The document discusses the history and development of modern scientific method. It notes that before the 17th century in Europe, civilizations made some advances in areas like mathematics, engineering and natural philosophy but lacked key aspects of modern science like organized literature, publication standards, and hypothesis testing. The document then outlines several changes in the 17th century that enabled the emergence of modern science, including the scientific revolution emphasizing long logical chains and experimentation to enable cumulative progress. Finally, it discusses some examples like evolution, environmentalism and the singularity hypothesis to illustrate aspects of both scholarly and Enlightenment scientific methods.

7. What changed in 17 th century?