Scientific revolutions are by far the most important. Although they attract but little attention, they are often fraught with remote consequences, such as are not engendered by political revolutions. For instance, if our conceptions of the universe have profoundly changed since the time of the Revolution, it is because astronomical discoveries and the application of experimental methods have revolutionized them, by demonstrating that phenomena, instead of being conditioned by the caprices of the gods, are ruled by invariable laws. Such revolutions are fittingly spoken of as evolution, on account of their slowness. But there are others which, although of the same order, deserve the name of revolution by reason of their rapidity: we may instance the theories of Darwin, overthrowing the whole science of biology in a few years, or the discoveries of Pasteur, which revolutionized medicine during the lifetime of their author. The organization of the passage can be best described as which of the following: A. A broad topic, the scientific revolution, is introduced, then it is discussed in the context of Darwin and Pasteurs scientific breakthroughs, and finally the author discusses how it is different from political evolutions. B. A broad topic, the scientific revolution, is introduced, then it is juxtaposed against political revolutions, and finally several variants of the broad topic are discussed. C. A broad topic, the scientific revolution, is introduced, then it is explained how it differs from evolutions, and finally the author makes a case for why they are induced by the use of new experimental methods. D. A broad topic, the scientific revolution, is introduced, then the author argues that their ability to rapidly change society is cause for them being important, and finally that they should attract more attention. E. A broad topic, the scientific revolution, is introduced, then it is likened to political revolutions, and finally several examples are cited.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 06:30:28 +0000