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Thursday 9 November 2017

Science

Science (from Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge") is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes understanding about the natural world. in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

Facts about the natural world have been described since classical antiquity. Aristotle wrote that the truth can be found through observation and induction. This was his scientific method. Socrates' example of applying philosophy to the study of human things, including human knowledge itself was a turning point in the history of early philosophical science.

The School of Athens by Raphael. Aristotle is pictured in blue in the centre arch

Scientific methods have been used since the Middle Ages. The English philosopher and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon, for instance, placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods.

The dawn of modern science is often traced back to the early modern period and in particular to the scientific revolution that took place in 17th-century Europe. During this period centuries scientists began to formulate knowledge in terms of laws of nature such as Sir Isaac Newton's laws of motion.

Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Christopher Wren and other leading scientists founded a learned society now known as the Royal Society at London's Gresham College on November 28, 1660.

Not surprisingly, active Christians, with their interest in God's creation, brought the society into existence. In fact, its membership was overwhelmingly Puritan in makeup. It grew out of the meetings of the "Invisible College" who gathered in the late 1640s at the home of the chemist Robert Boyle's favorite sister, Katherine. She supported the Parliamentarians (and Puritans) in the revolt against Charles I. Of deep intelligence herself, Boyle welcomed the group into her house so that she might share the new findings.


When the Royal Society was chartered by King Charles II of England on July 15, 1662, it was the first scientific society in history.

The first joint Secretary of the Royal Society, Henry Oldenburg, published the first issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the world's longest-running scientific journal on March 6, 1665.

Title page of 1st edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, by Henry Oldenburg

Over the course of the 19th century, the word "science" became increasingly associated with the scientific method itself, as a way to study the natural world, including physics, chemistry, geology and biology.

The term `biology' was coined around 1800, by, amongst others, Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus, a professor at Bremen, and the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.

The term scientist was first used by theologian, philosopher and historian of science William Whewell in 1840. He meant it to distinguish those who sought knowledge on nature from those who sought other types of knowledge. Previously, people investigating nature called themselves "natural philosophers".

"Zohnerism", the use of true fact(s) to lead a scientifically ignorant public to a false conclusion, was coined in 1997 after 14-yr-old Nathan Zohner gathered petitions to ban the ''dangerous chemical dihydrogen monoxide'' (water) from school as the basis of his science project, titled "How Gullible Are We?"

Modern science is usually divided into separate areas of study, such as astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, mathematics and physics.

Scientists in a laboratory of the University of La Rioja.

The Bible described many scientific truths in the Old Testament, thousands of years before man discovered them. Here are some examples:

Scientific Fact or Principle Bible reference Date of discovery by man

Life originated in the sea Genesis 1 19th Century
Man was the last animal created Genesis 1 15th Century
The Earth is held in place by invisible forces Job 26:7 1650
The Earth is round Isaiah 40:22 15th Century

"The Blue Marble" is a famous photograph of the Earth 

Certain animals carry diseases harmful to man Leviticus 11 16th Century
Quarantine for disease control Leviticus 13 17th Century
Blood is necessary for life Leviticus 17:11 19th Century
Oceans have natural paths in them Psalms 8:8 1854
Mountain ranges on ocean floor Job 2 1950s
Light is a particle and has mass (a photon) Job 38:19 1932
Radio astronomy (stars give off signals) Job 38:7 1945
Infinite number of stars exist Genesis 15:5 1940
Stars move through space Job 38:32 19th Century
Plants use sunlight to manufacture food Job 8:16 1920.

Here is a list of songs about science.

Source Christianity


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