Human Curiosity Leads to Advancements in All Fields

Rydell considers the curiosity of human beings as a powerful tool that drives them towards acquiring new knowledge, the daily improvements in life and development in general(108). Taking an example of the early man or Homo sapiens as is widely known, their emergence about 100,000 years ago is still a myth in which humans are still trying to find answers. The person of today is still trying to find out answers as to where he came from and what exactly he or she is. This kind of curiosity is an element of their strategy for survival. Since the past century, man has always been driven by an interest within and often strives to understand how the physical world around him works and why certain things behave the way they do. The how has mainly focused on being able to understand the mechanical and physical aspects of the world that surround us through scientific inquiries which have resulted in eye-opening developments. The why on the other hand has traversed through the philosophical and metaphysical endeavors?

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The results of these pursuits have led to the new and updated knowledge of humans in all fields which has in time evolved and accumulated throughout the years. The basis of all the developments lies in the ever-growing knowledge of persons as well as its desire for change newer facts are unraveled, inventions made and the previously held knowledge updated. All these have been made possible with the innate curiosity that lies within the humans and their unstoppable quest for knowledge. The rapid increase in accumulation of knowledge in all the possible fields of human endeavor have become quite essential for all of the professionals whose aim is to keep up with the pace of development in their respective areas. This has become a big deal so much those who are rigid or reluctant to advance their knowledge and skills risk becoming outdated or incompetent. This in time may reduce the demand for their professional competence in the job market. Certain conventional methods such as those of further studies have been incorporated to upgrade the skills and knowledge of professionals so that it keeps up with the ever evolving job developments.

The human knowledge and some of its characteristics

Since the early times of civilization, people have always had the urge to define their place in the universe. Some of the things that are crucial to him include the understanding of how the world around him operates, and the ways in which the knowledge he has gained can be used for social benefit, security, and welfare. Without a doubt mans innate curiosity has contributed a lot to the evolution of his society. It has driven humanity to the verge of unraveling the secrets of life through the fields of biotechnology and more specifically, genetic science. Through the theories such as that of the big bang, we can agree that human beings are on the path of making a discovery on how the universe evolved. The numerous fields such as those of Philosophy, Music, Medicine, Astronomy and Chemistry bear testimony to how ingenious human beings are (Cochrane 1040). This paper focuses on the advancements in different fields that have come about as a result of the innate curiosity of human beings.

It took quite a long time for humankind to change their thoughts from mere superstitions to their todays scientific understanding of their physical world. A critical period of this journey was the Renaissance whereby the scientists began developing methods and principles that would lay a foundation for the future generations in enhancing their knowledge in science in addition to developing a more detailed view of the world. The inventors of this period hatched out new ways in which they could harness power from the physical world to increase the chances for human accomplishment. The Renaissance period does contain not only the formulas and the facts but also stories about the people who had the inspiration and courage to look beyond the scope of the already established knowledge. The term curiosity at this point was defined by all means and carried the risk of corporal punishment. Scientific discoveries that swept the face of the earth during the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries were a clear indication of the advancement in the scientific aspect of thinking. Science had, as a result, become a unique discipline.

Copernicus was one of the earliest figures of the scientific revolution and came into limelight by assisting with the production of astrological forecasts. During his process of tracking the movement of heavenly bodies, he focused more on how he could formulate an explanation for the observed movements. With this, the heliocentric theory was formulated that stated that the sun was at the center of the planetary rotation instead of the earth. Although his theories did not hold up, Copernicus had ultimately created a basis for further adjustments and improvements. The fine tuning of Copernicuss work was done by Galileo Galilei, who refined instruments such as the telescope that enabled further astronomical discoveries to be made. The Renaissance of the early astronomers who sought better explanations of the movements of the heavenly bodies paved the way for a better understanding of the physical world which further evolved into the field of physics of the modern day. Other personalities from the scientific revolution made significant contributions in the formalization of physics as an area of study. An example is a philosopher, Rene Descartes, who made a lasting impression in the fields of astronomy and physics.

