Traditional Methodology and Modern Science

The introduction of modern science in the Qajar era is invariably connected to the efforts of Najm al-Dawla. But why modern science did not rise in Iran despite the high development of science in pre-modern times? And why did it not find acceptance in Iran when it was first introduced? In this article the importance of Needham’s question for the historiography of science is briefly discussed as well as some attempts by Western scholarship to answer it. By considering the traditional methodology of science, as expressed by Kātibī Qazwīnī in al-Risala al-Shamsīyya that had been taught in Iran until recently, it will be argued that this methodology was not suitable for developing or embracing modern science, in particular, the Newtonian mechanics. Finally, as an example, some arguments against heliocentric astronomy based on the logic of al-Shamsīyya, and advanced by Muḥammad-Ḥusayn Shahristānī in his Āyāt Bayyināt will be discussed.