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9 The Universality of Science: Examples from History--Hossein Masoumi Hamedani
Pages 57-64

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From page 57...
... From that point of view, science is one of the many factors that divide humankind. Of course, we can still gain an understanding through the study of those different scientific traditions or activities that are labeled "science" in their respective societies, but the understanding gained in this way cannot help us achieve common ground.
From page 58...
... Scientific theories and facts are often expressed in the kind of mathematical language or theoretical jargon that is far removed from the vernacular and outside the experience of ordinary sensual perception. To understand a scientific theory and thus to be able to test it, one must belong to a defined scientific community, master the language used by its members, and share the methodologies specific to that community.
From page 59...
... These two potentialities can be actualized only through conscious human effort, and their realization depends on various factors that are not dictated only by the logic of science itself. For example, we can decide in principle between any two rival theories by doing a suitable experiment, which is usually called a crucial experiment.
From page 60...
... Nevertheless, I believe that a certain amount of scientific knowledge and a certain perspective inspired by science are necessary for every citizen of the modern world. This kind of scientific approach includes a sensibility toward concrete things, the ability to formulate relevant questions, and the search for the simplest ways to answer them.
From page 61...
... • Anything that had existed before the scientific revolution is considered to be nonscientific, or at best as part of the prehistory of modern science, which began in the seventeenth century. For prehistorical science, historians often refer to Ancient Greece, but even the Greek legacy is divided into two parts: some theories such as the atomistic theories are seen as "precursors" of modern science, while other theories are considered to be obstacles to an accurate understanding of the physical world.
From page 62...
... The only significant difference is that science is not a set of bizarre practices common to the members of an isolated and primitive tribe, but a rational universal practice that is nevertheless restricted to a big, powerful tribe. In this kind of historiography of science, the birth of the new science is explained only by invoking some external elements.
From page 63...
... • The scientific revolution did not affect all the branches of science in the same way. Some scientific disciplines, optics for example, experienced continuity throughout Antiquity, the Islamic period, the late medieval period, and even well into the seventeenth century.
From page 64...
... But I have no ready answer to your question, and at the international level it requires a vast investigation. stone falls identically in Tehran, Washington, or Tokyo.


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