Hawi al-Kabir” or the Virtuous Life, a very influential medical encyclopedia
and also wrote Islamic prophetic medicine, “al-tibb al-nabawi”, advocated traditional medical practices
mentioned in the Qur’an.

The best-selling book in medical education was “al-Qanun fi al-Tibb”, or “The Canon of
Medicine” by Ibn Sina, also referred Avicenna, he is a Persian polymath born in 980 AD.

He mashed up different books of famous physicians and made notes of his own, which helped the
readers in easily understanding. It is important to note in learning medical science to participate in the
scientific wonder called scholasticism- or learning through close readings of approved texts that recorded
the observations and theories of earlier thinkers.

“The Canon of Medicine”, is a book of a little bit of everything in medical science, from the
collected accounts of Aristotle, Hippocrates, and many more.

The Middle-east civilization has a very rich culture of knowledge, hundreds of collections of
knowledge and accounts.

It has become the urban centers of trade and knowledge exchange populated by natural
philosophers with a keen desire to build upon earlier insights.

The Middle-east intellectual revolution has revolutionized mathematics, astronomy, medicinal

science and engineering, up to date, their sophistication to the field is very evident. The colorful science
and technology, paired with their rich culture and religion revolutionized the way we view science and
arts.
GROUP 8: MESO-AMERICAN
Meso-American Intellectual Revolution: 2012

The Mesoamerican or the Mexican American civilization, has a very sophisticated culture and
practices in science. They have a collection of codices (codex) however, there were only four codices
survived up to date. Majorly was destroyed by the Spanish imperialists. This civilization aimed to answer
an imperial question on “when are we?”, “what is time?”, and “how do we measure it?”.

The Olmecs (1500 – 400 BCE), now the southern Mexico, has sophisticated understanding of the
arts and sciences, they built human jaguars, colossal heads, from the volcanic heads. They have an
advanced art styles, writing systems, mathematics, and even included number zero, and the calendar
system that influenced the succeeding Mesoamerican civilizations.

ZIGGURAT
The Mayan (2000 BCE – 1600 CE) , now all of Belize and Guatemala, western El Salvador and
Honduras, and Southern Mexico, reached the height of astronomical knowledge.

They built great step pyramids, devoted for kings, and sites for astronomical observations.

They built Caracol or Observatory of Chichen Itza was built to align with the extremes of
Venuses’s rising and setting in the year CE 1000.

They also have a Vigesimal mathematical system that is based on twenty which included zero,
but no fractions. They also created large tables for calculations, which are intended for future calendar
dates, very far future.

They have made a lot of calculations about time for religious reasons. They have a complex
astronomical system that was intended to generate prophesies. And with this system of time, they
coordinated it to military campaigns, how the individual would work on daily basis, and what will happen
in the future.

One of the most notable dates was the controversial date, December 23, 2012, stated the possible
end of the world because of the end of the Mayan Calendar.

The Mayan civilization used extraordinarily complicated system of five interlocking calendars of
different lengths, which has provided them a very accurate timing on the solar and lunar years, and even
the Venusian year. Because to the Maya, Venus was the most important heavenly body.

The Mayans are regarded as people who has complete understanding of time, answering the
question “when are we?” accurately across the literal millions of years.

Their writing system carries both symbolic and phonetic meanings. They have actively engaged
to research in improving their tables, and understanding Venuses’s movement over time, they also have
astronomical tables for Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter, and even had an academy of Mayapan.

Mayan civilization also intensively practiced cultivation of crops using their sophisticated
irrigation system. They domesticated dogs, and ducks, and penned wild turkeys and dears.

The Mayan civilization is also regarded as a hydraulic empire, same scale of that of China.
However, the fragility of the food system destroyed the Mayans.
Deforestation to make lime stucco, or plaster for decoration, may have played a role in changing
rainfall patterns, leading to famine.

A number of survivors from the population of Mayan moved to the southern Mexico, the Nahuas,
they are called the Aztec, they were great builders of the central Mexico. They build the capital
Tenochtitlan in 1325, it is still around, known as the Ciudad de Mexico, or the Mexico City.
Aztecs created a system of canals, floodgates, and aqueducts. They used dikes to separate fresh
and saltwater. This allowed them to practice intensive lake-marsh agriculture, growing maze, amaranth,
fish, and ducks. Building a temple near a lake requires a lot of engineering and understanding of hydraulic
systems.

They built their temples based on the setting of the sun and not Venus, and they built temples on
equinoctial lines – a line along which the plane of the Earth’s equator passes through the center of the
Sun’s disk, once in the spring and once in the fall.

They have collected a wealth of botanical and medical knowledge, maintained by the priests who
also served as astrologers.

They believed in a complicated humoral system that linked plants, animals, and the human body,
and the heavens.

Aztec healers seems to have been specialists, focusing on surgery, bloodletting, child birth,
creating herbal drugs, or treating sick turkeys.

Aztec physicians had an extensive anatomical lexicons, and even treated dandruff.

Inka developed an empire in the Andes Mountains from roughly CE 1100 – 1532 CE until the
Spanish conquest. The most famous Inkan site is the Machu Pichu, Peru.

This city of polished, carefully fitted stones was built around 1450, on top of a mountain.

They have standard measurement units, medical specialists, astronomical and calendric data,
recorded into very architecture of their cities.

