On the history of science and its crisis
Do you know that if you put a crisis in Google search, then there are approximately 183 million results; science crisis, then about 55 million; economic crisis, then about 37 million pages? (At the time of writing, and in general, Google differently gives the number of pages on different days)
Here is a brief historical overview of the history of the development of science in the sense in which we understand it, and in the form in which we now see it and some conclusions.
XVII century
In all pairs is the Reformation. The first half of the century there is an exhausting Thirty Years War: the war between Catholics and Protestants. The former social spaces are crumbling. The century when the foundations of medieval civilization, based on the primacy of the Catholic Church, are crumbling. The worst crisis in the church itself. The traditional Medieval worldview is destroyed. There is no atheism yet, but all the teachings of the church are subject to skepticism, which originated in the Renaissance. Criticism of scholasticism and dogma, and criticize their own: students of universities who are engaged in natural science. Universities such as Sorbonne, Oxford, Gothenburg. By the way, at that time it was a normal situation. The fact is that the Catholic Church allowed (and now permits) the interpretation of dogmas (as opposed to the Orthodox). Any representative of the clergy who has a university education could introduce their own interpretation and their interpretation of dogmas, if this did not strongly contradict the official line and was logically justified. This prepared people who can think analytically. As a result, the Catholics got what they got: the criticism of dogma comes not only from reformers, but also from representatives of the academic world. As a result, they come to the following conclusion: Scripture, which has been interpreted and interpreted more than once, is a product of the human mind. It is written by the clergy. Is it worthwhile to treat scripture with authority? It is not a means of knowing God. There is a problem of finding the way of knowing God. As such a method they begin to see nature - the book of natural revelation. The science of the 17th century begins in this.
')
That is, the cause of the development of science was precisely the worldview crisis, which had not only its own ideological aspects, but was associated with the loss of a foothold, a point on which one can feel stable. Naturally, all of the above applies only to the most educated part of the European community. It simply lost the meaning of life and tried to find it again. And she found it in science. And then development began. Newly-minted scientists were divided into two categories:
XVIII century
Characterized by the time of development of national states the beginning of political competition. Many are at war (France, England, Spain, Russia). The process of institutionalization (oh, this is a terrible word!) Of science. The state sets the task of ensuring the country's defense and social development - the organization of the world order and social space. Construction of roads, bridges, fortifications. This requires an education system. Science is beginning to serve the evolving education system. Throughout the XVIII century, universities, still under the influence of the church and, as before, aside from all these processes. Therefore, organizations that are starting to do this are higher technical educational institutions. They are called special schools and schools to emphasize their separation from universities. In fact, these are all higher education institutions. First of all, in France: School of Artillery, Military Engineers, Mining, Maritime Academy, Polytechnic School, School of Sciences and Arts. At the same time, they appear in Saxony, in Hungary, Russia, across Europe. Artillery and engineering cadet corps arise. Spanish Academy of fortification. At the same time, academies are being created first in France and then in Russia. They are engaged in the certification of researchers, the examination of the results of the work of researchers. It is in these schools that the development of applied sciences begins. Basic mathematical, physical, chemical education is aimed at the education of engineers of various levels. Exact sciences come out on top, and the humanities are beginning to be crowded out of educational programs. For example, if they are present in Germany, then there are no humanitarian disciplines in France. Applied disciplines, in the first place, mathematics, physics, and chemistry, are developing. Scientists work: Ampere, Gay-Lussac, Aragon, Carnot, Poisson, Fresnel, Fourier, Lagrange, Laplace, Cauchy. They begin to occupy various posts, state, bureaucratic: Lagrange and Laplace were prefects, Carnot - army general, creator of descriptive geometry Monge was the naval minister under Napoleon. There are schools that stand on certain concepts. Authorities arise. The scientific life begins. This process is somewhat different in Germany. There the task of education is associated with the unification of the country, since Germany is fragmented. The task of German education is to strengthen the national spirit, national consciousness with the help of knowledge. It is on the basis of this that the well-being of the country is seen. One of the founders of German education, Humboldt, saw the task of German education in educating the general culture and moral potential of a person. If other countries are training specialists, then the Germans are training teachers. Education is not a professional, but it is the education of an individual who carries her knowledge to other people in the absence of a centralized state. The education system exists on private money. In Russia and France on state money, and in Germany on students' money. High competition between scientists in Germany for the position of professor. That is why German scientists are happy to go to Russia.
