EPISODE 1 THE BIRTH OF MODERN SCIENCE
INTRODUCTION
If there is a creator of the universe, He created science. Did He use science to identify who He is? Scientific evidence leads to very great truths.
My name is David Berg. My 44 year career as a teacher led to the discoveries in my book and this podcast. The episodes in the podcast are brief. They begin in the Middle-Ages when unscientific mythologies mixed with speculation had brought scientific progress to a halt. Then four ancient clues led to the birth of modern science. I believe that if you listen to the first episode you will be as amazed as I was. Welcome to the podcast, “Identifying The Creator.”
PART 1 IDENTIFYING THE CREATOR
EPISODE 1 THE BIRTH OF MODERN SCIENCE
With all of the changes modern science has brought, it hardly seems possible that just 400 years ago science was paralyzed and at a standstill. Science was a mixture of wrong conclusions and unscientific mythologies. A false conclusion coming from Aristotle was that the earth was the center of the universe. Plato believed the orbits of planets were perfect circles. Ancient and Greek mythologies held that the planets were guided by an inner intelligence. They were gods and the gods were unpredictable. Science could not build on false, unscientific beliefs. For centuries science had been at a dead-end.
In the 1400s A.D. the printing press was invented. Books that once were hand copied were now distributed widely. One of these was the Bible. It was translated into the languages of the common people, especially in Northern Europe. Those who were interested in the constellations and the stars began to discover ancient clues. The first came from Job in about B.C. 2000. He asked, “Do you know the laws of the heavens?” Job 38:33 The first clue was - the heavens are governed by laws. If the heavens are governed by laws there is order in the universe. That concept would change the world of science.
Galileo read in the scriptures that the heavens “pour forth speech.” Psalm 19:2 He questioned what language that would be? Then he realized it is mathematics that provide information about activities in the heavens.
It was the early 1600s. Johannes Kepler read that the heavens not only pour forth speech, but they also “display knowledge.” Psalm 19:2 He recognized that he could gain knowledge about the heavens and the Creator if he used mathematics to search for laws. He decided to begin with Plato’s perfect circle orbits. He measured the circumference of an orbit then he measured the speed of the planet in that orbit. They didn’t match! The orbits could not be circles. Kepler discovered that orbits are elliptical. They are oval in shape. Kepler also discovered the three laws of planetary motion. Other scientists could demonstrate the accuracy of his work. His laws are recognized today.
What Kepler had done was present the first major demonstration of the scientific method. He had used mathematics to discover laws. Then, he and other scientists, used mathematics to prove the accuracy of the laws. Discovering and testing laws is the scientific method. Johannes Kepler had opened the gates to the use of the scientific method.
The fourth step in the birth of modern science was completed by Isaac Newton. Newton wrote more about the Bible than he did about science. The Bible begins with the statement that the Creator created both “the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 Newton had seen an apple fall from a tree and recognized the law of gravity on earth, but the Bible said that earth’s Creator also created the heavens. Laws on earth could also be laws in the universe. Newton tested the law of gravity by calculating the size of the planets that other planets were passing in their elliptical orbits. He also considered the distance between the two planets as they passed. Newton discovered the mathematical tool of calculus. He wrote a book Mathematica Principia describing mathematical principles in the universe. He became known as the father of modern physics.
Isaac Newton’s work launched the birth of modern science just over 300 years ago. In just 300 years the world has changed. The Bible provided the essential steps.
Science was created as a pathway to discovering truth.
It was the Bible that led man to the birth of modern science.