(ORDO NEWS) — The term “scientist” is a relatively modern invention coined by the British philosopher and theologian William Whewell in 1833. Up to this point, those who sought to comprehend the laws of nature were called philosophers.
Based on this, many consider the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) the first scientist in the history of mankind.
However, Aristotle’s unshakable belief that everything should have an ultimate goal, and “common sense” should rule everything, often led him to erroneous conclusions – for example, to the belief that the speed of an object falling depends on its mass (the more mass – the faster falls).
The 13th-century English philosopher and naturalist Roger Bacon (1220-1292) is more likely to claim the title of the first scientist, since he was not guided by intuition and “obvious logical conclusions”, relying solely on the experimental verification of ideas.
However, thanks to a revolutionary approach to observation, mathematics and experiments that help to understand the laws of the universe , the Italian Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) is perhaps best suited to the title of “first scientist” in the history of mankind.
It was Galileo Galilei who was one of the first to use a telescope for astronomical observations, gave impetus to the development of the heliocentric model of the world, laid the foundation of classical mechanics and founded experimental physics.
His achievements have been used and continue to be used by all followers, including modern scientists. Undoubtedly, Galileo Galilei is truly the first scientist.
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