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The sciences of the Middle-Ages were different from the sciences that came after the
seventeenth century. This is because the concept of science in any time period is shaped by the
nature and purpose of sciences, as well as the conditions under which it is taught and practiced
in. The environment that the sciences were taught and practiced in as well as the purpose
during the Middle-Ages was different from the conditions in which science was taught and
practiced during and after the seventeenth century. The time frame in which medieval science
was taught and practiced in was predominately an orthodox society based that put great
authority on the voices of the past. The prevalent philosophy during the Middle-Ages was
Aristotelian philosophy and the main objective of the scholars was to discover the truth and
reconcile Aristotle’s philosophy with Christian theology. On the other hand, after the Scientific
Revolution, the focal point of science was to use science in a manner that would benefit
mankind the most and to discover truth for oneself and to not rely solely on the views the
ancients. Likewise religious thought was taken out of science and intellectuals did not focus on
trying to reconcile what they discovered and learned with Christian theology. Despite the fact
that the purpose of science was different in both eras, the earlier form of science evolved into
the later, modern science as ideas merged into one and others were rejected to become what we
The typical science studied during the Middle-Ages was what we call today natural
science. Yet, during medieval times, it was not called this; instead it was called natural
philosophy or physics. Natural philosophy and physics looked at the fundamental principles
that governed the changes in nature and tried to discover the truth about these changes. The
concept of medieval natural philosophy goes as far back as Ancient Greece. Greece was the
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cultural and intellectual hotspot of its time. Many diverse ideas flourished here. For example,
speculations about the nature of the world first started in antiquated Greece according to
Elspeth Whitney. These speculators beget a multitude of viewpoints and concepts regarding
the nature of the world. Some of these perspectives and ideas came from some of the greatest
philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, and many others. Their ideas and viewpoints proliferated via
the Roman conquest of Europe and the Arab world. The works of these philosophers became
incorporated into the curriculum of the Middle-Ages as they were discovered and became an
integral part of scholarly thought process during the Middle-Ages. This is especially true of
Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle’s works were prominent in medieval times more so then any
other philosopher of Ancient Greece largely due to the availability his numerous compositions.
Additionally Aristotle’s philosophy and works provided a more comprehensive working body
of scientific principles and knowledge for scholars to labor over as compared to others, like
Plato.1
metaphysical principles largely determined the approach to the study of the natural world. He
was a major proponent of deductive reasoning and believed that reality was embedded in and
inseparable from the concrete and specific and that sense perception subjected to a logical
analysis was the beginning of knowledge. According to Whitney, Aristotle was a great
advocate for careful observations of natural phenomena as a basis for scientific thinking.2 Due
to Aristotle’s advocacy of careful observation, more emphasis was put on qualitative data, like
how hot or cold an object was, or how wet or dry an object was, then precise quantitative data.
1
Whitney, pp. 19 & 45
2
Whitney, pp. 1-3
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This led to a lack of usage of mathematics in most aspects of natural philosophy, excluding
astrology, astronomy, optics, and mechanics. The use of subjective observations led to
imprecise data and skewed results in the Middle-Ages. A major problem with the physics of
the medieval era was the lack of complete knowledge on mathematical proofs and theories.
