Dark Ages and Science
The Dark Ages and Science
Wise Young, Ph.D., M.D.
June 1, 2007
I came across an interesting chart on internet, showing the effect of “the hole left by the Christian Dark Ages”.
Aside from the clear absence of any Y-axis units that would suggest that the creator of this chart used real data to measure “scientific achievement”, I wondered whether the so-called Dark Ages could really be put at the feet of Christianity. After all, the United States is currently the most Christian of the major nations and is contributing more science than any other country. Is science and Christianity inevitably opposed so that the rise of one results in the fall of the other?
I decided to look at this question in two ways. One is to look at “dark ages” of other civilizations, to see whether there are any parallels with the so-called Ecclesiastical Dark Ages of Europe. The second is to actually examine the scientific beliefs during the Dark Ages. It suggests that the graph is wrong and that it just represents an untenable Euro-centric and anti-christian view of history. As it turns out, the there were dark ages at other times for the other great civilizations, i.e. in India and briefly in China during the Three Kingdom period.
There were also periods that were intensively creative in terms of science in the various situations. For example, during the Renaissance in Europe, Christianity was prevalent and history is replete with clashes between Christianity and scientists but the Renaissance nevertheless occurred. Thus, I think that it is incorrect to blame the Dark Ages on Christianity. Rather, I think that the Dark Ages were probably economic and due to other problems and suffering people may seek out religions during difficult times. Let's see if this is true.
The Indian Dark Ages (Vedic)
Interestingly, India was the first to have its Dark Age, long before the Roman Empire fell. Many historians regard the period from 1500 BC to 1000 AD as the Dark Ages of the Indian Continent. The “Vedic Dark Ages” ended the golden period of Brahmanic Science supported by the great Indus civilization ( Source. The “Vedic Dark Ages” is characterized by absence of written records for nearly 2000 years.
When the Indus Valley Civilization collapsed in 1500 BC, only the Brahman knew how to read. When the Arabic scientist Al-Beruni visited India in 1000 AD, he pointed out that the Brahmans had become memorizers of the old texts, suggesting not only stagnation of civilization but failure to use writing as a means to recording history. These Vedic texts, some of which were composed in the early centuries AD, held superstitious beliefs that earth was supported by a serpent, that earth is flat, earth is surrounded by water, the the universe is filled with alcohol. Medicine used Ayurvedic medicine containing urine and dung of various animals as ingredients.
The backwardness of Vedic India was in spite of the presence of literate civilizations close by, a very high level of medical practice in Persia, very sophisticated astronomy, complex astronomical and physics achievements by Greeks who entered India in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and China being close to its peak of scientific and military power during many of the years. There is no evidence that Christianity had anything to do with this remarkable decline of an entire population for nearly 2500 years. The fall began well before Christ appeared and continued long after the Roman and Greek civilization reached their nadir.
Interestingly, it was during the Vedic Dark Age that the Buddhist culture flourished and began to spread into other countries, particularly China in the 220-600 AD. This was in the form of literature, calligraphy, sculpture, and carvings. Indian Buddhist beliefs of reincarnation, personal responsibility, and charity spread and took root in over half of the world, including almost all of East and Southeast Asia. The appearance of religion during “Dark Ages” may not be because religion causes the Dark Ages but because people turn to religion during the Dark Ages.
The Arabic Enlightenment during the European Dark Ages
The Ecclesiastical Dark Ages began about 500 AD and extended to about 1500 AD. For nearly 1000 years, the only hope of the people in Europe was their belief in Christianity and hope that life in heaven would be better than earth. Very little science or advances in technology occurred during this period. The great civilizations of Greece and Rome had collapsed. The little learning and innovation that was occurring in Europe occurred in little pockets and monastaries where written language still persisted. Europe started to come out of its Dark Ages in 1450. This period became the Renaissance, coupled with the discovery of America and the beginning of modern science and history. The Rennaissance of course owes much of its existence to the presence and development of sciences in the arabic world. The emergence of Europe from their Dark Age coincided with the end of the Vedic Dark Age in India.
The lights of Arabic and muslim science science burned brightly during the so-called Dark Ages in Europe and India Source). Coinciding with the Dark Ages in Europe, the years 700 to 1000 were golden years of Arab conquest of Northern Africa and western Europe, spreading and expanding the knowledge the Greeks, Egyptians, and Indians. The Arabs of course had their religion and written language. In the early centuries AD, Mohammed Al Khwarizma worte a book whose title became the basis of the name algebra. Omarh Khyyam developed general methods for finding general solutions for solving third through fifth order roots of equations. Al-Karaji studied polynomials with infinite numbers of terms ( source). Egypt's Library of Alexandria was a mecca for scholars of the ancient world.