Though they do not have a writing system, they used a sophisticated system of tying strings,
called khipu to keep records, which they used for data in taxes, calendar and even military organization.

Spanish genocide created a huge effect in the Mesoamerican civilization, some of the accounts
are erased in the records of history. However, the Mayan civilization has still a compounding influence in
the current society, they revolutionized engineering, infrastructures, hydraulic systems, and many more.

The Mesoamerican civilization was a powerful ancient civilization, they have flagged the history
by its culture, its science and technology. They are foundations of engineering, hydraulic systems, ancient
architecture, and many more.

GROUP 9: ASIAN
Asian Intellectual Revolution: The Sleeping Giant

Asia is a very large continent, a very large melting pot of various cultures and practices. This is
not only where most of the religions stemmed, like Hinduism, Christianism, Islam, Taoism, and many
more, but also a cradle of science and technology. Asia is a very big continent filled with rich culture and
science practices, in this lesson, selected countries will be discussed but not limited.
Ancient China represented hydraulic civilization that maintained its population by diverting rivers
to aid irrigations. Chinese scholars were able to naturally develop a critical invention in knowledge
transmission and state control, standardized tests.

The Xia Dynasty supported the different astronomical researches to create a more accurate
calendars. And in 400 – 0 BCE;

 they measured the length of the solar year,

 coming up with 365.25 days,
 predicted eclipses,
 recorded supernovas and sunspots,
 and even founded a bureau of astronomy,
 they also determined the 26,000 year cycle of precision of equinoxes.

They also developed grand model of cosmos, that in an infinite, empty space – enclosed by great
celestial sphere – celestial bodies float around, directed by a “hard wind”.

They also believed that the cosmos revolves the middle kingdom – China itself, and the symbolic
center of china stands the “son of heavens” – the emperor.

Confucius
He is one of the most known Chinese philosophers, emphasized his philosophies in the
importance of tradition, etiquette, respect to elders and patriarchs, he focuses on orderly human world.
Living the philosophies of China, the Han dynasty instituted a imperial universities and state exams.
But the height of the science and technology of the Ancient China was the reign of the Song Dynasty.

In 8th century, the Chinese civilization started the rice cultivation, and in 1012, the Song state
introduced the new early-ripening and winter-ripening of rice, an agricultural technique acquired from the
Champa Kingdom, now known as Vietnam, which allowed the rice to be produced faster with less water.

Some of Chinese Inventions;

 rice field plow or water lifting devices,
 wheelbarrow,
 silk production,
 crossbow,
 umbrella,
 gunpowder,
 porcelain,
 fishing reel,
 earthquake monitor,
 paper money,
 suspension bridges, etc.,
 and at this time, the urbanization skyrocketed

The ancient Chinese civilization and the state supported the arts and sciences, this allowed them to
have rich accounts of science and arts, they made the clocks, mechanical models of heavenly bodies, giant
machine replicated the heavenly bodies, and in 9th century, they invented the gunpowder, but later
harnessed it to its potentials.
But the flagship of ancient China was its infrastructure, in 117 BCE, they have been working on iron
products, but during the Song dynasty, 1078, they produced 125,000 tons of iron. They were able to do it
by knowing the science and chemical properties of the iron and coal. In addition, the metallurgy was used
in the hydraulic engineering in running the entire China.

The Greatest Infrastructure

The most known infrastructure of China is the “Great wall”, but the most economical, social, and
technical infrastructure of the empire was the “Grand canal”, completed in 1327 that stretched throughout
China, allowing the production and trading faster. The grand canal also represented the powerful Chinese
state’s ability to engineer vast regions: they connected smaller waterways to main rivers, opening up
where goods and people could travel.

During this time, the traditional Chinese medicine also flourished. Their oriental medicinal
practices were influenced by elements fire, water, metal, earth, wood, and the yin-yang balance.

Diseases were caused by imbalances, hence in order to be cured, their physicians had to practice
moving the chi using acupuncture, acupressure, herbal therapies, exercise, and prescription diets.

Another Asian countries that showed rich culture is India, they have a very complicated meta-
physical understanding on the inseparable knowledge and religious traditions, and focused on application.

Indians has a very high regard on “Veda”, knowledge, they were concerned on math and
astronomy, but mostly concerned rituals.

The Indian civilization has also largely contributed in understanding medicine.

During Gupta dynast in India, they studied the science of life, Ayurveda, which included also t he
five elemental theory of matter in the ancient China.

One of the most regarded records is the Charaka Samhita, or one of the other Samhita, or
collections that could help you memorize hundreds of named body parts.

They studied anatomy and etiology, what causes different diseases.

They focused on diseases for children, elderly diseases, mental illness, organ diseases, surgery,
poisons and antidotes, aphrodisiacs.

And developed understanding of the five karmas or actions to remove toxins.

The Ayurveda, the science of life, largely concerns healthful living in general, including how to
prevent diseases and influence hygiene and diet, almost similar to ancient Chinese medicine.

Generally, Asian intellectual revolution has made a margin on the large contribution of the
ancient Asian civilization. The large continent has contributed a lot in the field of science, technology,
engineering, culture, arts and religion.

Asian Intellectual revolution has revolutionized the world, by its inventions, rich culture and
tradition, mathematical contributions, and largely on oriental medicine, which until now, not even the
modern western medicine can explain its effectivity
Good luck! :))