The Art of Cataloging - Science in Infancy

Today we think of science as an endeavor of asking questions and seeking answers through the use of modern scientific tools — technology has helped to reveal so much!

Yet long ago, the infancy of science was characterized in many ways by human observations that were compiled in catalog form. Science was nothing more than list making. Books of drawings and lists of species comprised much of the knowledge base gathered early on. New knowledge seemed only to build on this trend and the catalogs of encyclopedic compilations only added the newer volume onto the previous volume. Extending the listings was the only form of advancement in science — which is to say there was not much to advancing 'knowledge.'

Here again is one more place to look for a transition in the nature of science as you view the time line.

Initially there were efforts to create lists and catalog life forms, for example, without the kind of investigative questioning we expect of scientists today. Centuries later, the ingenuity of the human mind lead to developing tools to reveal the inner workings of biology and outwardly to observe the finer stellar relationships in the cosmos. Black boxes were being opened to illustrate how the material aspect of the universe worked. Science went beyond naming and charting stars to explaining how they form. We went from the outside identification of plants and animals to understanding organs, tissues, and even the presence of cells — and years later even further than this.

As you move further along the time line, we also ask that you question how science is used to not only benefit humanity with conveniences and knowledge in the material realm, but also ask if our understanding of our existence is served at all well by[ recent] science. This is not to put a negative spin on what science has brought us. What we are suggesting is that limiting the view to science alone — thinking of advancements from the infancy to highly technical stages — blinds us to other components that are equally important parts of the WindowView. Philosophy, theism, etc., tell us something important about being, too. So, let's get past list making, keep science in perspective, resolve the benefits gained there, but then expand the view further — this is what we encourage you to do from this point onward!

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