Setting the Stage for Revolution
Since the time of the Ancient Greeks, humans have studied science and related disciplines in order to better understanding the world around them and to improve their own lives. Science, then, is defined by purpose, be it intellectual or pragmatic. Dr. Venni Krishna defines this purpose as the "systematic production of knowledge." This knowledge takes many different forms and influences many aspects of our lives, including our diet and health.
When the Greeks first started exploring the realm of science, humans knew relatively little about the universe. Up until that point, people had been primarily concerned with survival; they didn't have time to waste on science or philosophy. The Greek Empire, then, was unique because for the first time people began to explore the world around them rather than just trying to eke out an existence within it. While the science that they produced was generally based more on superstition or religious teachings than it was on factual evidence, it nonetheless marked the beginning of the study of science.
The next important steps for science came with the European Renaissance, from the 14th to the 17th century, and then The Scientific Revolution immediately after. A particularly notable event during this time was the Protestant Reformation, a religious movement started by Martin Luther. One of Luther's key teachings was that all people should read the Bible, unlike in Catholicism where only specially-trained clergymen could read scripture. So for the first time, the mass public was able to learn from and interpret the Bible themselves. Although this learning was religious in nature, it later gave way to scientific and pragmatic thought. This shift is responsible, at least in part, for making science an area of public interest and enthusiasm for centuries to come.
Science began to take its modern form in the 1700's, with the start of The Enlightenment. Also known as "The Age of Reason," this era was characterized by logic and rationality. This is also when the scientific method was born, which scientists across all disciplines still adhere to today. After this era of thought came an era of action, the Industrial Revolution. In the U.S. and Europe, new inventions were churned out daily during this time and scientists made massive strides in the fields of biology, chemistry, and physics.
When the Greeks first started exploring the realm of science, humans knew relatively little about the universe. Up until that point, people had been primarily concerned with survival; they didn't have time to waste on science or philosophy. The Greek Empire, then, was unique because for the first time people began to explore the world around them rather than just trying to eke out an existence within it. While the science that they produced was generally based more on superstition or religious teachings than it was on factual evidence, it nonetheless marked the beginning of the study of science.
The next important steps for science came with the European Renaissance, from the 14th to the 17th century, and then The Scientific Revolution immediately after. A particularly notable event during this time was the Protestant Reformation, a religious movement started by Martin Luther. One of Luther's key teachings was that all people should read the Bible, unlike in Catholicism where only specially-trained clergymen could read scripture. So for the first time, the mass public was able to learn from and interpret the Bible themselves. Although this learning was religious in nature, it later gave way to scientific and pragmatic thought. This shift is responsible, at least in part, for making science an area of public interest and enthusiasm for centuries to come.
Science began to take its modern form in the 1700's, with the start of The Enlightenment. Also known as "The Age of Reason," this era was characterized by logic and rationality. This is also when the scientific method was born, which scientists across all disciplines still adhere to today. After this era of thought came an era of action, the Industrial Revolution. In the U.S. and Europe, new inventions were churned out daily during this time and scientists made massive strides in the fields of biology, chemistry, and physics.
Although the Industrial Revolution ended in the late 19th century, the advancement of science continued to push forward at an ever-quickening pace. New ground-breaking discoveries were made in the early 20th century, such as those of Albert Einstein, who is now considered to be one of the greatest scientists in human history. Then, the world was rocked by the catastrophes of World War I and, a few decades later, World War II. These two wars, though destructive in many ways, did contribute to the advancement of science and technology. Most notable is the creation of the first nuclear bomb through the U.S.'s secret Manhattan Project in the early 1940's. Some scholars see the Manhattan Project as the beginning of what is known as "Big Science," which the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines as "the organization of large numbers of scientists bringing different bodies of expertise to a common research project." In other words, it is the expansion of science from an individualized practice to a large, group effort. Though this definition is not inherently negative, it draws its name from the phrase "Big Government" (the idea of overly-intrusive governing body) which is a decidedly derogatory term. Indeed, there are many people today who see the scientific world as a corrupt, commercialized industry—Big Science. They believe that it relies too much on government or private funding and is driven by the pursuit of profit rather than knowledge. This idea is explored in more detail in The Shift page of this website.
After World War II, a new era of progress and optimism began in America. This occurred in spite of (or, arguably, in response to) the ongoing Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. During this time, Americans embraced scientific advancement and praised science and technology as "the stuff of the future." This was nowhere more evident than in the infamous Space Race, the competition between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to land a man on the moon. In response to the challenge, the U.S. engaged in a massive propaganda campaign, centered around idea that it was America's destiny to push the boundaries of modern science and technology in order to get to the moon. Americans responded to this idea with an almost unbounded enthusiasm, helping to push the efforts forward until the race finally culminated in the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. Over 53 million households in America watched the landing on television, making it the most-watched TV event up until then.
While the Space Race championed scientific progress and government action, there was another, very opposite movement that occurred in the U.S. in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. This movement, often labelled the "counterculture," was made up of three main groups: The Hippies, The New Left, and The Civil Rights movement. Though they differed in their aims, all of these groups were defined by a sense of rebellion, disillusionment, and anti-establishment. The Hippies, for example, rejected government and traditional values in favor of a liberated, natural lifestyle. Yet it is naive to say that this kind of attitude was exclusive to the counterculture. In reality, all of the U.S. experienced the tumult of the 1970s. There seemed to be a growing distrust in authority among Americans, perhaps as a result of The Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, or any number of other factors, including the influence of the counterculture. While only a decade earlier the nation had been united behind scientific and technological progress, it now began to be pervaded by a sense of rebellion and skepticism.
The 1970s also gave birth to another movement, one which is most relevant to this website: the environmental movement. Rachel Carson's famous book, Silent Spring, is often cited as the beginning of this movement. Published in 1962, Silent Spring warned against the dangers of the pesticide DDT, which most commercial farmers at the time used on their crops. The book resulted in a series of lawsuits which eventually led to the banning on DDT--a decision whose scientific validity is still debated today. No matter its level of scientific truth, though, it is clear that Silent Spring helped to push the nation into the era in which we find ourselves today: that of anti-science.
While the Space Race championed scientific progress and government action, there was another, very opposite movement that occurred in the U.S. in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. This movement, often labelled the "counterculture," was made up of three main groups: The Hippies, The New Left, and The Civil Rights movement. Though they differed in their aims, all of these groups were defined by a sense of rebellion, disillusionment, and anti-establishment. The Hippies, for example, rejected government and traditional values in favor of a liberated, natural lifestyle. Yet it is naive to say that this kind of attitude was exclusive to the counterculture. In reality, all of the U.S. experienced the tumult of the 1970s. There seemed to be a growing distrust in authority among Americans, perhaps as a result of The Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, or any number of other factors, including the influence of the counterculture. While only a decade earlier the nation had been united behind scientific and technological progress, it now began to be pervaded by a sense of rebellion and skepticism.
The 1970s also gave birth to another movement, one which is most relevant to this website: the environmental movement. Rachel Carson's famous book, Silent Spring, is often cited as the beginning of this movement. Published in 1962, Silent Spring warned against the dangers of the pesticide DDT, which most commercial farmers at the time used on their crops. The book resulted in a series of lawsuits which eventually led to the banning on DDT--a decision whose scientific validity is still debated today. No matter its level of scientific truth, though, it is clear that Silent Spring helped to push the nation into the era in which we find ourselves today: that of anti-science.