rcdcpreo

Science in classical antiquity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from History of science in classical antiquity)

Jump to navigationJump to search

The Ptolemaic system of celestial motion as depicted in the Harmonia Macrocosmica (1661).

Science in classical antiquity encompasses inquiries into the workings of the world or

universe aimed at both practical goals (e.g., establishing a reliable calendar or
determining how to cure a variety of illnesses) as well as more abstract investigations
belonging to natural philosophy. Classical antiquity is traditionally defined as the period
between 8th century BC and the 6th century AD, and the ideas regarding nature that
were theorized during this period were not limited to science but included myths as well
as religion. Those who are now considered as the first scientists may have thought of
themselves as natural philosophers, as practitioners of a skilled profession (e.g.,
physicians), or as followers of a religious tradition (e.g., temple healers). Some of the
more widely known figures active in this period
include Hippocrates, Aristotle, Euclid, Archimedes, Hipparchus, Galen, and Ptolemy.
Their contributions and commentaries spread throughout the Eastern, Islamic,
and Latin worlds and contributed to the birth of modern science. Their works covered
many different categories including mathematics, cosmology, medicine, and physics.

Contents

 1Classical Greece
o 1.1Knowledge of Causes
o 1.2Pre-Socratic Philosophy
 1.2.1Materialist philosophers
 1.2.2Pythagorean philosophy
 1.2.3Hippocrates and the Hippocratic
Corpus
o 1.3Schools of Philosophy
 1.3.1The Academy
 1.3.2The Lyceum
 2Hellenistic age
o 2.1Technology
o 2.2Medicine
o 2.3Mathematics
o 2.4Astronomy
 3Roman era
o 3.1Pliny
o 3.2Ptolemy
o 3.3Galen
 o 3.4Hero
 4See also
 5Notes
 6References

Classical Greece[edit]

The physician Hippocrates, known as the "Father of Modern Medicine"[1][2]

Knowledge of Causes[edit]
Inquires into the nature of things first began out of practical concerns among the ancient
Greeks. For instance, an attempt to establish a calendar is first exemplified by
the Works and Days of the Greek poet Hesiod, who lived around 700 BC. Hesiod's
calendar was meant to regulate seasonal activities by the seasonal appearances and
disappearances of the stars, as well as by the phases of the Moon, which were held to
be propitious or ominous.[3] Around 450 BC we begin to see compilations of the seasonal
appearances and disappearances of the stars in texts known as parapegmata, which
were used to regulate the civil calendars of the Greek city-states on the basis of
astronomical observations.[4]
Medicine is another area where practically oriented investigations of nature took place
during this period. Greek medicine was not the province of a single trained profession
and there was no accepted method of qualification of licensing. Physicians in
the Hippocratic tradition, temple healers associated with the cult of Asclepius, herb
collectors, drug sellers, midwives, and gymnastic trainers all claimed to be qualified as
healers in specific contexts and competed actively for patients. [5] This rivalry among
these competing traditions contributed to an active public debate about the causes and
proper treatment of disease, and about the general methodological approaches of their
rivals.
An example of the search for causal explanations is found in the Hippocratic text On the
Sacred Disease, which deals with the nature of epilepsy. In it, the author attacks his
rivals (temple healers) for their ignorance in attributing epilepsy to divine wrath, and for
their love of gain. Although the author insists that epilepsy has a natural cause, when it
comes to explain what that cause is and what the proper treatment would be, the
explanation is as short on specific evidence and the treatment as vague as that of his
rivals.[6] Nonetheless, observations of natural phenomena continued to be compiled in an
effort to determine their causes, as for instance in the works
of Aristotle and Theophrastus, who wrote extensively on animals and plants.
Theophrastus also produced the first systematic attempt to classify minerals and rocks,
a summary of which is found in Pliny's Natural History.
The legacy of Greek science in this era included substantial advances in factual
knowledge due to empirical research (e.g., in zoology, botany, mineralogy, and
astronomy), an awareness of the importance of certain scientific problems (e.g., the
problem of change and its causes), and a recognition of the methodological significance
of establishing criteria for truth (e.g., applying mathematics to natural phenomena),
despite the lack of universal consensus in any of these areas. [7]
Pre-Socratic Philosophy[edit]
Materialist philosophers[edit]

The four classical elements (fire, air, water, earth) of Empedocles illustrated with a burning log. The log
releases all four elements as it is destroyed.

