Before taking this course, the history of science was something I never quite thought about, though history is endlessly fascinating to me. From this course, I learned how science progressed over time, the different approaches people had to solve various problems, the theories that people came up with to explain their world, and how different societies interacted with one another. I’ve learned specific examples of the accomplishments of various cultures in all fields: art, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, medicine, etc., and the methods and thought processes that led to these innovations. It was interesting to see how academics didn’t always agree on the outcomes of historical eras such as the Middle Ages, and would argue their sides in favor of them. This course gave me much more context to explain the ideas I already was familiar with, as well as teaching me about new ideas. I’ve learned about the origins of many commonplace truths such as gravity and motion, evolving from Aristotle’s theory of natural motion. I’ve also learned about completely new ideas, such as syllogisms. This course also exposed me to the concept of historical periodization, which allowed me to have a greater understanding and empathy toward eras in the past, and to give credence to the ideas that now are thought to be “backwards”, because their ideas were advanced for their own time.
The things that I’ve learned in this course can definitely relate to the present day in terms of how people as a whole go about problems. Considering what people did in the past is a very good way to understand what people do now. The history of science is not linear, nor comes from one place; it’s a collection of observations from people all over the world. What I’ve noticed is that cultures around the world share patterns in their thinking, which I appreciate.