The Persian scientist Rhazes (Abu-Bakr Muhammed ibn Zakariyya Ar-Razi) was born near Tehran in 845 AD and was the first to distinguish between measles and smallpox. Muhammed Ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi was born in Uzbekistan and is credited for the invention and naming of algebra. Arabic numerals transformed the world of mathematics. The most famous physician of the Middle Ages was Alhazen (Abu-'Ali Al-Hasan Ibn Al-Haytham), born in Basra, Iraq around 965 AD. He studied optics and realized that the eye has a lens. He almost made the first pinhole camera and parabolic mirrors. Johannes Kepler later used his findings in designing the telescopes. The Arabic astronomer Albategnius (Abu'Abdulah Huhammed ibn Jabir al-Battani) was no small fry. He improved the work of the ancient Greeks, including Ptolemy, by calculating the positions of the sun and earth.
In the depths of the Ecclesiastical Dark Ages, the Arabs were at their brightest right on the edge of the darkness. In 1350, the Alhambra in Granada was the star of the Muslim world. The Caliphate of Cordoba had created the center of academic studies well beyond any in the world of the time, except perhaps for Baghdad and Istanbul. Their grasp of mathematics, chemistry, probability (gambling), engineering, and agricultural sciences were unprecedented. The elegant knowledge and technology of the Arabic civilization contrasted sharply with ignorant and backward Europeans living in dark castles and poverty. So, the Dark Ages was only in Europe and there was much science going on elsewhere in the world. Although the Arabic and Muslim culture continued to dominate Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Northern AFrica well into the 19th Century, Arabic scientific accomplishments clearly paled in comparison with those of the British and the Americans.
The Chinese Dark Age and the Mongolian Empire.
The Han Dynasty dominated China from about 200 BC to 220 AD. During this period, long before anybody had any comparable tchnology, three Chinese inventions transformed society: paper, compass, and gunpowder. In addition, the Chinese already had a large body of observations on plants and animals, astronomy, and mathematics. They started using the printing press and the moveable type several hundred years before the Gutenberg bible.
After the Han Dynasty collapsed, a period of civil war and strife dominated China for several hundred years. Three kingdoms vied with each other for power until 489, embroiling China in continuous warfare. During this period, like the Ecclesiastical Dark Age in Europe, the suffering population embraced religion, Buddhism. It is interesting that Nestorian Christianity entered Western China during this period as well. So, it is very interesting that the Chinese had a Dark Ages from about 220 to 489 AD, preceding the European Dark Ages from 500-1500 AD. From 500-1300, the Sui and Tang Dynasties united China into what some historians believe was the greatest and most powerful Chinese Dynasties Source.
In the 1300's, the Mongols brought Chinese culture, science, and technology to the West. In 1300's, Genghis Khan burst onto the world. Wielding a new military technology involving horse-back ridden archery, the Mongols conquered Russia, terrorized most of Middle Europe, and twice sacked Baghdad. But, perhaps the most unexpected was the scientific and technological contributions of the Mongolians. Genghis Khan imposed what has been called “Pax Mongoica”, a period of facilitated cultural exchange and trade between the East, West, and Middle East during the 13th and 14th Century. The commercial and political connections established 700 years ago persist today.
Genghis and his descendants brought advances of agricultural and military sciences to the countries they conquered. Thus, for example, they may have been credited with the transfer of gunpowder from China to the West but their far greater accomplishment was the transfer of seeds of many vegetables, grains, and trees from Europe to Asia and vice-versa. Jack Weatherford in a book entitled the “Genghis Khan and th Making of the Modern World” claimed that the Mongols was the first to bring an unprecedented tolerance for religion and cultures of other people, a consensus driven rule of government, a meritocratic culture, road building, the first long-distance postal system, and paper money. But, more than anything else, they shook up the system and forced a more open and tolerant society, brought trade and economic prosperity to much of Europe, laying the groundworks for the Rennaissance. Finally, many of Genghis Khans descendants were Christian.
In summary, little evidence supports the theory that the Dark Age in Europe resulted from Christianity or the dominance of religions is associated with the decline of science. Dark Ages come for many reasons including war, economic ruin, the collapse of an empire, climate changes, and other factors. On the other hand, religions do tend to flourish during Dark Ages. Thus, Christianity boomed during the Ecclesiastical Dark Ages in Europe. Buddhist arose during the Vedic Period and spread to China during the Three Kingdom Period when turmoil and war dominated China for nearly 300 years. However, the Arabic enlightenment is a strong argument against ascent of religion being necessary associated with a decline of science.
