The Absence of Scientific Improvement During the Dark Days (Essay Sample)

The Absence of Scientific Improvement During the Dark Days
The "Dark Ages" notion, also known as the less-than-heroic era, arouses endless imagination in the contemporary world. Most scholars like Petrarch, who invented the name Dark Ages in the 1330s, believed in a 300-year freeze in art and technology. Others attribute the period to violence and the presence of barbaric hordes who terrorized the then societies. In reality, most people perceive the period as the Dark Ages due to the absence of evidentiary documents revealing most of the Middle Ages' events. However, modern-day researchers often refer to this period as the early Middle Ages. Despite the assumed lack of scientific development, poor economy, and cultural retardation during the period, there is still evidence of significant educational, agricultural, technological, and political progress.
Although many historians cite the absence of scientific improvement during the Dark Days, recent research hints at several notable scientific progressions even after the Roman empire, which marked the beginning of the Dark Days. More precisely, there were substantial advancements in the study of mathematics after the introduction of algebra by Al-Khwarizmi in the 9th century (Eschenburg, 2019). The new computational techniques and the later invented concept of quadratic equations helped scientists understand technology during the scientific revolution. This knowledge was also vital in educational progress during the Middle Ages after being documented in Greek, Latin, and other languages. Indeed, there is evidence of advancements in science and education during the Dark Ages, despite the common knowledge that the era had a technological stagnation.