The earliest Greek philosophers, known as the pre-Socratics, were materialists who

provided alternative answers to the same question found in the myths of their
neighbors: "How did the ordered cosmos in which we live come to be?"[8] Although the
question is much the same, their answers and their attitude towards the answers is
markedly different. As reported by such later writers as Aristotle, their explanations
tended to center on the material source of things.
Thales of Miletus (624–546 BC) considered that all things came to be from and find their
sustenance in water. Anaximander (610–546 BC) then suggested that things could not
come from a specific substance like water, but rather from something he called the
"boundless." Exactly what he meant is uncertain but it has been suggested that it was
boundless in its quantity, so that creation would not fail; in its qualities, so that it would
not be overpowered by its contrary; in time, as it has no beginning or end; and in space,
as it encompasses all things.[9] Anaximenes (585–525 BC) returned to a concrete
material substance, air, which could be altered by rarefaction and condensation. He
adduced common observations (the wine stealer) to demonstrate that air was a
substance and a simple experiment (breathing on one's hand) to show that it could be
altered by rarefaction and condensation.[10]
Heraclitus of Ephesus (about 535–475 BC), then maintained that change, rather than
any substance was fundamental, although the element fire seemed to play a central role
in this process.[11] Finally, Empedocles of Acragas (490–430 BC), seems to have
combined the views of his predecessors, asserting that there are four elements (Earth,
Water, Air and Fire) which produce change by mixing and separating under the
influence of two opposing "forces" that he called Love and Strife. [12]
All these theories imply that matter is a continuous substance. Two Greek
philosophers, Leucippus (first half of the 5th century BC) and Democritus came up with
the notion that there were two real entities: atoms, which were small indivisible particles
of matter, and the void, which was the empty space in which matter was located.
[13]
 Although all the explanations from Thales to Democritus involve matter, what is more
important is the fact that these rival explanations suggest an ongoing process of debate
in which alternate theories were put forth and criticized.
Xenophanes of Colophon prefigured paleontology and geology as he thought that
periodically the earth and sea mix and turn all to mud, citing several fossils of sea
creatures that he had seen.[14]
Pythagorean philosophy[edit]
The materialist explanations of the origins of the cosmos were attempts at answering
the question of how an organized universe came to be; however, the idea of a random
assemblage of elements (e.g., fire or water) producing an ordered universe without the
existence of some ordering principle remained problematic to some.
One answer to this problem was advanced by the followers of Pythagoras (c. 582–507
BC), who saw number as the fundamental unchanging entity underlying all the structure
of the universe. Although it is difficult to separate fact from legend, it appears that some
Pythagoreans believed matter to be made up of ordered arrangements of points
according to geometrical principles: triangles, squares, rectangles, or other figures.
Other Pythagoreans saw the universe arranged on the basis of numbers, ratios, and
proportions, much like musical scales. Philolaus, for instance, held that there were ten
heavenly bodies because the sum of 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 gives the perfect number 10. Thus,
the Pythagoreans were some of the first to apply mathematical principles to explain the
rational basis of an orderly universe—an idea that was to have immense consequences
in the development of scientific thought.[15]
Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Corpus[edit]
According to tradition, the physician Hippocrates of Kos (460-370 BC) is considered the
"father of medicine" because he was the first to make use of prognosis and clinical
observation, to categorize diseases, and to formulate the ideas behind humoural theory.
[16]
 However, most of the Hippocratic Corpus—a collection of medical theories, practices,
and diagnoses—was often attributed to Hippocrates with very little justification, thus
making it difficult to know what Hippocrates actually thought, wrote, and did. [17]
Despite their wide variability in terms of style and method, the writings of the Hippocratic
Corpus had a significant influence on the medical practice of Islamic and Western
medicine for more than a thousand years.[18]
Schools of Philosophy[edit]
The Academy[edit]

A mosaic depicting Plato's Academy, from the Villa of T. Siminius Stephanus in Pompeii (1st century AD).

