ENGLISH

Is Science Western in Origin?

By C. K. Raju

Book information

Publisher
Multiversity & Citizens International
Year
2009
ISBN
9789833046072
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
8 MB (8809814 bytes)
Series
Dissenting Knowledge Pamphlet Series 8
Pages
60\68
Time added
2017-12-31 18:44:28
Science

Description

On stock Western history, science originated among the Greeks, and then developed in post-renaissance Europe. This story was fabricated in three phases./First, during the Crusades, scientific knowledge from across the world, in captured Arabic books, was given a theologically-correct origin by claiming it was all transmitted from the Greeks. The key cases of Euclid (geometry) and Claudius Ptolemy (astronomy) both concocted figures are used to illustrate this process./Second, during the Inquisition, world scientific knowledge was again assigned a theologically-correct origin by claiming it was not transmitted from others, but was independently rediscovered by Europeans. The cases of Copernicus and Newton (calculus) illustrate this process of revolution by rediscovery. / Third, the appropriated knowledge was reinterpreted and aligned to post-Crusade theology. Colonial and racist historians exploited this, arguing that the (theologically) correct version of scientific knowledge (geometry, calculus, etc.) existed only in Europe./ These processes of appropriation continue to this day.

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