The Dark Ages and Science
Wise Young, Ph.D., M.D.
June 1, 2007
I came across an interesting chart on internet, showing the effect of “the hole left by the Christian Dark Ages”.
Aside from the clear absence of any Y-axis units that would suggest that the creator of this chart used real data to measure “scientific achievement”, I wondered whether the so-called Dark Ages could really be put at the feet of Christianity. After all, the United States is currently the most Christian of the major nations and is contributing more science than any other country. Is science and Christianity inevitably opposed so that the rise of one results in the fall of the other?
I decided to look at this question in two ways. One is to look at “dark ages” of other civilizations, to see whether there are any parallels with the so-called Ecclesiastical Dark Ages of Europe. The second is to actually examine the scientific beliefs during the Dark Ages. It suggests that the graph is wrong and that it just represents an untenable Euro-centric and anti-christian view of history. As it turns out, the there were dark ages at other times for the other great civilizations, i.e. in India and briefly in China during the Three Kingdom period.
There were also periods that were intensively creative in terms of science in the various situations. For example, during the Renaissance in Europe, Christianity was prevalent and history is replete with clashes between Christianity and scientists but the Renaissance nevertheless occurred. Thus, I think that it is incorrect to blame the Dark Ages on Christianity. Rather, I think that the Dark Ages were probably economic and due to other problems and suffering people may seek out religions during difficult times. Let's see if this is true.
The Indian Dark Ages (Vedic)
Interestingly, India was the first to have its Dark Age, long before the Roman Empire fell. Many historians regard the period from 1500 BC to 1000 AD as the Dark Ages of the Indian Continent. The “Vedic Dark Ages” ended the golden period of Brahmanic Science supported by the great Indus civilization ( Source. The “Vedic Dark Ages” is characterized by absence of written records for nearly 2000 years.
When the Indus Valley Civilization collapsed in 1500 BC, only the Brahman knew how to read. When the Arabic scientist Al-Beruni visited India in 1000 AD, he pointed out that the Brahmans had become memorizers of the old texts, suggesting not only stagnation of civilization but failure to use writing as a means to recording history. These Vedic texts, some of which were composed in the early centuries AD, held superstitious beliefs that earth was supported by a serpent, that earth is flat, earth is surrounded by water, the the universe is filled with alcohol. Medicine used Ayurvedic medicine containing urine and dung of various animals as ingredients.
The backwardness of Vedic India was in spite of the presence of literate civilizations close by, a very high level of medical practice in Persia, very sophisticated astronomy, complex astronomical and physics achievements by Greeks who entered India in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and China being close to its peak of scientific and military power during many of the years. There is no evidence that Christianity had anything to do with this remarkable decline of an entire population for nearly 2500 years. The fall began well before Christ appeared and continued long after the Roman and Greek civilization reached their nadir.
Interestingly, it was during the Vedic Dark Age that the Buddhist culture flourished and began to spread into other countries, particularly China in the 220-600 AD. This was in the form of literature, calligraphy, sculpture, and carvings. Indian Buddhist beliefs of reincarnation, personal responsibility, and charity spread and took root in over half of the world, including almost all of East and Southeast Asia. The appearance of religion during “Dark Ages” may not be because religion causes the Dark Ages but because people turn to religion during the Dark Ages.
The Arabic Enlightenment during the European Dark Ages
The Ecclesiastical Dark Ages began about 500 AD and extended to about 1500 AD. For nearly 1000 years, the only hope of the people in Europe was their belief in Christianity and hope that life in heaven would be better than earth. Very little science or advances in technology occurred during this period. The great civilizations of Greece and Rome had collapsed. The little learning and innovation that was occurring in Europe occurred in little pockets and monastaries where written language still persisted. Europe started to come out of its Dark Ages in 1450. This period became the Renaissance, coupled with the discovery of America and the beginning of modern science and history. The Rennaissance of course owes much of its existence to the presence and development of sciences in the arabic world. The emergence of Europe from their Dark Age coincided with the end of the Vedic Dark Age in India.
The lights of Arabic and muslim science science burned brightly during the so-called Dark Ages in Europe and India Source). Coinciding with the Dark Ages in Europe, the years 700 to 1000 were golden years of Arab conquest of Northern Africa and western Europe, spreading and expanding the knowledge the Greeks, Egyptians, and Indians. The Arabs of course had their religion and written language. In the early centuries AD, Mohammed Al Khwarizma worte a book whose title became the basis of the name algebra. Omarh Khyyam developed general methods for finding general solutions for solving third through fifth order roots of equations. Al-Karaji studied polynomials with infinite numbers of terms ( source). Egypt's Library of Alexandria was a mecca for scholars of the ancient world.