The first institution of higher learning in Ancient Greece was founded by Plato (c. 427–c.
347 BC), an Athenian who—perhaps under Pythagorean influence—appears to have
identified the ordering principle of the universe as one based on number and geometry.
A later account has it that Plato had inscribed at the entrance to the Academy the words
"Let no man ignorant of geometry enter." [19] Although the story is most likely a myth, it
nonetheless testifies to Plato's interest in mathematics, which is alluded to in several of
his dialogues.[20]
Plato's philosophy maintained that all material things are imperfect reflections of eternal
unchanging ideas, just as all mathematical diagrams are reflections of eternal
unchanging mathematical truths. Since Plato believed that material things had an
inferior kind of reality, he considered that demonstrative knowledge cannot be achieved
by looking at the imperfect material world. Truth is to be found through rational
argumentation, analogous to the demonstrations of mathematicians. [21] For instance,
Plato recommended that astronomy be studied in terms of abstract geometrical models
rather than empirical observations,[22] and proposed that leaders be trained in
mathematics in preparation for philosophy.[23]
Aristotle (384–322 BC), who studied at the Academy, nonetheless disagreed with Plato
in several important respects. While he agreed that truth must be eternal and
unchanging, Aristotle maintained that the world is knowable through experience and
that we come to know the truth by what we perceive with our senses. For him, directly
observable things are real; ideas (or as he called them, forms) only exist as they
express themselves in matter, such as in living things, or in the mind of an observer or
artisan.[24]
Aristotle's theory of reality led to a different approach to science. Unlike Plato, Aristotle
emphasized observation of the material entities which embody the forms. He also
played down (but did not negate) the importance of mathematics in the study of nature.
The process of change took precedence over Plato's focus on eternal unchanging ideas
in Aristotle's philosophy. Finally, he reduced the importance of Plato's forms to one of
four causal factors.
Aristotle thus distinguished between four causes:[25]

 the matter of which a thing was made (the material

cause).
 the form into which it was made (the formal cause;
similar to Plato's ideas).
 the agent who made the thing (the moving
or efficient cause).
 the purpose for which the thing was made (the final
cause).
Aristotle insisted that scientific knowledge (Ancient Greek: ἐπιστήμη, Latin: scientia) is
knowledge of necessary causes. He and his followers would not accept mere
description or prediction as science. Most characteristic of Aristotle's causes is his final
cause, the purpose for which a thing is made. He came to this insight through his
biological researches, such as those of marine animals at Lesbos, in which he noted
that the organs of animals serve a particular function:
The absence of chance and the serving of ends are
found in the works of nature especially. And the end for
the sake of which a thing has been constructed or has
come to be belongs to what is beautiful.[26]
The Lyceum[edit]
After Plato's death, Aristotle left the Academy and traveled
widely before returning to Athens to found a school
adjacent to the Lyceum. As one of the most prolific natural
philosophers of Antiquity, Aristotle wrote and lecture on
many topics of scientific interest,
including biology, meteorology, psychology, logic,
and physics. He developed a comprehensive physical
theory that was a variation of the classical theory of the
elements (earth, water, fire, air, and aether). In his theory,
the light elements (fire and air) have a natural tendency to
move away from the center of the universe while the heavy
elements (earth and water) have a natural tendency to
move toward the center of the universe, thereby forming a
spherical earth. Since the celestial bodies (i.e.,
the planets and stars) were seen to move in circles, he
concluded that they must be made of a fifth element, which
he called aether.[27]
Aristotle used intuitive ideas to justify his reasoning and
could point to the falling stone, rising flames, or pouring
water to illustrate his theory. His laws
of motion emphasized the common observation
that friction was an omnipresent phenomenon: that any
body in motion would, unless acted upon, come to rest. He
also proposed that heavier objects fall faster, and
that voids were impossible.
Aristotle's successor at the Lyceum was Theophrastus,
who wrote valuable books describing plant and animal life.
His works are regarded as the first to
put botany and zoology on a systematic footing.
Theophrastus' work on mineralogy provided descriptions of
ores and minerals known to the world at that time, making
some shrewd observations of their properties. For example,
he made the first known reference to the phenomenon that
the mineral tourmaline attracts straws and bits of wood
when heated, now known to be caused by pyroelectricity.
[28]
 Pliny the Elder makes clear references to his use of the
work in his Natural History, while updating and making
much new information available on minerals himself. From
both these early texts was to emerge the science of
mineralogy, and ultimately geology. Both authors describe
the sources of the minerals they discuss in the various
mines exploited in their time, so their works should be
regarded not just as early scientific texts, but also important
for the history of engineering and the history of technology.
[7]

Other notable peripatetics include Strato, who was a tutor

in the court of the Ptolemies and who devoted time to
physical research, Eudemus, who edited Aristotle's works
and wrote the first books on the history of science,
and Demetrius of Phalerum, who governed Athens for a
time and later may have helped establish the Library of
Alexandria.

