Science

Chapter I. Introduction to Scientific Art. What is Scientific Art?

1.1 Brief history of science. The most relevant scientists.

1.2 The Scientific Method. Conjectures and Theorems. Hypothesis, Theory and Law.

1.3 The pillars of science: Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

1.4 Physics. Force, work and energy. Thermal Physics, Mechanics, Electromagnetism and Thermodynamics. Electricity. Relativity. Quantum physics and Particle physics.

1.5 Chemistry. The elements. Laboratory and instruments. Nutrition.

1.6 Paleontology. Paleobiology, Taphonomy and Biochronology. The Geological Eras. The Origins of the Human Being.

1.7 Biology. Molecular biology, Cell biology and Anatomy. Microbiology, Virology, Botany and Zoology. Genetics and Evolution. Medicine and Nanotechnology. Microscopes

1.8 Astronomy. Cosmology, Astrophysics and Astrobiology. Types, formation and evolution of celestial objects. Geology, Vulcanology and Meteorology. Astronautics, the Unmanned and Manned Missions. Most relevant astronauts. Spaceships. Cylinder of O'Neill. Telescopes

1.9 Robotics. Engineering, Computing and Artificial Intelligence. Automata and Animatronics. Generations of robots. Architecture of robots. Cybernetics, cyborgs and bots. Computing and algorithms.

1.10 Mathematics. The Numbers and their types. Mathematical notation. Pure Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. Equations, Algebra and Trigonometry. Geometry, Teseract, Tessellation and Fractal.

1.11 The Dimensions. Spatial dimensions and Temporal dimension. Virtual reality.

1.12 Technological evolution of a civilization. The Kardashov Scale.

1.13 Science against Science fiction.

It all started with the need to communicate. Without this great invention, nowadays we could not understand ourselves. That's why we can express ourselves through language, teach and be taught. The language began as some sounds, moans, groans, yes, very expressive and passionate. As it developed, we got the word and concepts. And this is how man communicates and builds his world. That's when we started to move. With the fire we got to the Paleolithic and the inventiveness of the human being move to the Neolithic, where the towns, agriculture, livestock, manufacturing textiles, pottery, and the development of many of the primitive tools arrive.

The ancient world gave us many technological advances that are keys in humanity. From Mesopotamia we have the legacy of the wheel. From Babylon we get knowledge in astronomy, at most, on the zodiacal signs. From Egypt we have the ideographic-pictorial writing, the Rosetta Stone, hieroglyphics, construction of temples and pyramids, and all techniques in medicine. And from China, with its contributions as valuable as gunpowder, paper and the compass, without neglecting one of the greatest engineering feats of the world: the Great Wall of China.

Great civilizations have been erected and fallen, but they always leave something valuable from what we can learn. Greece and Rome were two. Greece dropped the philosophy, which is the transition from myth to logos, and the logos is the reason. And Socrates, an Athenian, made the question the best way of doing philosophy. Then comes the Academy of Plato, where medicine, rhetoric, astronomy and mathematics were taught. It also dropped the alphabet and theorems. Pythagoras with triangles, rectangles, and the relationship of music intervals. Hippocrates is considered the father of medicine. These are a few of its thinkers. Roma dropped the law and its great knowledge in resource management, and of course, its magnificent architectural knowledge with vaults and aqueducts. They also provided great knowledge in medicine. In fact, many of their skills are today the basis of new knowledge for medicine. They had great doctors like Galen.

Science and technology have never stopped and never will. So constantly evolving, even in moments of history in which knowledge is usually thought as a darkness period, as in the Middle Ages. Here sailing navigation strengthens, the appearance of the crossbow, drill, trolley, soap, buttons, barrels, and colorful glass. The Etymologies appear with San Isidoro de Sevilla, who was the second to say that the Earth is round. Alcuin of York created the curriculum composed of trivium and quadrivium. In addition, the Christian church brings the theory of creation by God. Aristotelian thought illuminates the Middle Ages, and was Christianized by St. Thomas Aquinas and scholasticism. Besides the monasteries, hospitals also arise, to heal the sick professionally.

Simultaneously in all parts of the world, it happened important events such as the emergence of universities and improvement of the compass by the Arabs. And in America, the Mayan contribute with the calendar and their knowledge in mathematics. The Incas and Aztecs bring their organization and political strength.

In the Renaissance, man is the measure of everything, and certainly, the men are the ones who set the tone for the union in knowledge. As Nicholas Copernicus, who exposed the heliocentric theory, and works effectively in astronomy. René Descartes proposes the Discourse on Method, and advances in geometry. Galileo Galilei works in physics, in the telescope, and appears dynamic, which studies the motion of bodies. Appears the print in 1454, and Gutenberg publishes the Bible. America was discovered in 1492.

The XVII century stands with the invention of the barometer by Torricelli, the pendulum clock by Huygens, and the vacuum pump created by Boyle and Otto von Guericke. In 1687 the Law of Universal Gravitation by Isaac Newton, who also worked on infinitesimal calculus, along with Leibniz, arose, and they are who provide the basis of current science and mathematics. In the Enlightenment, the Encyclopedia arises. With this, the knowledge now is closer to the people. Lagrange brings a revolution in calculation and he is master in analytical mechanics. They strengthen scientific academies in London, Paris and Berlin.

In addition, astronomical observatories at Greenwich, Paris, London and Cadiz arise. Great discoveries as the star catalog is generated, and the discovery of the planet Uranus. Celsius and Fahrenheit provide thermometers. And with this also come great changes in transportation as the balloon of the Montgolfier Brothers.

Volta invented the first battery in 1800, and the Newcomen steam machine appears, that later is Watt who applied this machine for the benefit of the Industrial Revolution. With Graham Bell and the telephone, the emergence of automobiles and airplanes, and telegraphy of Marconi, arrived at the XX century, but without neglecting one of the most brilliant scientists in history: Albert Einstein, with the Theory of Relativity in 1905. Nor can we forget who is considered the father of psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud.

And the science continues, and progress in every area come one after another, and the advent of the works in quantum mechanics, works with light and energy, and the subatomic revolution. Also, thinkers like Nikola Tesla, who invented the electric generator, Thomas Alva Edison, with his work in transforming the electric current and the incandescent lamp, and Morse, with the telegraph, leaving us a great advance in communication. In addition, George Devol brings robotics and Poincaré creates the balance of probabilities, or Rutherford with empty spaces and the atom. Also the discovery of the neutron by Chadwick.

And it is in this way that we realize that science never stops, always going forward, but never forget where it comes from and where it is. It is the result of hard work and a long way and it continues. In recent years we have seen great progresses in all fields of medicine, such as genetics, major surgeries and eradication of diseases. There are also advances in technology and the advent of the computer and software. It is experimenting with cloning, as with Dolly the sheep. They continue developing transport and reach the top of the space race, the moon landing. And this is how we reach the age of globalization and telecommunications. There are many mobile devices.

Now you can get anywhere in the world thanks to Iridrium system, a constellation of 66 communications satellites orbiting the Earth. The digital revolution is here. Television, satellite communications, Internet, broadband, holograms... You now have the world at your fingertips, and the opposite effect happens, you isolate yourself and do not go to see the world. Science and technology are important, but the findings are given by nature at its most. Go out and know the world. And he will show to you so you can discover great knowledge.

Within physics there would be much to talk about, all important especially for the representations of astronomical art. Terms such as force, work, energy, thermal physics, mechanics, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, electricity, relativity, quantum physics and particle physics are interesting to at least know how to define and understand the basics in order to apply it in case of need. Just to mention two cases that have seen their appearance even in the cinema, such as temporary dilation or Schrödinger's cat.

Chemistry is important mainly within biological art. Concepts such as the elements and the laboratory and its instruments are essential. In fact, even in seventeenth-century paintings you can see surgical instruments. The states of the matter are fundamental, since its application could be extended to almost all genres. Nutrition knowledge is also appreciated.