Science acquires a social function - an educational one. Begins to serve the national interests of the state - political and military. Gradually loses independence from the socio-political system. Changing ideas about the truth - obtaining true knowledge that is productive, can be used. The concept of truth is changing - it must fit into the existing scientific system. As Franklin wrote: “We don’t care why the cup breaks, it’s enough for us to know that it breaks.”
XIX and XX century
In the middle of the XIX century, a new factor emerged - industrial civilization. Until the middle of the XIX century, scientific and technical progress were in no way connected. The main producers of inventions are people of production. Engineering, it is connected with the social space, science is not engaged in production. All technical innovations are from manufacturers. But it is from the middle of the XIX century, they begin to merge. The impetus for this is denyushki, a lot of denyushki. That is, the profit is obtained as a result of product improvements, which reduces costs. Technical progress is becoming necessary for the production system to make a profit. Hence the connection of production with technical progress. Laboratories, design bureaus, research and production associations appear. The development of fundamental problems is aimed at applied use, at translating scientific knowledge into technical knowledge. For the first time it occurs in Germany and the United States. As a result, science is included in technical progress and becomes the productive force of society. There is a scientific and technical progress. Completion of the formation of the education system. Production is booming. There is a problem in the need for a large mass of educated people who are able to work in complex technological production. Scientific knowledge becomes the subject, specialized material that is taught. Requires a large number of teachers. Science becomes a profession. Science is taught by university professors, specialists in design bureaus, laboratories. Lessons in science are described by job duties.
If in the 17th century - science is a readiness to serve, if in the 18th century - this is the lot of the most outstanding and bright minds, then by the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries the middle peasant will enter the science. You do not need to have special abilities to become a scientist. This is the modern system - less scientists, more and more scientific experts. Ratings, publications, quoting, that is what is in any profession. Doing science does not require creativity. Scientific discoveries are becoming not only more specialized, which is not so bad, but universal scientists are lost, the ability to think systematically is lost. They do not go to the general knowledge. Of course, people like Einstein and Landau remain, but there are too few of them, and the majority of research workers outside their field remain incompetent.
During the 20th century, science merged with the market. Science develops not only as applied, but also as fundamental. However, at present, fundamental knowledge develops very poorly, it is expensive and very rarely gives the desired result. Not all countries and corporations can spend money on development. Instead of science, modern scientists are engaged in management: contests, grants, product pushing, ratings, citation indices — all this takes time away from useful activities.
Now what?
Research and development is an employment. An employee is an element of a system of divided intellectual labor that solves a particular task. There is no freedom of scientific research. The application is examined by various structures, only then money is allocated. The main functions of science are social, educational, industrial, military. The situation of inequality in science, when young and talented scientists can not work independently, but are forced to work for the boss. Science loses cognitive significance - it becomes a producer of technological information. Many are engaged only in imitation of scientific activity, only shifting pieces of paper. The worst thing is the state of constant competition between scientists, when not only people of the same, but also of different generations compete. Old people are afraid to teach young people, as they may be without a piece of bread. Perhaps we have a crisis of overproduction of scientists. In a technological civilization, science dies as part of the culture that created the foundation of modern civilization. Civilization is a rigid construction. Culture, drying is alive and constantly changing. Civilization develops on the basis of culture and gradually devours it. But there comes a time when civilization stiffens and culture is driven into a rigid framework. Now science is a means of managing production, people, etc. It was similar in the Christian civilization, when the medieval civilization killed the very spirit of religion. It is difficult to say which way the development will go. Some theories suggest that science may become what modern religion is, but these are only theories. On the other hand, it is said that science will undergo a powerful transformation. For example, now the largest number of publications in the field of medicine, biology and chemistry. That is, there will be a departure from the technical sciences in the direction of the natural. Someone says that everything is cyclical, and we just repeat what was before. Wait and see.
Here is a brief historical overview of the history of the development of science in the sense in which we understand it, and in the form in which we now see it and some conclusions.
