The Death & Rebirth of Science.

The scientic method is fundamental to our

understanding of the world which we live in. Not
everyone wants to be a scientist, but it is of direct
practical importance for us to understand science
because it is the only way to be sure that our lives
will not be controlled by superstition. This article
looks at some of the pioneers of science and
shows us the dangers we will have if we ever lose
it again...
Thales
Thales is considered to be the rst person who
followed the scientic method. He lived in Miletus,
Asia Minor from 624 to 546BCE. In his times it was
common to think that the gods were responsible for
all geological activity and weather. Earthquakes
and tsunamis were attributed to Poseidon while
Zeus was thought to be responsible for thunder storms. Thales is important to science as
he was the rst person to explain these kinds of events as happening naturally, without
the need for mythological entities. He is also
famous for having predicted eclipses which the
superstitious people of his time feared. This
brought him great respect from the ignorant
community and he became known as one of the
Seven Sages of Greece.
Democritus
Democritus continued the scientic method that
was begun by Thales. He was born in 460BCE in
the small Greek town of Abdera. He was called
the laughing philosopher because he considered
all human behaviour to be ridiculous! He is most
inuential for being the rst person to propose the
theory of atoms. He saw particles of dust oating
in the sunlight and imagined that all matter was
made of similar particles which w
ere too small to be seen. The Greek word atomos
literally means "cannot be cut". His theory was
nally proven to be correct in the the nineteenth
century by the English scientist John Dalton, who
had the benet of the microscope which hadn't been in existence in Democitus' times!
Pythagoras
Pythagoras is now known for his mathematics but he was really of
importance in his times as a mystic. He thought that numbers had
sacred meanings and developed numerology, a type of horoscope
which people could use to show how numbers would effect their
lives. Pythagoras didn't use scientic experiments to observe the
world, rather abstract thinking of perfect numbers and forms in the
mind. This helped the growth of popular superstitions which later
became mystery religions such as Christianity.
Hypatia
Hypatia was the last of the great scientists in the
ancient world. She was born in the Egyptian city
of Alexandria in 350CE. She worked at the legendary library of
Alexandria which contained all of the knowledge of the ancient world.
She lived in times of trouble towards the end of the Roman Empire
whose emperor Theodosius had recently converted to Christianity. As
times were changing the Christians became more powerful in the city
and they considered it heretical that a woman should be independent
and educated as well as a leader and teacher of men. Hypatia's fate was
connected to that of the ancient library whose destruction she tried to
prevent unsuccessfully. The library was burnt and almost all of the
achievements of classical civilization were lost. She became a martyr to
science when she was brutally murdered in public in the year 415CE.
Science would be forgotten and as a consequence Europe experienced
a period known as the dark ages which lasted for a thousand years, until
the renaissance in the 1400's, but women would not regain equal rights
until well into the 20th century.
1. Why is it so important for the general public to have an understanding of science?
2. How was Thales different from other people of his times?
3. How did he become famous?
4. Why was Democritus called the laughing philosopher?
5. What does the word atom really mean?
6. Who discovered atoms?
7. Why did Pythagoras think that numbers were important?
8. How did his ideas effect scientic inquiry?
9. What was happening to the Roman Empire in Hypatia's times?
10. How did the destruction of the Alexandrian library effect civilisation?
11. Why was she so brutally murdered?