(My Answer on Quora)
Charles Darwin’s contribution to the Life Sciences probably stands front-and-center in that particular area of Natural Philosophy but is he the greatest contributor in the long history of the Scientific Revolution ? I am not convinced.
Darwin articulated the importance of natural selection as a key driver for evolution which has obvious explanatory benefits in both zoology and biology as well as human medicine (think antibiotic resistance).
However there are other figures whose contribution in the biological sciences should not be forgotten and deserve a mention even within Darwin’s heightened context - Pasteur, Mendel (although his results were later re-discovered), Harvey, Vesalius, Cajal, Virchow, van Leeuwenhoek, and Hooke come to mind.
I would also give a nod to his contemporary Alfred Russel Wallace. Having said that Darwin probably shades it over the pack here as Natural Selection has such overarching reach in the Life Sciences and the Englishman - who was well connected through familial ties - got to the end post first.
Darwin like most mortals stood on the broad shoulders of others before him - Malthus, Hutton, Linneaus - to peer further into the scientific horizon (a sentiment articulated much earlier by Sir Issac Newton). One should not forget that as we rush forward with hagiographic intent.
Had the big man himself not existed I suspect his ideas would still have seen the light of day with the often downplayed and under appreciated Wallace perhaps earning more credit than he is traditionally afforded.
The scientific revolution was well under way before Darwin was born. Long before in fact with tremendous contributions already having been made by Copernicus, Galileo, Bruno, Kepler, Newton, Huygens, Laplace etc.
Darwin furthered its progress in the biological ream but much of the key breakthroughs in terms of methodology, rational thought, necessary skepticism and empirical verification preceded him.
It was Galileo for one who vaulted Experimentation to the front and center of the Sciences (he is my personal choice for Greatest contributor) while Copernicus (before him) overthrew the primacy of the human dominated Earth as the focus of the Universe.
Newton’s genius in synthesizing the physics of the celestial and the terrestrial are immeasurable and his contribution to optics, calculus cannot be understated. Our understanding of classical mechanics, a discipline that impacts every facet of our lives whether we know it or not, is well described by his Laws of Motion.
To this I would add the work of Faraday and Maxwell that saw the practical and theoretical synthesis of Electricity and Magnetism. This a pivotal to the ongoing scientific revolution that places a high premium on elucidating unity between phenomena and birthed the very powerful notion of the Field.
The same can be said with the development of chemistry through Dalton, Priestley, Lavoisier, Berzelius and Mendeleev. In terms of overarching structures the Periodic Table is as critical to our understanding of elemental structure and reactions as natural selection is to biology.
One could argue as well that Einstein and his work in shattering key paradigms of space, time, simultaneity and gravity are even greater contributions, not to mention the many pioneers who blazed the trail in Quantum Mechanics - an area of science that is often touted as the greatest accomplishment in all of Intellectual History. Max Planck as the discipline's forefather stands aloft here as does Ludwig Boltzmann, the originator of Statistical Mechanics.
The Modern age of Telecommunications and Information technology with all its benefits arise from the insights we have gained in understanding the counter intuitive nuances of this discipline.
Yes one ought to value Darwin for his scientific thinking but in the rarefied competition of who is the greatest I would argue that there are strong examples elsewhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment