Learning, Education, and Science Timeline
With Touchstones & Related Frames
George Edw. Seymour
Trial and Error Learning: This picture shows
3600-3,000
BCE
Thales 3
625-545
BCE
Socrates 4
470 – 399
BCE
Ggantija Temples, 1 “the oldest stone structure in the
world, predating Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids
by hundreds of years. Round in shape and containing
statues of full-figured goddesses, the Ggantija temples
were dedicated to the Great Earth Mother 2 and
probably included an oracle.”
Thales replaces supernatural explanations of the
universe with naturalistic ones and encourages
criticism. His views were practically singular.
Human Behavior and Reasoning: More than
anyone before him, Socrates was interested more in life
on Earth and exploring the behavior of humans.
Systematic Observation, Deduction &
Induction: “Plato and Aristotle articulated reality as
Herophilus of
Chalcedon 6
Dark Ages 7
High Middle Ages
8
384 -322
BCE
a relationship between form and substance. Their ideas
were necessarily alternate and opposite.” Aristotle
“wrote on diverse subjects, including physics,
metaphysics, poetry,…logic, rhetoric, politics,
government, ethics, biology and zoology.” 5
335 - 280
BCE
The Brain: “The first medical teacher at Alexandria
corrected Aristotle, placing intelligence in the brain.”
476 - 1000 Deduction: “The rediscovery of the works of
Aristotle led Thomas Aquinas and other thinkers to
1000 - 1300 develop the philosophy of Scholasticism.” 9
Was a tool “and method for learning which puts
Scholasticism
10
Universities
1100 - 1500
1200 -
emphasis on dialectical reasoning. The primary
purpose of scholasticism was to find the answer to a
question or resolve a contradiction. It is most well
known in its application in medieval theology.”
Academics: Oxford and Cambridge are the oldest
universities in the English-speaking world. 11
Books: Without documentation across communities
Gutenberg
12
1455
and eras, we rely on observation and guilds. “In 1455
Gutenberg published his 42-line Bible, commonly
known as the Gutenberg Bible. About 180 were
printed, most on paper and some on vellum.”
© 2007 George Edw. Seymour
Page 1 of 4 pages
Copernicus 13 “The Copernican theory challenged
1543
Aristotle's and Ptolemy's commonly accepted
geocentric model of the universe endorsed by the
Church” which had been taught for close to 12
centuries throughout Europe. Contrary to common
observation, the earth did move around the sun. His
book also challenged the long-standing belief that the
earth was the center of the universe.
Inductive Science: Bacon “argues for an inductive
Francis Bacon
14
1561 - 1626
science based on the direct examination of nature and
the careful generalization of those observations.”
Experimentation: “Galileo Galilei pioneered the
1564 - 1642
Harvard
1636 -
Royal Society
1660 -
New York City
1788 -
use of quantitative experiments whose results could be
analyzed with mathematical precision.” Also, Galileo’s
15 observation of the phases of Venus produced the
first observational evidence for Copernicus'
heliocentric theory.
“Harvard University, which celebrated its 350th
anniversary in 1986, is the oldest institution of higher
learning in the United States.” 16 Harvard ended
required chapel attendance in the mid-1880s.
Scientific Coterie: The Royal Society formalized
science as an enterprise.
17
New York City is the Capital of the United States.
Darwin 18 is most noted for his Theory of Natural
1809 - 1882
APA
1892 -
Triplett
1898
Selection which changed the world view as few before
or since have accomplished. But he was also a careful
experimenter, controlling extraneous variables,
measuring, and yet he did not have all the tools to
answer the questions he asked.
“G. Stanley Hall founds the American Psychological
Association (APA) and serves as its first president.” 19
Norman Triplett published the first study in Social
Psychology. The topic was Social Facilitation. 20
Induction, Randomization, and Replication:
1925
Alliant University
1952 -
“R.A. Fisher's extraordinary contributions to statistical
theory and methods, experimental design, scientific
inference, evolutionary biology and genetics have had
far-reaching consequences in many branches of human
thought and endeavour.” He invented the analysis of
variance, 21 and solved the problem of induction.
“The university that became USIU was founded in
1952 as California Western University.” 22
© 2007 George Edw. Seymour
Page 2 of 4 pages
Systems Theory
1954 Meehl
Systems Theory: von Bertalanffy is generally regarded
as the founder of systems theory. 23
Statistical Prediction: Paul Meehl publishes a small yet
powerful book titled “Clinical Versus Statistical
Prediction.” 24
Quantitative Integration of scientific reports
Meta-analysis
1976 -
begins with the study by Gene Glass titled, “Primary,
secondary, and meta-analysis of research.” 25
Resources:
Glass, G. V. (2000). Meta-analysis at 25: http://glass.ed.asu.edu/gene/papers/meta25.html
History of Psychology Highlights Individuals and Events: Pioneers of Psychology:
http://educ.southern.edu/tour/what/timeline.html
History of Psychology Timeline: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_psychology
James, M. (2006). Scientific Method: http://www.scientificmethod.co.uk/
Larses, O & El-khoury, J. (2005). Views on General Systems Theory:
http://www.md.kth.se/download/publications/2005/damek/Trita-MMK200510.pdf
Seeley, L. (1899). History of Education. New York: American Book Company. http://tinyurl.com/2xgqqo
The Systems Approach to Management (circa 1945-1975):
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/TOConnor/417/417lect06.htm
Wagner, D.L. (1983). The Seven Liberal Arts in the Middle Ages.
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst;jsessionid=GsRR4q1Y0hWVdVh1z0LqxVvvcnMQB6h1W8sG1Fbrk1
XyMWftp2Tk!2085364178?a=o&d=96213334#
Endnotes:
1
Ggantija Temples: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/46814/the_maltese_temples_the_worlds_oldest.html
The Great Earth Mother was the Goddess of Fertility.
3
Thales: “Many regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition, while some also consider him the "father of
science".” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thales
4
Socrates: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
5
Aristotle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle Notes: Aristotle has been called “the most profound and comprehensive
thinker in the pre-Christian world” (Seeley, 1899, p. 74). Plato's Academy lasted from about 400 BC - 529 AD. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato%27s_academy#The_original_Academy
6
Herophilos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herophilos
7
Dark Ages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ages
8
High Middle Ages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Middle_Ages
9
It should be noted that the Benedictines, an order of the Catholic Church, was founded near Naples in 529 and survives to
this day.
10
Scholasticism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholasticism
11
Oxford and Cambridge: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oxford.
2
© 2007 George Edw. Seymour
Page 3 of 4 pages
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
“Among Gutenberg's specific contributions were the design of metal movable type, the invention of a process for making
such type in quantity (mass production), the use of oil-based ink, and the use of a wooden printing press similar to the screw
olive and wine presses of the period. His truly epochal invention was the combination of these elements into a practical
system.” See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg
Copernicus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus. See also:
http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b2copernicus.htm
Francis Bacon “was an English philosopher, statesman, and essayist. He is also known as a proponent of the scientific
revolution. His works established and popularized an inductive methodology for scientific inquiry.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon
“Galileo's championing of Copernicanism, particularly the heliocentric model of the universe, was controversial within his
lifetime. The geocentric view had been dominant since the time of Aristotle, and the controversy engendered by Galileo's
opposition to this view resulted in the condemnation of heliocentrism in 1616 by the Catholic Church as contrary to
Scripture. Galileo was eventually forced to recant his heliocentrism and spent the last years of his life under house arrest on
orders of the Inquisition.” See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo
Harvard University “Founded 16 years after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the University has grown from nine
students with a single master to having about 2,400 faculty, 6715 undergraduate and 12,424 graduate students. See:
http://www.news.harvard.edu/guide/intro/index.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_University Note: The
Mayflower departed for America on September 16 th 1620.
The Royal Society: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society
Darwin: “On 16 Sep 1835, aboard the ship HMS Beagle, British naturalist Charles Darwin arrived at a cluster of islands on
the equator 600 miles west of South America. During his five weeks studying the fauna there, he found the giant tortoises
there greatly differed from one another according to which island they came from.” See:
http://www.todayinsci.com/9/9_16.htm Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin His plant experiments can be
found here: http://www.darwin-literature.com/Effects_Of_Cross_And_Self_Fertilisation_In_The_Vegetable_Kingdom/1.html
APA: Hall “later establishes two key journals in the field: American Journal of Psychology (1887) and Journal of Applied
Psychology (1917).” See: http://www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/history/history_nonflash.html
“Triplett noticed that cyclists tend to have faster times when riding in the presence of other cyclists than when riding alone.
He replicated the effect in a sample of 40 children under controlled, laboratory conditions. As hypothesized, children
performed a simple lab task faster in pairs than when performing alone.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Triplett
R. A. Fisher See: http://www.amstat.org/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=rafisher, and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Fisher
Alliant History: “In 1967, the University's name was changed to United States International University to reflect its expanded
commitment to a global perspective.” See: http://tinyurl.com/24pg4b
“Bertalanffy founded the “Society for the Advancement of General Systems Theory” together with Kenneth Boulding in
1954. The founders emphasized their desire to promote the unity of science at the very first meeting which took place in
December, 1954 in Berkeley, California. In 1956 the organization was renewed as the “Society for General Systems
Research”, with the name later changing to the “International Society for General Systems Research”. The organization is
today known as the “International Society for the Systems Sciences” (ISSS) and celebrated their fiftieth anniversary in 2004.”
http://www.md.kth.se/download/publications/2005/damek/Trita-MMK200510.pdf
The full title of Meehl’s book is, “Clinical Versus Statistical Prediction: A Theoretical Analysis and a Review of the
Evidence. It became a citation classic, going through seven printings by its original publisher and brought back into print in
1996 (Meehl, 1954/1996).” http://www.psych.umn.edu/faculty/grove/114meehlscontributiontoclinical.pdf
Gene Glass is a statistician and educational psychological researcher. See his report titled, “Meta-analysis at 25” identified in
the Resources above. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_V._Glass
© 2007 George Edw. Seymour
Page 4 of 4 pages