Context with Brad Harris Scientific Culture and the Making of the Industrial West, by Margaret Jacob
Jul 10, 2018
Margaret Jacob, an author and historian, delves into how scientific knowledge shaped European culture during the 1600s and 1700s. She highlights the pivotal role of Britain in the Industrial Revolution, powered by its unique integration of science and society. Jacob explores philosophical shifts from Descartes to Bacon, emphasizing the importance of empirical methods. Additionally, she discusses the English Revolution's impact on modern science and how Newtonian principles democratized knowledge, fueling innovation and economic success.
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Science's Practical Takeoff in Britain
- Scientific knowledge was the same across Europe by 1750, but its application varied widely.
- Britain uniquely wrapped science in an ideology promoting material prosperity and practical results.
Galileo's Trial Boosted Protestant Science
- Galileo's trial made science a tool against Catholic authority and aligned it with Protestantism.
- Northwest Europe thus became the hub of scientific innovation with a political-religious incentive.
Cartesian Science's Limits
- Cartesianism popularized rational skepticism and individual reasoning in science.
- Yet it focused on innate ideas and logic over practical experiments, limiting industrial application.