Most of the understanding of mathematics had come from the Ancient Greeks. Unfortunately,
this knowledge was lost during the time of the invasions of the barbarians. In the twelfth and
thirteenth century, intellectuals were slowly regaining the lost knowledge of the Greeks and
gradually practicing them in regards to astronomy, optics, and mechanics. The mathematics
was not advanced enough in its progress of restitution and thus they did not have all the
Academics in the Middle-Ages especially had a tough time dealing with motion and its cause
While Aristotle did create a philosophy that encompassed all, some of his views were
flawed. Due to these flaws, medieval scientists faced numerous problems trying to incorporate
these defective thought with their knowledge and Christian doctrine. As mentioned before,
Aristotle viewed projectile motion as unnatural and violent. He believed that the hand that
there the object, propelled it and then once the object was released, the surrounding air would
cause it to move due to a rippling effect in the air. Due to this faulty view, scientists had a
difficult time calculating the motion of the projectile and the only way this could be done was
to rethink Aristotle’s idea and create a different model that would work better. Another
problem medieval intellectuals faced with Aristotelian science dealt with Astronomy and
religion. Aristotle believed that all matter resides in our world and that any other world does
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not exist. This view conflicted with religion because theologians believed that God’s power
was absolute and that because he had absolute power, he could create more worlds if he
the Earth was stationary or if it rotated on its axis. The former was believed by Aristotle and
the latter believed by some of the thinkers of medieval times. There were other problems
medieval scientists faced besides the ones mentioned, but once one of Aristotle’s ideas came
under attack, it did not take long for the Aristotelian philosophy to crumble. This is because,
explained all and once a single part was rejected, the entire model failed.3
During the Middle-Ages, there were many experimentations and observations that took
place, but scientists of the time solely believed in the works of their ancestors and their
deductive skills. Crombie states, “Medieval science remained in general within the framework
of Aristotle’s theory of nature, and deductions from that theory were by no mean always
rejected even when contradicted by the results of new mathematical, logical, and experimental
hypothesis of the classical philosophers, scientists in the Middle-Ages would fudge with the
results so that their results in the end would match that of the classical philosophers. These
experiments and observations, despite their crudeness, were the precursor to modern day
science. Some of the prominent intellectuals of the time were Michael Scot, Albertus Magnus,
and Roger Bacon. All three were great advocates of Aristotelian philosophy. These pupils of
learning were highly influenced by Aristotelian philosophy, magical or supernatural views, and
3
Fix, pp. 6-10 of “Science in 14th Century”
4
Crombie, pp. 11
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religion. Religion was highly important to the scholars due to the society they resided in.
Many of the scholastic writers sought to coordinate Aristotelian science with the Christian
doctrine. Their inclination towards these beliefs can be seen in their work in one form or
another.
Michael Scot was a clergyman and an astrologer. He served under the Holy Roman
Emperor Frederick II as a truthful diviner. The fact that Michael Scot was a clergyman and an
astrologer showed the tolerance of Medieval Church. As long as someone did not practice
magic outright, the Church accepted the person without labeling him/her a heretic. Thorndike
believes that Scot was exemplary of the failings of the learning of his time. According to
Thorndike, Michael Scot was “…curious, credulous, and uncritical. He seems to have collected
a mass of undigested information and superstition with little regard to the consistency or
system.” An example of this is his thesis on Introduction to Astrology. In his thesis, Scot
deviates from his argument constantly, adding facts that do not seem to belong in his work and
adding information concerning magic and the supernatural. For example, in his work, Scot has
statements concerning magi and magic such as differentiating between astrology and astronomy
and the prohibited arts of magic and divination, stating that the latter is the corrupter of morals
Albertus Magnus was in the Dominican order as well as an intellectual. His works
follow closely Aristotle’s natural philosophy according to Thorndike. His work is a scattering
of different philosophies of the various methods to use in natural philosophy. In his works on
5
Thorndike, pp. 319
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plants, little experimentation is done and he has confidence in the works of his ancestors, on the
other hand, his works on animals include various rudimentary experimentations done on
animals and his observations. These smattering of different scientific approaches used by
Magnus are exemplarity of the typical scientific approaches of other scholars of the time.
There was no one approaches; some scientists believed in mathematical models, while others
believed in observation, and others believed in the past. Like Scot, Magnus constantly refers to
magic and the supernatural in his theses. He believes in an association between experimental
methods and his concept of magic.6 This is because the magician has to deal with trial and
error in an effort to discover the hidden meaning behind a magical item or incantation.
Roger Bacon, like the previous two, was also involved with the clergy. Bacon strongly
emphasized the usage of mathematics to better gain an understanding of the natural world.
