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37 THE TRIUMPH OF REASON
The Newtonian Synthesis
What lay behind the enthusiasm of Newton's contemporaries,
their conviction that the secret of the universe, the truth about
nature, had finally been revealed? Several lines of thought,
probably present from the very beginning of humanity, converge
in Newton's synthesis: first of all, science as a way of
acting on our environment. Newtonian science is indeed an
active science; one of its sources is the knowledge of the medieval
craftsmen, the knowledge of the builders of machines.
This science provides the means for systematically acting on
the world, for predicting and modifying the course of natural
processes, for conceiving devices that can harness and exploit
the forces and material resources of nature.
In this sense, modern science is a continuation of the ageless.efforts
of man to organize and exploit the world in which
he lives. We have very scanty knowledge about the early
stages of this endeavor. However, it is possible, in retrospect,
to assess the knowledge and skills required for the "Neolithic
Revolution" to take place, when man gradually began to organize
his natural and social environment, using new techniques
to exploit nature and to organize his society. We still use, or
have used until quite recently, Neolithic techniques-for example,
animal and plant species either bred or selected, weaving,
pottery, metalworking. Our social organization was for a
long time based on the same techniques of writing, geometry,
and arithmetic as those required to organize the hierarchically
differentiated and structured social groups of the Neolithic
city-states. Thus we cannot help acknowledging the continuity
that exists between Neolithic techniques and the scientific and
industrial revolutions.t3
Modern science has thus extended this ancient endeavor,
amplifying it and constantly speeding up its rhythm. Nevertheless,
this does not exhaust the significance of science in the
sense given to it by the Newtonian synthesis.
In addition to the various techniques used in a given society,
we find a number of beliefs and myths that seek to understand
man's place in nature. Like myths and cosmologies, science's