XVII century
In all pairs is the Reformation. The first half of the century there is an exhausting Thirty Years War: the war between Catholics and Protestants. The former social spaces are crumbling. The century when the foundations of medieval civilization, based on the primacy of the Catholic Church, are crumbling. The worst crisis in the church itself. The traditional Medieval worldview is destroyed. There is no atheism yet, but all the teachings of the church are subject to skepticism, which originated in the Renaissance. Criticism of scholasticism and dogma, and criticize their own: students of universities who are engaged in natural science. Universities such as Sorbonne, Oxford, Gothenburg. By the way, at that time it was a normal situation. The fact is that the Catholic Church allowed (and now permits) the interpretation of dogmas (as opposed to the Orthodox). Any representative of the clergy who has a university education could introduce their own interpretation and their interpretation of dogmas, if this did not strongly contradict the official line and was logically justified. This prepared people who can think analytically. As a result, the Catholics got what they got: the criticism of dogma comes not only from reformers, but also from representatives of the academic world. As a result, they come to the following conclusion: Scripture, which has been interpreted and interpreted more than once, is a product of the human mind. It is written by the clergy. Is it worthwhile to treat scripture with authority? It is not a means of knowing God. There is a problem of finding the way of knowing God. As such a method they begin to see nature - the book of natural revelation. The science of the 17th century begins in this.
')
That is, the cause of the development of science was precisely the worldview crisis, which had not only its own ideological aspects, but was associated with the loss of a foothold, a point on which one can feel stable. Naturally, all of the above applies only to the most educated part of the European community. It simply lost the meaning of life and tried to find it again. And she found it in science. And then development began. Newly-minted scientists were divided into two categories:
- Communities of science lovers - conducting experiments in a mass gathering of people. Mass is needed so that people are confident that they are watching, and that it is visible to all. Examples include the Academy of the Lynx-eyed and the Royal Society of London .
- The community of professional scientists - the republic of scientists - is a virtual community of people who are in correspondence with each other, share all scientific results, and offer scientific cooperation. Among them: Galileo, Boyle, Farm, Descartes, Bernoulli, Huygens.
XVIII century
Characterized by the time of development of national states the beginning of political competition. Many are at war (France, England, Spain, Russia). The process of institutionalization (oh, this is a terrible word!) Of science. The state sets the task of ensuring the country's defense and social development - the organization of the world order and social space. Construction of roads, bridges, fortifications. This requires an education system. Science is beginning to serve the evolving education system. Throughout the XVIII century, universities, still under the influence of the church and, as before, aside from all these processes. Therefore, organizations that are starting to do this are higher technical educational institutions. They are called special schools and schools to emphasize their separation from universities. In fact, these are all higher education institutions. First of all, in France: School of Artillery, Military Engineers, Mining, Maritime Academy, Polytechnic School, School of Sciences and Arts. At the same time, they appear in Saxony, in Hungary, Russia, across Europe. Artillery and engineering cadet corps arise. Spanish Academy of fortification. At the same time, academies are being created first in France and then in Russia. They are engaged in the certification of researchers, the examination of the results of the work of researchers. It is in these schools that the development of applied sciences begins. Basic mathematical, physical, chemical education is aimed at the education of engineers of various levels. Exact sciences come out on top, and the humanities are beginning to be crowded out of educational programs. For example, if they are present in Germany, then there are no humanitarian disciplines in France. Applied disciplines, in the first place, mathematics, physics, and chemistry, are developing. Scientists work: Ampere, Gay-Lussac, Aragon, Carnot, Poisson, Fresnel, Fourier, Lagrange, Laplace, Cauchy. They begin to occupy various posts, state, bureaucratic: Lagrange and Laplace were prefects, Carnot - army general, creator of descriptive geometry Monge was the naval minister under Napoleon. There are schools that stand on certain concepts. Authorities arise. The scientific life begins. This process is somewhat different in Germany. There the task of education is associated with the unification of the country, since Germany is fragmented. The task of German education is to strengthen the national spirit, national consciousness with the help of knowledge. It is on the basis of this that the well-being of the country is seen. One of the founders of German education, Humboldt, saw the task of German education in educating the general culture and moral potential of a person. If other countries are training specialists, then the Germans are training teachers. Education is not a professional, but it is the education of an individual who carries her knowledge to other people in the absence of a centralized state. The education system exists on private money. In Russia and France on state money, and in Germany on students' money. High competition between scientists in Germany for the position of professor. That is why German scientists are happy to go to Russia.