Hellenistic age[edit]
Further information: Hellenistic astronomy, Hellenistic
mathematics, and Hellenistic geography
 Diagram of the Antikythera mechanism, an analog astronomical
calculator

The military campaigns of Alexander the Great spread

Greek thought to Egypt, Asia Minor, Persia, up to the Indus
River. The resulting migration of many Greek
speaking populations across these territories provided the
impetus for the foundation of several seats of learning,
such as those in Alexandria, Antioch, and Pergamum.
Hellenistic science differed from Greek science in at least
two respects: first, it benefited from the cross-fertilization of
Greek ideas with those that had developed in other non-
Hellenic civilizations; secondly, to some extent, it was
supported by royal patrons in the kingdoms founded
by Alexander's successors. The city of Alexandria, in
particular, became a major center of scientific research in
the 3rd century BC. Two institutions established there
during the reigns of Ptolemy I Soter (367–282 BC)
and Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309–246 BC) were
the Library and the Museum. Unlike Plato's Academy and
Aristotle's Lyceum, these institutions were officially
supported by the Ptolemies, although the extent of
patronage could be precarious depending on the policies of
the current ruler.[29]
Hellenistic scholars often employed the principles
developed in earlier Greek thought in their scientific
investigations, such as the application of mathematics to
phenomena or the deliberate collection of empirical data.
[30]
 The assessment of Hellenistic science, however, varies
widely. At one extreme is the view of English classical
scholar Cornford, who believed that "all the most important
and original work was done in the three centuries from 600
to 300 BC".[31] At the other end is the view of Italian physicist
and mathematician Lucio Russo, who claims that the
scientific method was actually born in the 3rd century BC,
only to be largely forgotten during the Roman period and
not revived again until the Renaissance. [32]
Technology[edit]
A good example of the level of achievement
in astronomical knowledge and engineering during the
Hellenistic age can be seen in the Antikythera
mechanism (150–100 BC). It is a 37-gear mechanical
computer which calculated the motions of the Sun, Moon,
and possibly the other five planets known to the ancients.
The Antikythera mechanism included lunar and solar
eclipses predicted on the basis of astronomical periods
believed to have been learned from the Babylonians.[33] The
device may have been part of an ancient Greek tradition of
complex mechanical technology that was later, at least in
part, transmitted to the Byzantine and Islamic worlds,
where mechanical devices which were complex, albeit
simpler than the Antikythera mechanism, were built during
the Middle Ages. Fragments of a geared calendar attached
to a sundial, from the fifth or sixth century Byzantine
Empire, have been found; the calendar may have been
used to assist in telling time. A geared calendar similar to
the Byzantine device was described by the scientist al-
Biruni around 1000, and a surviving 13th-century astrolabe
also contains a similar clockwork device. [34][35]
Medicine[edit]
An important school of medicine was formed
in Alexandria from the late 4th century to the 2nd century
BC.[36] Beginning with Ptolemy I Soter, medical officials were
allowed to cut open and examine cadavers for the
purposes of learning how human bodies operated. The first
use of human bodies for anatomical research occurred in
the work of Herophilos (335–280 BC) and Erasistratus (c.
304–c. 250 BC), who gained permission to perform live
dissections, or vivisections, on condemned criminals
in Alexandria under the auspices of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
[37]

Herophilos developed a body of anatomical knowledge

much more informed by the actual structure of the human
body than previous works had been. He also reversed the
longstanding notion made by Aristotle that the heart was
the "seat of intelligence", arguing for the brain instead.
[38]
 Herophilos also wrote on the distinction
between veins and arteries, and made many other accurate
observations about the structure of the human body,
especially the nervous system.[39] Erasistratus differentiated
between the function of the sensory and motor nerves, and
linked them to the brain. He is credited with one of the first
in-depth descriptions of the cerebrum and cerebellum.[40] For
their contributions, Herophilos is often called the "father
of anatomy," while Erasistratus is regarded by some as the
"founder of physiology".[41]
Mathematics[edit]

Apollonius wrote a comprehensive study of conic sections in

the Conics.

