From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Jan 21 2003 - 15:31:38 MST
Lee Corbin wrote:
> "Development of Western science is based on two
> great achievements: the invention of the formal
> logical system (in Euclidean geometry) by the
> Greek philosophers, and the discovery of the
> possibility to find out causal relationships by
> systematic experiment (during the Renaissance)."
>
> -Albert Einstein
>
> Claim: formal logic played no part in the development of
> Western science. (Einstein was mistaken.)
>
> Lee
I think Einstein was speaking pragmatically. I would paraphrase his
statement thusly:
"Scientific progress has depended upon two things: 1) formal logic,
especially mathematics, and 2) the philosophy of empiricism."
Certainly this statement is true. Empiricism without mathematical
formalism leads to nothing practical; empirical data must be used
ultimately to make some kind of mathematically precise predictions about
the future. Likewise, formal logic (pure math) is useless until it is
applied to real world problems.
The science of astronomy is a good example. The development of this
science has depended on the formal logic of Euclid (one cannot so much
as build a simple telescope without an understanding of geometry), and
the discoveries of astronomy have depended also on the philosophy of
empiricism (the scientific method.)
-gts
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