Christiaan Huygens was also a major contributor who is remembered as having formulated the mathematical explanations for principles of particular motions such as those of the oscillations of the pendulum and the centrifugal force. Isaac Newtons work on the composition of white light is still very essential to the field of optics; his laws of motion and gravity also have simplified mechanics making it measurable and predictable. The formality of making science a discipline was evident in the field of chemistry that developed over the era of scientific revolution. An interrelation between the areas of science was observed in the areas of medicine and anatomy. Studies on mechanical principles spurred the need for an understanding of the mechanisms of operations of the body. Also, the optical and lens development were crucial to the study of the microscopic aspect of biology that in turn was essential to anatomy and medicine. Chemistry was also found to play a fundamental role in how the human body operates and this is important especially in the development of modern medicine.

According to Hirai anatomy and medicine not only benefitted from the contributions from other related disciplines but they also advanced because the persons working on the same problems were able to capitalize on one anothers work (5). Thus, the anatomical studies of different scientists provided a detailed explanation for how blood circulates throughout the body of a human being. Medicine was able to progress from a science filled with superstition and practices thought to be barbaric to the modern understanding of the human body. With scientists of the Renaissance era having made major progress across a wider range of fields, the obvious question bordered on how humanity would fair on with the new and exciting knowledge. To answer such issues, inventors of that era applied both the new knowledge that had been acquired and the active curiosity of the time. With that, they managed to come up with innovations that ranged from barometers, submarines, electric generators to even the earliest version of a flushable toilet.

A more improved understanding of science facilitated most of the new inventions, but some served the purpose of advancing science. An example is how vital the telescope was for astronomy just the same way a microscope was relevant to biology and the works that relate to medicine. The printing press also played a major role in the success of sciences during the Renaissance period (Thackeray and Findling 120). It made it possible for scientists from all over the world to learn from the successes and failures of others and help make progress for themselves. Although the progress seemed a bit slow and untimely, most of the work during this period showed major steps that were important in trying to process of uncovering the truth. When viewed from a historical perspective, the changes in scientific knowledge and methodologies that were present during the Renaissance are in fact revolutionary. When starts to imagine for a moment, he or she realizes that it is hard to think of the modern world without having gone through these advances.

During the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, the Greek view of nature was replaced after about two thousand years in existence. Science had emerged as an autonomous discipline that stood out when put together with technology and philosophy. During this period, individual transformations arose. The first was based on re-educating the common sense for abstract reasoning followed by the adoption of a qualitative view of nature in place of the quantitative view. The third was the change on how nature was seen from an organism to a machine. Another was the establishment of an experimental method designed to seek definite answers to issues enshrined in the criteria of particular theories. The final transformation was that of the acknowledgment of the new approach that emphasized on the how instead of the why that had become a characteristic feature of the medieval search for final causes. Towards the very end of Renaissance, one may have been forced to conclude that science was a replacement for Christianity and formed the basis of civilization in Europe.

The field of Astronomy

From the explanations given, it is evident that the scientific revolution started in Astronomy. The earlier thoughts on astronomy were dominated by the basic assumption that the Earth lay in the center of the universe. Ptolemy held the belief that the order of the cosmos was mathematical. He explained the imperfection of the paths of the sun, moon and planets not circular especially when observed from earth. Copernicus relied on the earlier knowledge when putting the sun at the center of while the earth rotated around it. After the invention of the telescope, Galileo observed that the earlier indications were not in line with the traditional assumptions on cosmology. He stated that the moon was not smoothly polished as had been claimed earlier but was jagged and mountainous. The moon shone by reflected light. The discoveries made by Galileo struck at the very base of the already established thought (Hessenbruch 335).

The field of Mechanics

The Copernican battle was fought both in the wake of mechanics and also astronomy. The upcoming crop of thinkers had to be contented first with the widely accepted physics of Aristotle that was concerned primarily with the philosophers question on the motion. He considered the universe to be divided into two different entities that were governed by two separate kinds of laws. The Ptolemy and Aristotle system that was derived from the Greeks did not hold up much because it relied on the notion that the earth lay at the center of the cosmos. Galileo also made his contribution to the field of mechanics. He was able to derive the law of free fall as a way to find the natural acceleration of falling objects. He made a remarkable conclusion that when set in motion, planets continuously moved in circles. Descartes brought the idea that all the natural occurrences were dependent on the collisions of minute particles. This brought the urge to making a discovery of the quantitative laws of impact.

The Newton laws are a representation of the end results of the...