Its rise coincided with other intellectual movements, notably Descartes' demonstration that it was possible to believe in a universe which was mechanistic rather than deterministic, the suggestion, by the humanists among others, that human beings and not God might be the 'measure of all things', and, not least, the feeling that it was not enough to accept the view of the world's geography propounded since ancient times, but that physical exploration, backed by maps based on observation rather than imagination, was possible. In 1605, Francis Bacon propounded what has become known as the 'scientific method', setting the pattern for inductive science just as Aristotle's methods had established deductive science some 2,000 years earlier. As investigation proceeded, instrument-making kept pace, often itself triggering new directions in research. We may or may not, nowadays, retain our religious beliefs, but for better or worse we live in a world which is perceived in scientific and secular-scientific terms. There remain many problems.
Scientific activity is perceived by many as dangerous, polluting and potentially disastrous.
Science has become esoteric again, so that there is often little mutual understanding between scientists from different disciplines, let alone between scientists and non-scientists. Alchemy Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought 2. Arts, The Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought 3. Chemistry Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought 4. Life Sciences Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought 5.