HIST 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Kinematics, Christian Kabbalah, Scholasticism
18 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Shift from qualitative to quantitative understanding of nature and society in the early modern world. Qualitative: in traditional society, little concern with precision. Calendars marked traditional sacred time: by 1582, the julian calendar was 11 days off, gregory xiii asked catholic experts to realign the calendar. Quantitative: introduction of mechanical clocks circa 1300 in european cities. Qualitative: distance measured in human terms, geocentric view of universe, maps relate sacred and symbolic space. Quantitative: space measured in absolute terms, mariners generated precise distances, curved surfaces subject to 2d representation. Qualitative: platonic tradition of poetic and inexact numbers, abacus went missing for 1000 years, roman numerals useless for calculations. Quantities: arab mathematics discovered in high middle ages, hindu-arabic number systems, pen-reckoning in place of abacus use. Qualitative: medieval art is space filled. Quantitative: renaissance discover of perspective, concern with precision and exactness in art. Narrative forms gave way to double entry book-keeping (binary; concerned with accuracy)