Going into more specific fields, it is indisputable that paleontology is fundamental for the development of paleontological art, both for the creation of artworks and for their interpretation, perhaps being the theme that can cause the most work. Knowledge in paleobiology, taphonomy and biochronology are very important. Knowing how to locate the corresponding geological eras with their periods is essential to then know what fauna and flora existed at any given time, at least according to the most recent studies. The Precambrian supereon encompasses the hadic, archaic and proterozoic eons. In these times there was no life, it is the formation of the planet Earth. It is at the end of the last eon where the multicellular organisms begin to evolve, speaking about 635 million years ago. We must also take into account the formation of the continents, that ending this supereon, the supercontinent Rodinia fragmented to give rise to Pannotia. The Phanerozoic eon begins about 542 million years ago, and marks the beginning of life. It is divided into the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. The supercontinent Pangea existed between the first two. The Paleozoic era is the age of aquatic organisms, the Mesozoic is the era of reptiles, and the Cenozoic is the era of mammals. The fragmentation of Pangea occurred in the Mesozoic, and it is even thought that it was the origin of the massive extinction of the Triassic-Jurassic. All these names have internal subdivisions. To name some important, in the Paleozoic highlights the Carboniferous, where life was very abundant, with huge forests of ferns. In the Mesozoic, the best known period is the Jurassic, with large dinosaurs such as sauropods, carnosaurs and stegosaurs, and there are small mammals. About the Cenozoic, perhaps the best known is the Pleistocene, dominated by the megafauna, like the mammoths. Do not forget the mass extinctions, because not only happened that ended the dinosaurs. Finally, it is also important to know the origins of the human being, from the first hominids to the Neanderthal and homo sapiens.

Within biology, it is important to have knowledge in molecular biology, cell biology, anatomy, microbiology, virology, botany, zoology, genetics, evolution, medicine and nanotechnology, as well as, if necessary, how to operate or how a microscope works. All this is of great help for biological art. Prokaryotic cells are bacterial cells, and eukaryotes are animal and plant cells. It is important to know the anatomy of cells, not only of living beings, in addition to differentiating between different types of microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and others. The anatomy of plants and animals is important, even more so when they are the protagonists of the works, or when are represented parts of their interior.

For astronomical art, the required knowledge is diverse. In addition to what has already been mentioned about physics and biology, there are interesting the knowledges in astronomy, cosmology, astrophysics, astrobiology, types of celestial objects, geology, volcanology, meteorology, and, of course, astronautics and knowledge about the history of missions, both unmanned and manned, as well as astronauts and spacecrafts. Mention apart the curious colonial ship proposed by Gerard K. O'Neill called O'Neill cylinder, in addition to knowing how it works or to use a telescope if necessary. Knowing how the rocky and gaseous planets are formed, different bodies like stars in all their variants, asteroids, comets, black holes... are of great relevance, and for more faithful representations come into the scene such matters as geology and its study of rocks, volcanology and meteorology, taking into account the type of atmosphere of the planets. The theme of astronauts and space missions is abundant in the genre. Names like Yuri Gagarin, Ed White, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin must be known. Missions such as Sputnik, Vostok, Apollo, Soyuz, Voyager or New Horizons are very important. Special mention should be made of the Hubble telescope and SpaceX, the latter having developed reusable rockets, something that until then seemed something of science fiction.

About robotics, knowledge in engineering, computing, artificial intelligence, generations and architecture of robots, cybernetics, cyborgs and computers are very useful, although not completely essential, because in robotical art much of what is shown is science fiction. Also mention that it is interesting to know the tradition of alien life, as well as about the futuristic city and the Kardashov Scale.

Finally, within mathematics, it is interesting to know fields such as the types of numbers, equations, algebra and geometry, since what is most represented in mathematical art are tessellations and fractal art. A tessellation is a pattern of figures that covers a surface without superpositions or leaving gaps, and a fractal is a geometric object of apparently irregular structure that is repeated at different scales. Also highlight the teseract or hypercube, a four-dimensional figure.