Another aspect he highly stressed was that scientists should rely on a combination of reason
and empirical experience. According to Whitney, Roger Bacon was greatly influenced by
Arabic and Latin writings on alchemy and astrology, as well as a work on natural magic that
One common denominator between all three philosophers was their interest in
alchemical and astrological works. The experimental and practical side of science was evident
6
Thorndike, pp. 548
7
Whitney, pp. 154
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was the precursor to chemistry, but because of its search for perfection, it was
usually overlaid with mystical significance.8
Alchemy had its origins in the ancient world, which was later brought to Europe through
Arabic Spain. The ultimate aim of alchemy, according to Whitney was to discover the elixirs
that could either prolong human life or transmute metals into gold. The theoretical basis of
alchemy came from Aristotle’s idea that matter had no quality until a form was imposed on it
and that the four elements could be transformed into each other. The importance of alchemy in
the Middle-Ages was that in the hands of some practitioners, alchemy represented one of the
earlier attempts to understand scientific methodology in terms of creating a science that would
allow human technology to improve on nature.9 Astrology and astronomy were closely linked
to each other. Astronomy in medieval times was used mainly to predict the movements of the
celestial and physical bodies as well as keep track of time and date. On the other hand,
astrology was used to predict the future. These two sciences were closely related because they
both dealt with the celestial bodies and predicted movement of some form. Astronomy was
one of the more mathematically intensive sciences in the Middle-Ages. Astrology was
controversial largely due to the fact that many believed that it had close association with the
demonic magic.
Natural philosophy underwent major change from the Middle-Ages to after seventeenth
century. In between these two eras, the Renaissance was important in introducing many
classical works to the public. The humanists played a significant role in introducing these
antiquated works. One of the main goals of the humanists was to return to the golden age of
8
Henry, pp. 139
9
Whitney, pp. 91
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learning and rhetoric which existed during the time of Aristotle and Plato. The humanists
believed that the medieval ages, also known as the dark ages, had been sullied and thus the
knowledge and language were corrupted. The only way return to the golden age was to study
the classical works according to the humanists. The problem with this was during the beginning
of the fourteenth century, there were not many classical works present and the only way to
Humanists put great effort into searching through many nooks and crannies to
rediscover the works of the antiquated philosophers. Due to the efforts of the humanists, many
reintroduced to society. During this time, dozens of antiquated works and writings were
discovered and translated by the humanists. An example of a writing that had a key role in
changing the course of natural philosophy and magic was the Hermetic Corpus. Due to the
which had resided at the top during the Middle-Ages, on the subject of natural philosophy, gave
way to other approaches and philosophical systems. An example of this is during the
Renaissance more ancient treaties written by Plato were revived. This caused fierce debates
between those that believed in Aristotelian philosophy, called Aristotelians, and those that
believed in Plato’s philosophy, called Platonists. The main argument between the two camps
was which was to be believed, the senses or the thoughts. Aristotelians believed that the senses
were real and that ideas did not matter, while the Platonists believed that ideas were real and
that the senses were illusory.10 Other approaches and method that were relooked at included
10
Capra, pp.148
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magic and mathematics. Owing to the influx in contradictory methods and ideas, the sense of
discovering truth for oneself as a result of one’s own experiences and efforts flourished in the
Another important aspect that greatly affected the scholars during the Renaissance was
the invention of the printing press. With the discovery of typography, the art of printing from
movable type, and engraving, the art of printable pictures, the distribution of text changed
fundamentally. The printing press allowed for a rapid diffusion and standardization in
literature, which hand never been seen before. With the standardization of literature, scholars
from any region of the world could read the same contents on the same page if they so desired.
The standardization of texts allowed for copies of specific pages to be reliable and dependable,
which had not been possible with hand-copied medieval manuscripts. Also the regulating of
illustrations became highly valuable for scholars. With the reproduction of the illustration of
plants, anatomical details, mechanical devices, scientific devices, and mathematical diagrams
becoming more accurate, it was easy for scholars to refer to. This allowed for ideas to be
spread quicker because it took less time to understand and diagrams were the same, thus no
The Corpus Hermeticum was a series of fifteen treatises which the people of
Renaissance believed was written by an ancient Egyptian wise man called Hermes Trismegistus
a thousand years before Moses. The intellects believed that the early Church Fathers had
admired the works of Hermes Trismegistus and incorporated his ideas into their theology.
