Technikatörténeti szemle 22. (1996)

Papers from the Second International Conference on the History of Chemistry and Chemical Industry (Eger, Hungary, 16–19 August, 1995) - Inczédy, János: Science and Information

Table 1 Dominating fields of natural sciences during the western history Age Field of science -2000 Astronomy -1000 - 500 Geometry 0 Mechanics 500 (Theology) 1000 Mathematics 1500 Physics Chemistry Material structure Biology 2000 Informatics For the development of geometry simple devices, to measure the length, distance and angle were necessary. Euklides (ca 5000 a. Chr.) created the first classical geometric system, with coherent and useful principles. His scientific work is an excellent example of the western thinking: After the collection of the observed, recorded data - carrying information - an abstracted part from the whole nature was picked out as a model with simplified and fixed conditions. In the abstracted model system the relations between objects, events or processes were repeatable, and the laws concerning the relations were recognisable, verifiable and describable. Eratosthenes (275-194 a.Chr.) used the fundamental geometric principles and the available measuring devices to extend the human knowledge to those ranges, which were not directly accessible. He determined the diameter of our globe from the directions and angles of the sunbeam in two points of the earth at the same time. The lengths of the shades in the vertical holes (in the wells) were measured and the diameter calculated. The fundamental difference between the western and eastern thinking is, that the scientists in the east did not use the way of simplification, the examination of the abstracted subsystem. Their investigations were directed always to the examination of the events, processes taking place in the nature influenced by the unknown factors of infinite number. In the enclosed Figure the sketch of the fundamental cycle of the human activities is to be seen.