Greek mathematics in the Hellenistic period reached a level

of sophistication not matched for several centuries
afterward, as much of the work represented by scholars
active at this time was of a very advanced level.[42] There is
also evidence of combining mathematical knowledge with
high levels of technical expertise, as found for instance in
the construction of massive building projects (e.g.,
the Syracusia), or in Eratosthenes' (276–195 BC)
measurement of the distance between the Sun and
the Earth and the size of the Earth.[43]
Although few in number, Hellenistic mathematicians
actively communicated with each other; publication
consisted of passing and copying someone's work among
colleagues.[44] Among the most recognizable is the work
of Euclid (325–265 BC), who presumably authored a series
of books known as the Elements, a canon of geometry and
elementary number theory for many centuries.
[45]
 Euclid's Elements served as the main textbook for the
teaching of theoretical mathematics until the early 20th
century.
Archimedes (287–212 BC), a Sicilian Greek, wrote about a
dozen treatises were he communicated many remarkable
results, such as the sum of an infinite geometric series
in Quadrature of the Parabola, an approximation to the
value π in Measurement of the Circle, and a nomenclature
to express very large numbers in the Sand Reckoner.[46]
The most characteristic product of Greek mathematics may
be the theory of conic sections, which was largely
developed in the Hellenistic period, primarily
by Apollonius (262–190 BC). The methods used made no
explicit use of algebra, nor trigonometry, the latter
appearing around the time of Hipparchus (190–120 BC).
Astronomy[edit]
Advances in mathematical astronomy also took place
during the Hellenistic age. Aristarchus of Samos (310–230
BC) was an ancient
Greek astronomer and mathematician who presented the
first known heliocentric model that placed the Sun at the
center of the known universe, with the Earth revolving
around the Sun once a year and rotating about its axis
once a day. Aristarchus also estimated the sizes of the Sun
and Moon as compared to Earth's size, and the distances
to the Sun and Moon. His heliocentric model did not find
many adherents in antiquity but did influence some early
modern astronomers, such as Nicolaus Copernicus, who
was aware of the heliocentric theory of Aristarchus.[47]
In the 2nd century BC, Hipparchus discovered precession,
calculated the size and distance of the Moon and invented
the earliest known astronomical devices such as
the astrolabe.[48] Hipparchus also created a comprehensive
catalog of 1020 stars, and most of the constellations of the
northern hemisphere derive from Greek astronomy.[49][50] It
has recently been claimed that a celestial globe based on
Hipparchus's star catalog sits atop the broad shoulders of a
large 2nd-century Roman statue known as the Farnese
Atlas.[51]

Roman era[edit]
 A 19th-century portrait of Pliny the Elder

Science during the Roman Empire was concerned with

systematizing knowledge gained in the preceding
Hellenistic age and the knowledge from the vast areas the
Romans had conquered. It was largely the work of authors
active in this period that would be passed on uninterrupted
to later civilizations.[citation needed]
Even though science continued under Roman
rule, Latin texts were mainly compilations drawing on
earlier Greek work. Advanced scientific research and
teaching continued to be carried on in Greek. Such Greek
and Hellenistic works as survived were preserved and
developed later in the Byzantine Empire and then in
the Islamic world. Late Roman attempts to translate Greek
writings into Latin had limited success (e.g., Boethius), and
direct knowledge of most ancient Greek texts only reached
western Europe from the 12th century onwards. [52]
Pliny[edit]
Pliny the Elder published the Naturalis Historia in 77 AD,
one of the most extensive compilations of the natural world
which survived into the Middle Ages. Pliny did not simply
list materials and objects but also recorded explanations of
phenomena. Thus he is the first to correctly describe the
origin of amber as being the fossilized resin of pine trees.
He makes the inference from the observation of trapped
insects within some amber samples.
Pliny's work is divided neatly into the organic world of
plants and animals, and the realm of inorganic matter,
although there are frequent digressions in each section. He
is especially interested in not just describing the occurrence
of plants, animals and insects, but also their exploitation (or
abuse) by man. The description of metals and minerals is
particularly detailed, and valuable as being the most
extensive compilation still available from the ancient world.
Although much of the work was compiled by judicious use
of written sources, Pliny gives an eyewitness account
of gold mining in Spain, where he was stationed as an
officer. Pliny is especially significant because he provides
full bibliographic details of the earlier authors and their
works he uses and consults. Because
his encyclopaedia survived the Dark Ages, we know of
these lost works, even if the texts themselves have
disappeared. The book was one of the first to be printed in
1489, and became a standard reference work
for Renaissance scholars, as well as an inspiration for the
development of a scientific and rational approach to the
world.[citation needed]
Ptolemy[edit]

