Science and Technology in World History, Volume 4: The Origin of Chemistry, the Principle of Progress, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution

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The history of science is not just a chronicle of technical achievements, but a human story of discovery intertwined with religion, philosophy, economics, and technology. The modern world began in the sixteenth century when Europeans began to acquire an appreciation for how their achievements surpassed those of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Western Civilization organized itself around the idea that human progress, both technological and moral, was achievable and desirable. Science emerged during the seventeenth century in Europe when people learned to subordinate reason to empiricism. Inspired by the example of physics, men such as Robert Boyle began the process of changing alchemy into the exact science of chemistry. During the eighteenth century, European society became more secular and tolerant. Philosophers and economists developed many of the ideas that determine modern social theories and economic policies. In the latter half of the eighteenth century, the Industrial Revolution fundamentally transformed the world by increasing productivity through specialization and the application of machine power. People became more affluent, better educated, and urbanized. Endemic poverty was eradicated, and the world entered an era of unprecedented prosperity and progress.