Samayasara

Author(s): A Chakravarti
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 23

INTRODUCTION
shedding light on the earth's surface, was relegated to a minor planet among the several planets revolving round the sun which forms the centre of the Solar system. This astronomical revolution suddenly introduced a new angle of vision opening up immense possibilities of research revealing the wonders of an infinite Universe.
Similarly the discovery of the new world by Columbus introduced a revolution in geographical knowledge revealing new routes of travel and conquest unknown to Alexander the Great, who had to turn back from the banks of the Indus because his army would not move any further, as they thought they were approaching the ends of the earth. To add to these two discoveries there was the flight of the Greek scholars towards Rome as a result of the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks. These Greek scholars carried with them rich treasures of Athenian culture, which was a revelation to the starved intellect of the medieval Europe, an intellect which had nothing but the Christian Bible and Aristotle's logic to feed upon. This wonderful Athenian culture and civilisation had produced a fervour of enthusiasm among the few thinking individuals of medieval Europe who devoted themselves to the development of the new arts such as architecture, sculpture, painting, music etc. The whole movement is called Renaissance or the rebirth, when man discovered his true nature. This movement of Renaissance incorporated with the religious Reformation ushered in the new world of Europe which was so fruitful of important results, such as the origin and growth of modern science, a new intellectual development which completely transform.ed the modern world. The growth of modern science resulted in a conflict between the established religion and the new Thought.
The intellectual development just after the Renaissance took two different forms, one associated with Francis Bacon, who emphasised the importance of experimental method adopted by science, and the other associated with Descartes who emphasised the mathematical method as the necessary intellectual discipline for the reconstruction of philosophy.
BACON AND SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Francis Bacon who felt the inadequacy of the old Aristotelian method of intellectual discipline proposed a new method suitable for modern scientific research, in his book called 'Novum Organon'-The New Instrument. This new method suitable for scientific rescarch, Bacon describes in detail. According to him it should neither be purely imaginary as the spider's web spun out of its own body nor should it be merely mechanical collection of facts by observations like the ant. Scientific method must adopt the way of the honey-bee which collects material from various sources and transforms them into useful honey. Such an intellectual transformation of facts observed will ultimately unlock the secrets of Nature for the benefit of man. Such a discovery of Nature's secrets for the purpose of utilizing them for social reconstruction ought to be the ideal of science according to Bacon. In order to successfully apply such a scientific