Heroic theory of invention and scientific development
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| - | :"[[Goethe]]? [[Shakespeare]]? Everything signed with their names is considered [[good]], and one wracks one's brains to find beauty in their stupidities and failures, thus distorting the general [[taste]]. All these great talents, the Goethes, the Shakespeares, the [[Beethoven]]s, the [[Michelangelo]]s, created, side by side with their [[masterpiece]]s, works not merely [[mediocre]], but quite simply [[frightful]]." --[[Leo Tolstoy]]. Journal, 1895-99 | ||
| - | The '''Great man theory''' is a [[theory]] held by some that aims to [[philosophy of history|explain history]] by the impact of "Great men", or [[hero]]es: highly influential individuals, either from personal [[charisma]], [[genius]] intellects, or great political impact. | + | '''The heroic theory of invention and scientific development''' is the [[hypothesis]] that the principal authors of [[invention]]s and [[scientific discoveries]] are unique [[hero]]ic individuals{{spaced ndash}} "great scientists" or "geniuses." A competing hypothesis ("[[multiple discovery]]") is that most inventions and scientific discoveries are made independently and simultaneously by multiple inventors and scientists. |
| - | For example, a scholarly follower of the Great Man theory would be likely to study the [[Second World War]] by focusing on the big personalities of the conflict — [[Winston Churchill|Sir Winston Churchill]], [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Benito Mussolini]], [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Hideki Tojo]], etc. — and view all of the historical events as being tied directly to their own individual decisions and orders. | + | The multiple discovery hypothesis might be especially relevant in the development of mathematics since mathematical knowledge is highly unified and any advances that happen need to be built from previously established results through a process of deduction, as a general rule. For instance, the development of [[infinitesimal calculus]] into a systematic discipline did not occur until the development of [[analytic geometry]], the former being credited to both [[Sir Isaac Newton]] and [[Gottfried Leibniz]] and the latter to both [[Rene Descartes]] and [[Pierre de Fermat]]. It could still be maintained, nevertheless, that the advance of mathematical knowledge through a process of multiple discoveries does not detract from the "heroic" nature of the discoverers. In other words, heroic advances in knowledge need not be singular or unique to necessarily merit that label, and there in fact may be "multiple heroes." |
| - | == See also == | + | ==See also== |
| - | *[[Annales School]] and [[New History]] | + | *[[Great man theory]] |
| - | *[[Greatness]] | + | |
| - | *[[Max Weber]]'s [[charismatic authority]] | + | |
| - | *[[Heroic theory of invention and scientific development]] | + | |
| - | *[[History from below]] | + | |
| - | *''[[Love Letters of Great Men]]'' | + | |
| *[[People known as the father or mother of something]] | *[[People known as the father or mother of something]] | ||
| - | *[[People's history]] | + | *[[Scientific theory]] |
| - | *[[Philosophy of history]] | + | *[[Genius]] |
| - | *[[Prosopography]] | + | *[[Universal mind|Hive mind]] |
| - | *[[Knight of faith]] | + | *[[List of multiple discoveries]] |
| - | *[[Übermensch]] | + | |
| - | *[[Whig history]] | + | |
| - | + | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Revision as of 05:41, 3 May 2012
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The heroic theory of invention and scientific development is the hypothesis that the principal authors of inventions and scientific discoveries are unique heroic individualsTemplate:Spaced ndash "great scientists" or "geniuses." A competing hypothesis ("multiple discovery") is that most inventions and scientific discoveries are made independently and simultaneously by multiple inventors and scientists.
The multiple discovery hypothesis might be especially relevant in the development of mathematics since mathematical knowledge is highly unified and any advances that happen need to be built from previously established results through a process of deduction, as a general rule. For instance, the development of infinitesimal calculus into a systematic discipline did not occur until the development of analytic geometry, the former being credited to both Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz and the latter to both Rene Descartes and Pierre de Fermat. It could still be maintained, nevertheless, that the advance of mathematical knowledge through a process of multiple discoveries does not detract from the "heroic" nature of the discoverers. In other words, heroic advances in knowledge need not be singular or unique to necessarily merit that label, and there in fact may be "multiple heroes."
See also
- Great man theory
- People known as the father or mother of something
- Scientific theory
- Genius
- Hive mind
- List of multiple discoveries