Scholars believed this because Hermetic Corpus contained early Christian and Judaism
11
Henry, pp. 12
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theology. It was later discovered that the Hermetic Corpus was not written before the time of
Moses, but in the fourth century, C.E and that there was not a single author, instead there were
several authors with several different theological perspectives that were popular at the time like
popular Greek philosophy like Platonism and Stoicism combined with Jewish and Persian
influences.12 The Hermetic Corpus begins with the central character, Hermes, having a vision
in which blinding light appears, followed by a thunderous voice that dictates to him the
creation of the world similar to Genesis. In this narration, the work states that, “…god created
man in his own likeness…delivered over to man all things that had been made…He is
immortal…and has all things in his power.” These statements emphasized a role of ruling as
the ascension of the soul through the spheres of the planets to the divine world
above them as well as an ecstatic description of the process of regeneration by
which the soul casts off the chains which bind it to the materialistic world and
becomes filled with divine powers and virtues13.
There is a recurring theme in Corpus Hermeticum in that man is both mortal and divine and
that he is intended to both admire the creation of God and to use them. According to… this
encouraged a new and active understanding of astrology because astrologers can not only use
their knowledge for predictive purposes, but they can also use it to intervene in the world and
accomplish goals for their own means. Another facet examined in the Hermetic Corpus is the
explanation of the cause of motion. This explanation goes against Aristotle’s thesis and states
that the cause of motion resides outside the physical world that is alive and self moving. This
can be seen in the number of copies published. “The first printed copy was in 1471 which later
12
Yates, pp. 3
13
Yates, pp. 3
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went through sixteen editions by the end of the sixteenth century.”14 The Hermetic texts
The Hermetic manuscripts did not directly influence the foundations of modern science, instead
natural magic, mathematics, and empirical traditions flourished by virtue of connection with the
Hermetic scripts.
Natural magic was based upon the assumption that certain things in the world have
hidden powers that affect other objects and thus an inexplicable phenomenon is accomplished.
In Ficino’s De Vita Coelitus Comparanda, Ficino defends the use of natural magic and states
that it is different from demonic magic. Ficino describes natural magic as a type of magic that
captures the beneficial powers of the heavenly bodies to bring good fortune to men.15 Natural
magic was empirically based because what other way besides experimentations could a natural
magician discover the hidden, or occult, nature of objects and use that knowledge for their own
gain or that of a client’s. An example of a natural magic that had empirical traditions was
alchemy. Alchemy was grounded in direct observation of nature and in the development of
laboratory procedures.16 Another type of magic that gained more interest was real artificial
magic, also known as mathematical magic. Mathematics was considered magical when
combined with mechanics during the medieval age and Renaissance because the use of
mechanical devices was considered the work of hidden or occult powers. John Dee is a good
example of a hermetic magician using mathematical magic. He made available the first
14
Yates, pp. 17
15
Olson, pp. 39
16
Olson, pp. 39
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There was no such thing as the typical humanistic natural scientist during the
Renaissance. This was because by the mid-sixteenth century there were numerous philosophies
that were mutually antagonistic of each other. But Paracelsus was a good example of the blend
of mystical and superstition and science and reason that was rising during the Renaissance.
Paracelsus was born as Phillipus Aureolis Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, who later
claimed the title of Paracelsus because he felt he was great than Celsus, the Roman medical
writer.17 Paracelsus was a self-styled doctor of medicine and theology. According to Philip
Ball, “Paracelsus acted as a prism for his time. He separated the paradoxes, terrors, and
tensions that existed among natural philosophy, religion, humanist, and politics.” Though his
works began and ended in magic and were colored with religious beliefs, Paracelsus had
modern scientific roots in them. For example, Paracelsus believed that things happened for a
reason and that nature is mechanistic and follows rules, and that humankind could deduce and
As explained before, during the Middle-Ages, the prevalent philosophy was Aristotelian
philosophy which emphasized deductive reasoning and observations. The Scientific Revolution
on the other hand stressed inductive reasoning and experience. The only way natural
philosophy could transit from medieval thinking to modern science was to completely abolish
Aristotelian philosophy and introduce a new metaphysical approach. This occurred in the
Renaissance with the introduction of various antiquated works, especially the Hermetic texts,
and different ideas being introduced to society. Before natural magic was stimulated through
the Hermetic doctrines, interest in the occult virtue and forces of nature, such as magnetism,
17
Olson, pp. 47
18
Ball, pp. 1-10
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gravity, electricity, were considered beyond man’s capacity to understand. Without the influx
and popularity of natural magic, Sir Isaac Newton would never have been able to come to the
conclusions he did pertaining gravity.19 From the Renaissance, the idea that natural knowledge
could be used for the benefit of mankind, the increase in use of mathematics to understand the
workings of the natural world, and the emphasis on empirical data and experimentation gave
institutional foundation of modern science. As magic was criticized from all directions,
scientists and scholars also went along with the flow and censured it. While the intellectuals
condemned magic, they also realized the importance of certain aspects of it and took these
elements, like mathematics and experimentation, and discarded the rest as supernatural and
unnecessary. The use of mathematics and measurements to give precise data to determine how
the world and its parts worked were used more frequently and in conjunction with experience,
observations, and when necessary, experiments to discover and gain a better understanding of
nature. In previous eras, scholars and intellectuals had kept experiments and mathematics
separated from natural philosophy for the most part. This growth in different methods and
ideas took root increasingly more during the sixteenth and seventeenth century as Aristotle’s
philosophy was debunked from its throne due to a proliferation of distinctive antiquated
Mathematics was undergoing a great expansion during this time frame. With the surge
in mathematical theories being launched, mathematics became even more sophisticated to the
19
Ball, pp. 11
20
Henry, pp.1
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point that it resembled the mathematics used today in modern science. There were many
discoveries in the field of mathematics. For example, Francois Viete rationalized and reduced
the number of algebraic symbols to resemble the modern form. This allowed algebra to reach a
much higher level of abstraction used in various mechanics and astronomy calculations. John
Napier invented logarithms in 1614. This produced a shortcut to the complex calculations
needed in astronomy. Rene Descartes also developed an analytical form of geometry that
allowed for geometric problems to be solved in algebraic form. Finally, Leibniz and Newton
complex problems could be tackled and science reached closer to a form that approached
modern science.
With the increase in observation, experience and empirical traditions, new instruments
were invented to help scientists with their works. According to Fix, “Six new scientific
instruments were invented in the seventeenth century which made the scientific revolution
possible.”22 The six instruments were the air pump, the pendulum clock, the barometer, the
thermometer, the microscope, and the telescope. The air pump was created in 1650 by Otto
von Guericke. With the invention of the air pump, analysts could study the properties of air.
The pendulum clock was invented around 1650 by Christian Huygens and it made it possible
for scientists to make exact measurements by small intervals of time, which was not possible
before. The thermometer and barometer were invented in the early seventeenth century. The
21
Fix, pp. 8 of WC XV
22
Pp. 10
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latter measured the pressure of air and its variations, while the former measured the
temperature, which came in handy in chemistry. The microscope was invented in the late
sixteenth century in Holland. With the microscope, tiny objects like insects, cells, and bacteria
could be inspected. This greatly advanced biology and medical science. Finally the telescope
was invented in 1608 and it made it possible for scientists to view astronomical observations.
With these inventions, various forms of philosophy were changed and improved as more
With better equipment, procedures, and mathematics, scientists discovered more and
more about their surrounding nature. With these discoveries, antiquated ideas about nature
planetary motion and geocentric theory with the help of Copernicus’s ideas. Galileo came up
with the heliocentric theory in which the sun was stationary and the planets revolved around the
sun in an elliptical like circle. Due to church opposition, Galileo was forced to retract his
theory, but later scientists saw the validity of Galileo’s explanation and used it. Galileo used a
combination of mathematics as well as observations from the telescope to discover his findings.
In conclusion, science went through a phase of evolution from the Middle-Ages to the
seventeenth century. Before the 1600’s, natural philosophy was mired in religion, antiquated
views, and supernatural beliefs. During the Renaissance, as different philosophers and ideas
became available, scholars began to gain more ammunition to fire against the outdated
theological and philosophical matters on who were right, scholars began to be frustrated and
saw the concepts of Aristotelian philosophy, Ptolemaic philosophy, and theology in natural
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philosophy as a barrier between them and the true knowledge of reality. The concept that
natural philosophers had to reconcile antiquated ideas with theological viewpoints dissolved in
the later years of the seventeenth century. In the late 1600’s, the main goal of scientists was to
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