ANCIENT PERIOD

LINKS WHERE I GOT THE INFOS AND ARTICLES

https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-technology/ten-amazing-inventions-ancient-times-
001539

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/timeline.html

https://www.famousscientists.org/top-scientists-in-antiquity/

Ancient times

The existence of Science in this period is notable not only because of the
inventions but also the presence of great persons (scientist/philosophers) who
were born in this period.

FAMOUS INVENTIONS THE LEADS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF

SCIENCE

62 CE Hero of Alexandria, a Greek scientist, pioneers steam power.

Heron Alexandrinus, otherwise known as the Hero of Alexandria, was a 1 st century Greek
mathematician and engineer who is known as the first inventor of the steam engine. His steam
powered device was called the aeolipile, named after Aiolos, God of the winds. The aeolipile
consisted of a sphere positioned in such a way that it could rotate around its axis. Nozzles opposite
each other would expel steam and both of the nozzles would generate a combined thrust resulting in
torque, causing the sphere to spin around its axis. The rotation force sped up the sphere up to the
point where the resistance from traction and air brought it to a stable rotation speed. The steam was
created by boiling water under the sphere – the boiler was connected to the rotating sphere through
a pair of pipes that at the same time served as pivots for the sphere

600 BCE Thales of Miletus discovers static electricity.

This image depicts a Greek stamp honoring Thales of Miletus. He is shown with a
piece of amber (called ilektron in Greek).

Around 585 BC, Thales discovered that if he rubbed amber (ilektron) with a piece of fur,
that amber could attract lightweight objects (like feathers) to itself. Thales had
discovered the principle of static electricity.

Because he lacked the tools to investigate further - as did subsequent thinkers and
experimenters for more than 2,000 additional years - no one really followed-up on
Thales’ ideas until the late-17th and early-18th centuries.
 2500 Ancient Egyptians produce papyrus, a crude early version of
BCE paper.

The papyrus plant was of tremendous importance within the ancient Egyptian civilization. The
plant served many uses, but the most significant was its development as a source of raw
materials for the production of paper. The ancient Egyptians developed a process for the
harvesting, manufacture, use and storage of this valuable material.

NOTABLE SCIENTIST OF THE ANCIENT TIMES

Anaximander c. 610 BC – c. 546 BC.

An ancient scientific revolution: the first person in history to recognize that we live on a planet that is
free in space and does not need to sit on something.

Archimedes c. 287 BC – 212 BC.

Founded the sciences of mechanics and hydrostatics, calculated pi precisely, devised the law of
exponents, created new geometrical proofs, invented numerous ingenious mechanical devices and
more.

Aristarchus c. 310 BC – c. 230 BC.

Promoted the idea that the earth follows a circular orbit around the sun eighteen centuries before
Nicolaus Copernicus resurrected the idea.
 Aristotle 384 BC – 322 BC.
A genius whose philosophical ideas are still taught, but his contributions to physics retarded
progress for almost two millennia

Democritus c. 460 — c. 370 BC

Devised an atomic theory featuring tiny particles always in motion interacting through collisions;
advocated a universe containing an infinity of diverse inhabited worlds governed by natural,
mechanistic laws rather than gods; deduced that the light of stars explains the Milky Way’s
appearance; discovered that a cone’s volume is one-third that of the cylinder with the same base
and height.