| Themes > Science > Physics > About Physics, Generalities > A Brief History and Philosophy of Physics > The Middle Ages |
The scholarly work in Europe during the Dark Ages (roughly from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Middle Ages, or Medieval period, about 1100) had been primarily concerned with the copying of church manuscripts. As a result, it was natural that as ancient learning began to reach Europe it should be studied first in the cathedral schools. These schools evolved into the first universities, with colleges in Cambridge and Oxford, for example, being founded in the 1200s. These were followed by universities set up by both city (e.g. Bologna, Padua) or state (e.g. Naples) governments. The scholars in these early universities laid much of the groundwork for later scientific developments. One of the most important schools for the development of physics was in Oxford, where the impetus theorists, beginning with William of Ockham (~1295-1349), investigated the cause of motion. They believed that a body in motion did not need to be in contact with a "mover" to stay in motion as Aristotle had claimed, but did so out of its own "impetus". This was a precursor to our modern concept of momentum. Another major contribution has become known as "Ockham's Razor". This principle states that the best scientific theory, other things being equal, is the one which requires the fewest new starting assumptions. It is still accepted today. It was important historically because it provided an objective means for choosing between two theories and did not attempt to answer the question of which was "true". The flood of ancient, "pagan" knowledge into Europe through the translations from Arabic produced a crisis for Christian theologians: How could one accept a world philosophy which was not rooted in the Christian faith? This problem was largely overcome, at least for the time being, by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) who integrated Aristotelian philosophy and Greek logic with Catholic theology. For example, his first proof of the existence of God was that the fixed stars needed a source of motion, which he identified with Aristotle's "Prime Mover". One must ask why, when so many of the early scientific discoveries were made in the east, the development of modern science was primarily in the west. Alfred North Whitehead, in Science and the Modern World, suggests that this was due to the integration of Greek rationality with Christian monotheism under Thomas Aquinas. The all-seeing God of Christianity created the world in an ordered, logical fashion as related in the biblical book of Genesis. Therefore it was only natural to look for a rational explanation of the phenomena of nature. |
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