Countries of the west and India?all contemplated and analysed these questions and came to some conclusions, but their paths were different. As Swami Vivekananda said, western science, through extensive analysis and experiments of the outer world, moved towards finding answers to these questions, whereas India moved forward by seeing a little of the outside world but more of the inner self. Both drew conclusions from their explorations and on their basis they formed a philosophy and an outlook which influenced the various mutual relations of the entire world.
In the next few pages, we shall analyse briefly, the explorations carried out by the west and by India, and their consequences.
Science-Journey of West
(A) According to the ancient Greek philosophers, the world is made up of four elements?earth, water, air and fire. Some philosophers believed that the world was molecular. They all had a biological outlook towards the world. This philosophy was influential in the west till 1500 AD but in the 16th and 17th century, the west saw many basic changes in the field of science. These changes really shook the basic ideology that the west had till then. The main people behind these changes were Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, Galileo and Newton.
(B) In order to gain knowledge of the world, Francis Bacon set forth a mathematical process according to which one should first experiment, then draw general conclusions and then again test it by experimenting. Whatever one finds correct, would be correct and the rest would all be wrong.
Not accepting the traditional methods of study, Rene Descartes said that all knowledge which speaks of possibility is worth rejecting and all knowledge that is decisive and beyond doubt is acceptable. He has described this method in his book Discourse on Method. In this book, he has established that if one wants to resolve a problem, one must break it up into small portions and then assemble them logically. This analytical process became a big gift to modern science.
Galileo tried to investigate by using instruments and on the basis of the examination of the planets, challenged the concept of a world with the earth at the centre and established that the earth went around the sun and not vice versa.
Just as Descartes spoke about breaking the world into small pieces and then understanding it, Galileo opened the door to examine space. Later, the west'sscientific journey moved forward to discover the minutest particle of the universe and to measure the expanse of the universe.
Initially, in the search of the smallest part of the universe, it was believed that this world is a collection of elements, compounds and mixtures. As the search progressed, they said that the element was the basic matter and that it was indivisible. Around 92 kinds of elements were discovered and it was believed that the entire world was a collection of these. However, Avogadro and Dalton proved that an element is not the basic particle, but are made up of very tiny particles and named them molecules and atoms.
Newton combined all these scientific facts and presented the picture of a complete universe. With his intelligence, he developed a new mathematical theory called differential calculus and included Kepler'stheory of planetary motions and Galileo'sLaw of falling bodies to his own laws of motion, through which one could interpret to explain and control the motion of an ordinary stone and the massive planets and stars. Based on this, Newton presented his own model of the universe.
According to Newton, only time and space are endless. Among them, space is uniform while time is simple linear. Out of this time and space, from small particles of dust and sand, the massive planets and stars are made. They have been made up by these small particles and these particles get their motion from gravitational power. With his laws of motion, Newton explained the laws of the motion of the planets and established that the entire universe follows these laws.
Newton'stheory of the universe as machine was dominant over the entire western world for about three hundred years.
(C) By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, two big theoretical systems in the field of science, came into existence. These gave a big jolt to Newton'stheory of a mechanical universe and that the world is made up of small particles of atoms.
These were the ?Quantum Theory?, which was related to the basic unit of power and the Theory of Relativity which was related to space, time and the structure of the entire universe.
(This book is available with Ocean Books (P) Ltd. 4/19 Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi-110 002.)
Leave a Comment