Science During The Middle Ages

Contents

• Statement of Inquiry
• Introduction
• Where and how was science used in the Middle ages?
• How did people think of Science during the Middle ages?
• How did Science develop during the Middle ages?
• What parts of science existed during the middle ages? How did they get discovered?
• What kind of inventions existed in the Middle ages and where did they come from?
• How were Scientific Experiments done during the Middle ages?
• Who were some famous Medieval Scientists
• Interesting Facts
• Conclusion
• Reflection

Statement of Inquiry
What were the means and possibilities of scientific work during the middle ages?
I chose this guiding question because it is not too open and not too close, it outlines a very important part of science
Western Europe was mostly Christian and at that time, the Church felt like Science was against God and the religion. Anyone who opposed the Church could get hanged, killed or tortured. The problem was that on top of the Church not believing in science, everyone following the Church had the same opinion. So there were only a few scientists and they had to keep their research secret. This is why science made little real progress in Western Europe. Some scientists even learnt Arabic and moved to Spain which was occupied by the Islamic Empire. For example:
In Northern Europe lived the Vikings. The Vikings were actually very advanced people. They could travel from Greenland to Iceland without a compass. They used the stars to travel around the seas. They also made very advanced boats. The boats (Viking Longboats) they made actually had a special shape that allowed them to slide through water very quickly. As the Vikings moved through Europe to trade and steal, they learnt even more scientific knowledge. For example, they learnt new techniques to create better metalwork and jewellery. Some of these ideas had probably come with trade routes from India, Egypt and
This is because the government and the religion (Islam) encouraged Science. In the Middle East, this period of time was called the Golden age (from about BC750-BC1200). Most of the Knowledge Europeans had on science had actually come all the way from the Middle East to Europe. This knowledge was carried by the Crusades and by trading. What the Muslims did was they translated all the books that were left from Ancient Greece or the Roman Empire to Arabic. That was how they started learning about science. The Islamic Empire created the numbers we use today (Hindu Arabic: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9). The Islamic Empire also learnt about Medicine, Plants, Geometry, Algebra, Astronomy and Chemistry.
In Ancient China, research was done and many inventions were created in the early Middle Ages but they got to Europe during the late middle ages. The first solar eclipses, comets and supernovae were recorded in ancient China. The Mongol Empire invented clocks, kites, fireworks, gunpowder, cross bows, hot air balloons and the compass. Many of these inventions were created for religious reasons. These inventions are also very important in the history of