# Patricia Fara (What 4,000 years of scientific progress have taught us + Isaac Newton)

Alex Rivera · April 7, 2021

> Download full episode here In this episode of the Judgment Call Podcast Patricia Fara and I talk about: 00:02:05 What was the most important discovery...

[Download full episode here](https://podcasts.judgmentcallpodcast.com/podcasts/judgment-call-podcast-patricia-fara.mp3)

    In this episode of the Judgment Call Podcast Patricia Fara and I talk about:

- 00:02:05 What was the most important discovery when Patricia wrote her first book about [4,000 years of scientific development](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Four-Thousand-Year-History/dp/0199580278).
- 00:07:34 The surprising story how modern capitalism emerged from religion.
- 00:09:35 Is the scientific revolution real? Was is just part of a much bigger ongoing process? Was there a specific event that spawned the 'cult of technology'?
- 00:16:42 Why science is less influenced by certain geniuses but byt a group of individuals making similar discoveries.
- 00:20:06 What is the right confluences between science and religion? Should science innovate in moral terms?
- 00:25:31 Does technology and science follow morals or is it the other way around? Is it 'expensive' to apply 'higher morals' or is it actually making society more productive?
- 00:34:07 Are we really living in the best time ever?
- 00:39:12 Will the age of the Polymath return?
- 00:45:09 How should we structure Basic Research?
- 00:50:53 What did Patrica find when researching Isaac Newton's last 30 years of his life?
- 00:53:45 Is a 'tough childhood' a necessary ingredient for success? What motivates us to take actual risks?
- 01:02:00 Why Isaac Newton diverged from the majority opinion on the 'Holy Trinity'?
- 01:07:01 What will most likely be fields of scientific breakthroughs? Where will they likely happen?
- 01:13:41 Is there an **Intelligent Design** for life on earth? Is suffering necessary to improve human behavior?
- 01:16:33 How Patricia became the President of the Antiquarian Horological Society. What role does time play and how that changed over time?
   You may watch this episode on Youtube - [Patricia Fara (What 4,000 years of scientific progress have taught us + Isaac Newton)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RweqZRE-YM).

   [Patricia Fara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Fara) is a historian of science at the University of Cambridge. She has written 12 books so far including her most recent book *[Life After Gravity: Isaac Newton's London Career](https://www.amazon.com/Life-after-Gravity-Newtons-London/dp/0198841027)*. In 2016 she became President of the [Antiquarian Horological Society](https://www.ahsoc.org/).

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