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This article is about the normal meaning of change
(things varying).

Change is also the name of a commune in the
Saône-et-Loire département in France.

----

Change, the quality of impermanence and flux, has
had a chequered history as a concept. In ancient
Greek language|Greek philosophy, while Heraclitus
saw change as ever-present and all-encompassing,
Parmenides virtually denied its existence.

Publius Ovidius Naso | Ovid produced a classic
thematic handling of change as metamorphosis in
his Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses.

Ptolemaic system | Ptolemaic astronomy envisioned
a largely static universe, with erratic change
confined to less worthy spheres.

Medieval thought fostered great respect for appeal
to authority | authority and revelation, severely
cramping any encouragement of change.

Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz harnessed
mathematics | mathematical concepts into calculus
to provide mathematical models of change. This
constituted a major step forward in understanding
flux and variation.

With the rise of industrial revolution |
industrialisation and capitalism, the importance
attached to innovation grew, and social and
political upheavals and pressures often forced
change by violent revolution (as in North America
in the late 18th century and in later imitators).
By the late 20th century much business and New Age
thought focussed enthusiastically on
transformation in management, in function and in
mental attitudes, while ignoring or deploring
changes in society or in geopolitics. And Madison
Avenue receives payment to repeat the litany of
the fad for change: In the fast-changing world of
today, you need ... product X.

Cultural attitudes to change itself may fall into
one of at least two categories:

* the view that change is random, lacking
determinism or teleology.
* the view that change is cyclical, whereby one
expects circumstances to recur. This concept,
often seen as related to Eastern philosophy |
Eastern world views such as Hinduism or Buddhism,
nevertheless had great popularity in Europe in the
Middle ages, and often appears in depictions of
the wheel of fortune.

Change may require organisms and organizations to
Adaptation (biology)|adapt. (see evolution).

Compare identity and change, globalisation.

Depending on context, the term 'change' may in
particular refer to:
*clothing
*money
*public transport vehicle

philosophy-stub

== See also ==
* social change



Bell (instrument)|Bells used in music are often
played in a pattern known as change ringing.