Why did Europe invent modern science?

Because, as the now famous Robert Oppenheimer wrote, “Christianity was needed to give birth to modern science”.

Newton and the European scientists who invented modern science in (1/8)⤵️🧶 17th century scientists discovered the great laws of science by searching for divine laws, because Christian doctrine postulates the existence of a God who organizes a universe ordered according to laws that can be discovered.

This is explained by Rodney Stark, sociologist of religion, in his book How the West won (2014).

It is the great historical question of the 2nd millennium:

why did the West conquer the rest of the world and not the rest of the world conquer the West?

In How the West won, the 🇺🇸 sociologist of religions Rodney Stark provides his answer: ⤵️ (1/10)
The author's thesis in 3 sentences:

if the West conquered the world from the 15th century onwards, it was because it was technologically superior (better artillery and navy). This technological lead came from a particular mentality, which

"The rise of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium":

In Civilizations, The West & the Rest, 🇬🇧 Historian N. Ferguson explains the 6 reasons why the West invented the mordern world: (1/10)⤵️
1. Competition

Military and economic competition between European states was a source of innovation. China could perhaps have initiated the industrial revolution, but Confucian imperial bureaucracy restrained innovation.

🗺️ below: Division of the world between 🇪🇸&🇵🇹 (1494)

How the West grew rich:

a few notes on this book by 2 🇺🇸 scholars explaining the reasons for the Western economic and technological take-off from the 15th century onwards.

And it has nothing to do with "luck" or colonization. (1/10)⤵️
First, the authors point out that for millennia, poverty among the masses was the norm:
"These eras of misery have been mythologized and may even be remembered as golden ages of pastoral simplicity", when in reality, the masses lived in the "silence of poverty".

In 1500, nothing indicated that Europe would one day dominate the world. The Ottomans had just taken Constantinople, and China was confident in its superiority.

Yet, 400 years later, in 1900, Europe controlled almost the entire planet.

Why and how? (1/10)
I wanted to write about The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, the book by 🇬🇧 historian Paul Kennedy, where he explains Europe’s rise.

First, the author shows that the great non-Western powers began their decline in the 16th century:

How the West grew rich:

a few notes on this book by 2 🇺🇸 scholars explaining the reasons for the Western economic and technological take-off from the 15th century onwards.

And it has nothing to do with "luck" or colonization. (1/10)⤵️🧵
First, the authors point out that for millennia, poverty among the masses was the norm:
"These eras of misery have been mythologized and may even be remembered as golden ages of pastoral simplicity", when in reality, the masses lived in the "silence of poverty".

“The Japanese seem to love themselves much better than we do, or at least support themselves”:

in The Lessons of Japan, a French historian compares 🇯🇵 and 🇫🇷. He shows that this country, very politically incorrect, escapes many ills.

What I've learned: ⤵️(1/10)
To begin with, Bouissou explains that 🇯🇵 is one of the few countries to have a religion that it doesn't share with any other country.
It was born 15 centuries ago by combining 3 elements: Shintoism (the only indigenous element), Confucianism (imported from China), and Buddhism.

In his masterful work "What is the West?", political ideas historian Philippe Nemo explains the 5 historical processes that have led to the success of the West, shaping the mindset of today's Western civilization:
(1/10)⤵️🧵
1. The Greek Miracle: the invention of democracy, freedom under the law, and science.

He shows that the Greek City constituted an unprecedented revolutionary leap. For the first time in history, power shifts from the secrecy of the royal palace to the agora. This marks the

One of the secrets behind the development of Europe and the West lies right here, in this little corner of Burgundy.

I've long wanted to write about the fundamental role played by the monks of the Cîteaux Abbey in Europe's economic and technological take-off: (1/10)⤵️🧵

The Cîteaux Abbey was founded on 21 March 1098. The Cistercian monks advocated asceticism and made work a fundamental value, in contrast to the wealthy nearby abbey of Cluny, which they criticised for devoting too little time to work in daily life.

The passenger's dilemma, or why Westerners conquered the world.

A friend is driving way too fast and hits a pedestrian. You are a passenger in the vehicle. If you testify that he was within the speed limit, he avoids prison. What do you do?

Westerners respond (1/12)⤵️ 🧵

very differently from the rest of the world. And 🇺🇸 anthropologist and Harvard professor Joseph Henrich explains why in his book "The WEIRDest People in the World - How the West Became Psychologically peculiar and Particularly Prosperous".

"The rise of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the second half of the second millennium":

In Civilizations, The West & the Rest, 🇬🇧 Historian N. Ferguson explains the 6 reasons why the West conquered the world: ⤵️🧵 (1/10)
1. Competition

Military and economic competition between European states was a source of innovation. China could perhaps have initiated the industrial revolution, but Confucian imperial bureaucracy restrained innovation.

🗺️ below: Division of the world between 🇵🇹 & 🇪🇸 (1494)

When and why did the West take off?

There is every indication that a major transformation took place in Europe between 1000 and 1500.
Europe began to develop economically and scientifically long before colonization. ⤵️🧵(1/10)

This graph shows the number of births of important scientists (per million inhabitants) in Western Europe and the Middle East.
Between 1000 and 1300, Europe and the Middle East have identical curves. Everything changed around 1300: the European scientific boom began.

From the invention of eyeglasses to the conquest of the world:
in "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, Why some are so rich and some so poor", Harvard historian 🇺🇸 David S. Landes explains why the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe: ⤵️(1/10)🧵
First of all, Landes shows that the Western scientific and economic take-off of the 16th century did not come out of nowhere: far from the cliché of the "Dark Ages", medieval Europe was one of the most innovative and inventive periods in history.
Here are just a few examples:

"How the West grew rich": a few notes on this book by 2 🇺🇸 academics explaining the reasons for the Western economic and technological take-off from the 15th century onwards.

And it has nothing to do with "luck" or colonization. (1/11) ⤵️🧵

The authors point out that for millennia, poverty among the masses was the norm: "These eras of misery have been mythologized and may even be remembered as golden ages of pastoral simplicity", when in reality, the masses lived in the "silence of poverty".