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
1 | |
Hellenistic Mathematics | 31 |
Other Hellenistic Scientific Theories | 57 |
Scientific Technology 95 | 94 |
Medicine and Other Empirical Sciences | 143 |
The Hellenistic Scientific Method | 171 |
Some Other Aspects of the Scientific Revolution | 203 |
The Decadence and End of Science | 231 |
Science Technology and Economy 243 | 242 |
Lost Science | 269 |
The AgeLong Recovery 329 | 328 |
Appendix | 399 |
418 | |
435 | |
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Adversus Alexandria Almagest already ancient science Antiquity Apollonius Apollonius of Perga appears Arabic Archimedean Archimedes architectura Aristarchus Aristotelian Aristotle Aristotle’s Artemidorus astronomical bodies classical Ctesibius culture definition Deipnosophistae described dioptra discussed earth Elements Eratosthenes Euclid example experimental explain Figure Galileo Geography geometry Greek heliocentrism Hellenistic mathematics Hellenistic period Hellenistic science Heron Herophilus Hipparchus idea interest knowledge Latin logical machines mathematicians mathematics meaning mechanics mentioned modern moon motion natural Naturalis historia Newton objects observation optics original parabola passage phainomena Philo of Byzantium philosophy planetary planets Pliny Plutarch Pneumatica Posidonius postulates problem proposition Ptolemy Ptolemy’s Pythagorean ratio Roman rotation says scientific method scientific theories scientists second century B.C. Section segment Seleucus Seneca Sextus Empiricus Simplicius spherical Staden statements Strabo testimonia theoretical third century B.C. tides tion translation treatise triangles Vitruvius word writes