The Persian scientist Rhazes (Abu-Bakr Muhammed ibn Zakariyya Ar-Razi) was born near Tehran in 845 AD and was the first to distinguish between measles and smallpox. Muhammed Ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi was born in Uzbekistan and is credited for the invention and naming of algebra. Arabic numerals transformed the world of mathematics. The most famous physician of the Middle Ages was Alhazen (Abu-'Ali Al-Hasan Ibn Al-Haytham), born in Basra, Iraq around 965 AD. He studied optics and realized that the eye has a lens. He almost made the first pinhole camera and parabolic mirrors. Johannes Kepler later used his findings in designing the telescopes. The Arabic astronomer Albategnius (Abu'Abdulah Huhammed ibn Jabir al-Battani) was no small fry. He improved the work of the ancient Greeks, including Ptolemy, by calculating the positions of the sun and earth.
In the depths of the Ecclesiastical Dark Ages, the Arabs were at their brightest right on the edge of the darkness. In 1350, the Alhambra in Granada was the star of the Muslim world. The Caliphate of Cordoba had created the center of academic studies well beyond any in the world of the time, except perhaps for Baghdad and Istanbul. Their grasp of mathematics, chemistry, probability (gambling), engineering, and agricultural sciences were unprecedented. The elegant knowledge and technology of the Arabic civilization contrasted sharply with ignorant and backward Europeans living in dark castles and poverty. So, the Dark Ages was only in Europe and there was much science going on elsewhere in the world. Although the Arabic and Muslim culture continued to dominate Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Northern AFrica well into the 19th Century, Arabic scientific accomplishments clearly paled in comparison with those of the British and the Americans.
The Chinese Dark Age and the Mongolian Empire.
The Han Dynasty dominated China from about 200 BC to 220 AD. During this period, long before anybody had any comparable tchnology, three Chinese inventions transformed society: paper, compass, and gunpowder. In addition, the Chinese already had a large body of observations on plants and animals, astronomy, and mathematics. They started using the printing press and the moveable type several hundred years before the Gutenberg bible.
After the Han Dynasty collapsed, a period of civil war and strife dominated China for several hundred years. Three kingdoms vied with each other for power until 489, embroiling China in continuous warfare. During this period, like the Ecclesiastical Dark Age in Europe, the suffering population embraced religion, Buddhism. It is interesting that Nestorian Christianity entered Western China during this period as well. So, it is very interesting that the Chinese had a Dark Ages from about 220 to 489 AD, preceding the European Dark Ages from 500-1500 AD. From 500-1300, the Sui and Tang Dynasties united China into what some historians believe was the greatest and most powerful Chinese Dynasties Source.
In the 1300's, the Mongols brought Chinese culture, science, and technology to the West. In 1300's, Genghis Khan burst onto the world. Wielding a new military technology involving horse-back ridden archery, the Mongols conquered Russia, terrorized most of Middle Europe, and twice sacked Baghdad. But, perhaps the most unexpected was the scientific and technological contributions of the Mongolians. Genghis Khan imposed what has been called “Pax Mongoica”, a period of facilitated cultural exchange and trade between the East, West, and Middle East during the 13th and 14th Century. The commercial and political connections established 700 years ago persist today.
Genghis and his descendants brought advances of agricultural and military sciences to the countries they conquered. Thus, for example, they may have been credited with the transfer of gunpowder from China to the West but their far greater accomplishment was the transfer of seeds of many vegetables, grains, and trees from Europe to Asia and vice-versa. Jack Weatherford in a book entitled the “Genghis Khan and th Making of the Modern World” claimed that the Mongols was the first to bring an unprecedented tolerance for religion and cultures of other people, a consensus driven rule of government, a meritocratic culture, road building, the first long-distance postal system, and paper money. But, more than anything else, they shook up the system and forced a more open and tolerant society, brought trade and economic prosperity to much of Europe, laying the groundworks for the Rennaissance. Finally, many of Genghis Khans descendants were Christian.
In summary, little evidence supports the theory that the Dark Age in Europe resulted from Christianity or the dominance of religions is associated with the decline of science. Dark Ages come for many reasons including war, economic ruin, the collapse of an empire, climate changes, and other factors. On the other hand, religions do tend to flourish during Dark Ages. Thus, Christianity boomed during the Ecclesiastical Dark Ages in Europe. Buddhist arose during the Vedic Period and spread to China during the Three Kingdom Period when turmoil and war dominated China for nearly 300 years. However, the Arabic enlightenment is a strong argument against ascent of religion being necessary associated with a decline of science.
Comment