Types

• In colonial times, the belief dominating medical science was that everything, including human beings, was made up of four elements: fire, air, water and earth. Physicians prescribed medicines, the most popular of which was a form of mercury. If you had a cold or anything resembling a cold, you might have been put on a diet of peppers. (Colds were ruled by the element earth. Since earth is cold, the logic went, you fight it with something hot.) Other popular remedies were bleeding, purging and blistering. The local barber often doubled as the town doctor in these times.
  Natural history was taught in schools as far back as ancient Greek times. It was so important in colonial times that Benjamin Franklin recommended it as a course of study in Pennsylvania schools. At that time, natural history had two divisions: the lower animals, which included minerals and vegetables, and the higher animals, the highest of which were humans.
  No big observatories existed during colonial times, but that did not stop astronomy from flourishing. Indeed, the planet Uranus was discovered in 1781. One of the most prominent astronomers of the 18th century was Benjamin Banneker, the first African-American to become a noted scientist. A self-taught scholar, he was able to accurately predict a solar eclipse.
  In colonial times, people used chemistry in their everyday lives, for example when they made their own soap or tanned deer and cow hides. The first hospital pharmacy opened in Philadelphia in 1751.
  
  

Time Frame

• Even with their limitations, scientists made some important discoveries during colonial times. In 1652, the lymphatic system was discovered. In 1705, Halley's Comet was discovered. In 1751, Benjamin Franklin published the findings from his electricity experiments.
  
  

Features

• Colonial science was a world away from ancient science, and yet when we look back at it today, it may seem primitive. American scientists did not even have as sophisticated equipment as Europeans of the same period. It was because of the forward thinking of men like Franklin and Banneker that colonial scientists made such progress.
  
  

Function

• Science played a much more intimate role in people's everyday lives in colonial times. Many of the scientific processes that are now performed by major companies were done at home. In many cases, colonists made their own medicines, soaps and candles, all of which require chemical processes. They used physics when building their homes. They were their own weathermen, using signs in nature to foretell how harsh winter would be, which is a combination of astronomy and natural science.
  
  

Effects

• Studying about colonial science is important for understanding today's science, which evolved from the science of that time. Understanding it also unlocks understanding of many aspects of life in colonial times. Though colonial scientists made advances without the benefit of the best equipment or even necessarily education, they were able to lay the foundations of science as we know it today.