The Forgotten Revolution: How Science Was Born in 300 BC and Why it Had to Be RebornThe period from the late fourth to the late second century B. C. witnessed, in Greek-speaking countries, an explosion of objective knowledge about the external world. WhileGreek culture had reached great heights in art, literature and philosophyalreadyin the earlier classical era, it is in the so-called Hellenistic period that we see for the ?rst time — anywhere in the world — the appearance of science as we understand it now: not an accumulation of facts or philosophically based speculations, but an or- nized effort to model nature and apply such models, or scienti?ctheories in a sense we will make precise, to the solution of practical problems and to a growing understanding of nature. We owe this new approach to scientists such as Archimedes, Euclid, Eratosthenes and many others less familiar todaybut no less remarkable. Yet, not long after this golden period, much of this extraordinary dev- opment had been reversed. Rome borrowed what it was capable of from the Greeks and kept it for a little while yet, but created very little science of its own. Europe was soon smothered in theobscurantism and stasis that blocked most avenues of intellectual development for a thousand years — until, as is well known, the rediscovery of ancient culture in its fullness paved the way to the modern age. |
Contents
The Birth of Science | 5 |
12 On the Word Hellenistic | 10 |
13 Science | 15 |
14 Was There Science in Classical Greece? | 21 |
15 Origins of Hellenistic Science | 27 |
Hellenistic Mathematics | 31 |
22 Euclids HypotheticoDeductive Method | 39 |
23 Geometry and Computational Aids | 41 |
Some Other Aspects of the Scientific Revolution | 203 |
72 Conscious and Unconscious Cultural Evolution | 209 |
73 The Theory of Dreams | 214 |
74 Propositional Logic | 218 |
75 Philological and Linguistic Studies | 221 |
76 The Figurative Arts Literature and Music | 224 |
The Decadence and End of Science | 231 |
82 Rome Science and Scientific Technology | 235 |
24 Discrete Mathematics and the Notion of Infinity | 44 |
25 Continuous Mathematics | 45 |
26 Euclid and His Predecessors | 48 |
27 An Application of the Method of Exhaustion | 49 |
28 Trigonometry and Spherical Geometry | 52 |
Other Hellenistic Scientific Theories | 57 |
32 Geodesy and Mathematical Geography | 65 |
33 Mechanics | 70 |
34 Hydrostatics | 73 |
35 Pneumatics | 75 |
36 Aristarchus Heliocentrism and Relative Motion | 78 |
37 From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe | 86 |
38 Ptolemaic Astronomy | 89 |
Scientific Technology | 95 |
41 Mechanical Engineering | 96 |
42 Instrumentation | 98 |
43 Military Technology | 105 |
44 Sailing and Navigation | 112 |
45 Naval Architecture The Pharos | 115 |
46 Hydraulic and Pneumatic Engineering | 118 |
47 Use of Natural Power | 123 |
48 The Antikythera Mechanism | 128 |
49 Herons Role | 130 |
410 The Lost Technology | 137 |
Medicine and Other Empirical Sciences | 143 |
52 Relationship Between Medicine and Exact Sciences | 145 |
53 Anatomical Terminology and the Screw Press | 150 |
54 The Scientific Method in Medicine | 151 |
55 Development and End of Scientific Medicine | 156 |
56 Botany and Zoology | 158 |
57 Chemistry | 165 |
The Hellenistic Scientific Method | 171 |
62 Postulates or Hypotheses | 174 |
63 Saving the Phainomena | 175 |
64 Definitions Scientific Terms and Theoretical Entities | 179 |
65 Episteme and Techne | 185 |
66 Postulates and the Meaning of Mathematics and Physics | 187 |
67 Hellenistic Science and Experimental Method | 194 |
68 Science and Orality | 196 |
69 Where Do Cliches about Ancient Science Come From? | 197 |
83 The End of Ancient Science | 240 |
Science Technology and Economy | 243 |
92 Scientific and Technological Policy | 245 |
93 Economic Growth and Innovation in Agriculture | 249 |
94 Nonagricultural Technology and Production | 253 |
95 The Role of the City in the Ancient World | 257 |
96 The Nature of the Ancient Economy | 260 |
97 Ancient Science and Production | 263 |
Lost Science | 269 |
102 Eratosthenes Measurement of the Meridian | 273 |
103 Determinism Chance and Atoms | 277 |
104 Combinatorics and Logic | 281 |
105 Ptolemy and Hellenistic Astronomy | 282 |
106 The Moon the Sling and Hipparchus | 286 |
107 A Passage of Seneca | 293 |
108 Rays of Darkness and Triangular Rays | 296 |
109 The Idea of Gravity after Aristotle | 302 |
1010 Tides | 305 |
Sling or Ellipsoid? | 309 |
1012 Seleucus and the Proof of Heliocentrism | 311 |
1013 Precession Comets etc | 315 |
1014 Ptolemy and Theon of Smyrna | 317 |
1015 The First Few Definitions in the Elements | 320 |
The AgeLong Recovery | 329 |
112 The Renaissance | 335 |
113 The Rediscovery of Optics in Europe | 344 |
114 A Late Disciple of Archimedes | 349 |
Kepler and Descartes | 355 |
116 Terrestrial Motion Tides and Gravitation | 360 |
117 Newtons Natural Philosophy | 365 |
118 The Rift Between Mathematics and Physics | 379 |
119 Ancient Science and Modern Science | 385 |
1110 The Erasure of Ancient Science | 388 |
1111 Recovery and Crisis of Scientific Methodology | 391 |
Appendix | 399 |
List of Passages | 403 |
References | 419 |
435 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Adversus Alexandria Almagest already ancient science Antiquity Apollonius Apollonius of Perga appears Arabic Archimedes architectura Aristarchus Aristotelian Aristotle astronomical Athenaeus bodies classical Ctesibius culture definition described Diogenes Laertius dioptra discussed earth edition Elements Eratosthenes Euclid exact science example experimental FIGURE Galen Galileo Geography geometry Greek heliocentrism Hellenistic period Hellenistic science Heron Herophilus Hipparchus idea interest Kepler Latin logical Lucio Russo machines mathematicians mathematics meaning mechanics mentioned modern moon motion natural Naturalis historia Neugebauer Newton objects observation optics original parabola passage phainomena Philo of Byzantium philosophy planetary planets Plato Pliny Plutarch Pneumatica postulates problem Proclus proposition Ptolemy Ptolemy's Pythagorean ratio Roman Russo says scientific method scientific theories scientists second century B.C. Section Seleucus Sextus Empiricus Simplicius sources spherical Staden statements Strabo testimonia theoretical third century B.C. tides tion translation treatise triangles Vitruvius writes