Module 2C -
Medieval
and Modern
Periods
Science, Technology, and Society
Cesar Jr. M. Macaspag
Mathematics and Physics
Department
Objectives
After reading and doing the tasks in this module, you should be
able to
A. Describe science and technology during the medieval and
modern periods
B. Name medieval and modern technologies that have significant
contributions to society
C. Analyze the influence of medieval social system on the
development of western science and technology.
Warm Up
• Today's popular view that religion
is against science actually
originated from a tragic mistake
committed by the church in the
medieval period, the Galileo case.
• Is religion really against science?
Warm Up
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J0-
ZbbrD6U
Galileo was wrongfully convicted
of suspected heresy
He was exiled until his death in
1642.
Galileo proved the This scientific fact is
Copernican theory that indirect contradiction In 1992, 359 years later, church
sun is the center of the of certain finally agreed. Pope John Paul II
solar system (not the interpretation of
earth- also known as officially declared that galileo
scriptures.
geocentrism) was right.
• Also known as Medieval Period
or the Dark Ages
Middle • Began with the fall of the
Western Roman Empire
Ages • Lasted from the 5th to the late
15th Century
Middle
Ages
Feudalism
Middle Ages
• Education was the prerogative of the Church
• Types of educational institutions: grammar schools,
monastic schools and universities
• Subjects taught:
• Latin
• Rhetoric
• Greek and basic sciences (i.e. arithmetic)
• Geography
• Other natural sciences
Middle Ages
• Gregorian Calendar – Pope
Gregory
• Heliocentric Model – Nicole
Oresme
Technological Developments
• Improvement in
agriculture:
• Plough
• Horse collar
• Horseshoe
• Crop rotation
(two- and three-
field system)
• Wine press
https://pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/tag/context/
Technological Developments
• Trades between east and west led
to innovations
• Compass from china → Mariner’s
compass
• Paper + Woodblock printing →
Moveable printing press (Johannes
Gutenberg)
• Cannons and gunpowder from china
improved western weaponry
https://pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/tag/context/
Technological
Developments
• Lenses
• Hourglass
• Mechanical Clocks
• Blast Furnaces
• Vertical windmills
The Rise of
Islam (Islamic
Golden Age)
Science during the
rise of Islam
• Jabir Ibn Hayyan – alchemy and chemistry
• Identified hydrochloric, sulfuric and nitric
acids, generated aqua regia
• Described processes such as sublimation,
reduction and distillation
• Al-Battani – determined length of solar year.
• Al-Zarqali – developed more accurate
astrolabe
• Al-Dinawari – popularized botany
Science during
the rise of Islam
• Al-Idrisi – drew a map of the world,
geographic study of the peoples, climates,
resources and industries.
• Al- Kwarizmi – algebra
• Jamshid al- Kashi – law of cosines in
trigonometry
• Al –Razi – identified smallpox and measles;
recognized fever as the body’s defense
• Avicenna – wrote The Canon of Medicine
Modern Times
• Scientific Revolution
• Copernicus’ Heliocentric model of the
cosmos
• Galileo’s presentation of evidences
that supports this model
• supported Francis Bacon’s and Rene
Descartes’ use of scientific method
https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/142074563217423853/
Modern Times
• Scientific Revolution • Culminated with Newton’s formulation
of the laws of gravitation and motion
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nihal.newton_father_of_gravity.jpg
Medieval to Modern Science
• Collaboration between scientists, philosophers and members
of mathematical and astronomical communities.
• Realization of the inadequacy of medieval experimental
method.
• Access to the legacy of European, Greek, and Middle Eastern
scientific philosophy
• Publication of scientists’ work through institutions helped
validate science as a field
The “Nullius in verba”
Royal “Take nobody’s word on
Society https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society
it”
• Scientific knowledge led to
inventions and technological
innovations.
Modern • Coupling of science and technology
to meet the demands of growing
Times population led the industrial
revolution
• Resulted in end of feudalism and
start of capitalism
Pre-History Ancient Medieval Modern
Spriritual and Rational/Logical Religious – Material/Marke
Practical – /Practical – Reality is t-driven – reality
Reality as sacred Reality follows a spirituall is objective
and embodied certain order
