In the video with Stuart Firestein, the most surprising bit of information I learned was in the section entitled “Humans’ innate sense of time and progress.” In this section, Firestein remarked how the beginning of the Scientific Revolution did not begin until the invention of timepieces. Back in high school, I remember learning that the Scientific Revolution began with the findings of Copenicus, and so hearing this from Stuart Firestein was definitely both surprising and interesting.
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Luke, your comment reminds me of a fascinating opening line that has been mentioned in another PredictionX interview. Historian of science Steven Shapin wrote, “There was no such thing as the Scientific Revolution, and this is a book about it.“ You point out differences in ideas about when this impactful moment in human history actually began, suggesting that the “revolution” is actually fairly undefined and uncertain, (or, according to Shapin, non-existent). That debate aside, your comment also makes me reflect on present day, and wonder- how will the advancements of our time be viewed in the future? Are we in the midst, or rather on the cusp, of some AI Revolution, and will students in the future ponder over which discovery catalyzed it?