Science acquires a social function - an educational one. Begins to serve the national interests of the state - political and military. Gradually loses independence from the socio-political system. Changing ideas about the truth - obtaining true knowledge that is productive, can be used. The concept of truth is changing - it must fit into the existing scientific system. As Franklin wrote: “We don’t care why the cup breaks, it’s enough for us to know that it breaks.”
XIX and XX century
In the middle of the XIX century, a new factor emerged - industrial civilization. Until the middle of the XIX century, scientific and technical progress were in no way connected. The main producers of inventions are people of production. Engineering, it is connected with the social space, science is not engaged in production. All technical innovations are from manufacturers. But it is from the middle of the XIX century, they begin to merge. The impetus for this is denyushki, a lot of denyushki. That is, the profit is obtained as a result of product improvements, which reduces costs. Technical progress is becoming necessary for the production system to make a profit. Hence the connection of production with technical progress. Laboratories, design bureaus, research and production associations appear. The development of fundamental problems is aimed at applied use, at translating scientific knowledge into technical knowledge. For the first time it occurs in Germany and the United States. As a result, science is included in technical progress and becomes the productive force of society. There is a scientific and technical progress. Completion of the formation of the education system. Production is booming. There is a problem in the need for a large mass of educated people who are able to work in complex technological production. Scientific knowledge becomes the subject, specialized material that is taught. Requires a large number of teachers. Science becomes a profession. Science is taught by university professors, specialists in design bureaus, laboratories. Lessons in science are described by job duties.
If in the 17th century - science is a readiness to serve, if in the 18th century - this is the lot of the most outstanding and bright minds, then by the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries the middle peasant will enter the science. You do not need to have special abilities to become a scientist. This is the modern system - less scientists, more and more scientific experts. Ratings, publications, quoting, that is what is in any profession. Doing science does not require creativity. Scientific discoveries are becoming not only more specialized, which is not so bad, but universal scientists are lost, the ability to think systematically is lost. They do not go to the general knowledge. Of course, people like Einstein and Landau remain, but there are too few of them, and the majority of research workers outside their field remain incompetent.
During the 20th century, science merged with the market. Science develops not only as applied, but also as fundamental. However, at present, fundamental knowledge develops very poorly, it is expensive and very rarely gives the desired result. Not all countries and corporations can spend money on development. Instead of science, modern scientists are engaged in management: contests, grants, product pushing, ratings, citation indices — all this takes time away from useful activities.
Now what?
Research and development is an employment. An employee is an element of a system of divided intellectual labor that solves a particular task. There is no freedom of scientific research. The application is examined by various structures, only then money is allocated. The main functions of science are social, educational, industrial, military. The situation of inequality in science, when young and talented scientists can not work independently, but are forced to work for the boss. Science loses cognitive significance - it becomes a producer of technological information. Many are engaged only in imitation of scientific activity, only shifting pieces of paper. The worst thing is the state of constant competition between scientists, when not only people of the same, but also of different generations compete. Old people are afraid to teach young people, as they may be without a piece of bread. Perhaps we have a crisis of overproduction of scientists. In a technological civilization, science dies as part of the culture that created the foundation of modern civilization. Civilization is a rigid construction. Culture, drying is alive and constantly changing. Civilization develops on the basis of culture and gradually devours it. But there comes a time when civilization stiffens and culture is driven into a rigid framework. Now science is a means of managing production, people, etc. It was similar in the Christian civilization, when the medieval civilization killed the very spirit of religion. It is difficult to say which way the development will go. Some theories suggest that science may become what modern religion is, but these are only theories. On the other hand, it is said that science will undergo a powerful transformation. For example, now the largest number of publications in the field of medicine, biology and chemistry. That is, there will be a departure from the technical sciences in the direction of the natural. Someone says that everything is cyclical, and we just repeat what was before. Wait and see.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/47781/
All Articles