Discussion lead by Kristen Knecht, Andrew Leyva and Rhea Noziglia

• We started from a general discussion with the transition from society in the middle ages to the emergence of a new class: the bourgeoisy
• At the same time the Christian Church is undergoing a transformation from a merely theological center to a political power center
• The two key figures in this transformation are Charlemagne and pope Gregorio VII
• Power is exerted by also by creating a class of functionaries, the clergy, that are well educated. The educated language is Latin
• The first Universities (Bologna, Oxford, Padova ...) are created and cultural centers are transformed. Women convents, lead by famous abbasses, lose power and influence: the figure of the new functionary is essentially a man.
• In year 2002 Latin is still not a dead language and it is used in many instances by the Catholic Church
• As the new bourgeois class gains economical and political power, it seeks for legitimation from the religious authorities
• This combination of historical, political and cultural events has the effect of pushing out the vast majority of population from the control of power
• In particular women are excluded from the making of culture, as the concept of celibate clergy and of celibate professorship, become dominant at the newly formed Universities
• Not being allowed to have their own children, the educated men cannot even teach their daughters like in the case of Hypatia
• We then focused on the development of physics and of the scientific thought in general
  • Pythagora's approach to science gradually replaces Aristotele's: this is a consequence of the cultural and technological needs expressed by the bourgeoisy
  • One of the scientist who best interprets this change is Nicholas of Cusa
  • Nicholas of Cusa is both a theologist and a scientist
  • He strives to interpret the real world in terms of mathematical relationships and measurements
  • As a result he fabricates many useful inventions -> our better understanding of the physical world also produces technological advancements
  • These are big qualitative differences with respect to Pythagora
• In a 200 years span there are FOUR BREAKTHROUGHS marking the birth of modern physics and cosmology
• (1) Copernicus: from geocentric to heliocentric cosmological model -> emphasis on symmetry , simplicity , and beauty of the model
• (2) Brahe: vast collection of data on cosmological observations -> emphasis on advancement through experimental/empirical observations
• (3) Kepler: from circular to elliptical planetary orbits (to be discussed next week)
• (4) Newton: one fundamental physical law explains it all (to be discussed next week)
• All of these beautiful advancements are conducted while, with very few exceptions, women are nowhere in site. Why? Who -- which social class(es) -- benefits from these discoveries and how?