George Trebizond's Latin translation of Ptolemy's Almagest (c. 1451)

Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100–170 AD), living in or

around Alexandria, carried out a scientific program
centered on the writing of about a dozen books
on astronomy, astrology, cartography, harmonics,
and optics. Despite their severe style and high technicality,
a great deal of them have survived, in some cases the sole
remnants of their kind of writing from antiquity. Two major
themes that run through Ptolemy's works are mathematical
modelling of physical phenomena and methods of visual
representation of physical reality.[53]
Ptolemy's research program involved a combination of
theoretical analysis with empirical considerations seen, for
instance, in his systematized study of astronomy.
Ptolemy's Mathēmatikē Syntaxis (Ancient Greek:
Μαθηματικὴ Σύνταξις), better known as the Almagest,
sought to improve on the work of his predecessors by
building astronomy not only upon a secure mathematical
basis but also by demonstrating the relationship between
astronomical observations and the resulting astronomical
theory.[54] In his Planetary Hypotheses, Ptolemy describes in
detail physical representations of his mathematical models
found in the Almagest, presumably for didactic purposes.
[55]
 Likewise, the Geography was concerned with the
drawing of accurate maps using astronomical information,
at least in principle.[56] Apart from astronomy, both
the Harmonics and the Optics contain (in addition to
mathematical analyses of sound and sight, respectively)
instructions on how to construct and use experimental
instruments to corroborate theory.[57][58]
Ptolemy's thoroughness and his preoccupation with ease of
data presentation (for example, in his widespread use of
tables[59]) virtually guaranteed that earlier work on these
subjects be neglected or considered obsolete, to the extent
that almost nothing remains of the works Ptolemy often
refers.[60] His astronomical work in particular defined the
method and subject matter of future research for centuries,
and the Ptolemaic system became the dominant model for
the motions of the heavens until the seventeenth century.[61]
Galen[edit]
The greatest medical practitioner and philosopher of this
era was Galen, active in the 2nd century AD. Around 100 of
his works survive—the most for any ancient Greek author
—and fill 22 volumes of modern text.[62] Galen was born in
the ancient Greek city of Pergamon (now in Turkey), the
son of a successful architect who gave him a liberal
education. Galen was instructed in all major philosophical
schools (Platonism, Aristotelianism, Stoicism and
Epicureanism) until his father, moved by a dream
of Asclepius, decided he should study medicine. After his
father's death, Galen traveled widely searching for the best
doctors in Smyrna, Corinth, and finally Alexandria.[63]
Galen compiled much of the knowledge obtained by his
predecessors, and furthered the inquiry into the function of
organs by
performing dissections and vivisections on Barbary
apes, oxen, pigs, and other animals.[64] In 158 AD, Galen
served as chief physician to the gladiators in his
native Pergamon, and was able to study all kinds of
wounds without performing any actual human dissection. It
was through his experiments, however, that Galen was
able to overturn many long-held beliefs, such as the theory
that the arteries contained air which carried it to all parts of
the body from the heart and the lungs. [65] This belief was
based originally on the arteries of dead animals, which
appeared to be empty. Galen was able to demonstrate that
living arteries contain blood, but his error, which became
the established medical orthodoxy for centuries, was to
assume that the blood goes back and forth from the heart
in an ebb-and-flow motion.[66]
Anatomy was a prominent part of Galen’s medical
education and was a major source of interest throughout
his life. He wrote two great anatomical works, On
anatomical procedure and On the uses of the parts of the
body of man. The information in these tracts became the
foundation of authority for all medical writers and
physicians for the next 1300 years until they were
challenged by Vesalius and Harvey in the 16th century.[67][68]
Hero[edit]
Hero of Alexandria was a Greco-Egyptian mathematician
and engineer who is often considered to be the greatest
experimenter of antiquity.[69] Among his most famous
inventions was a windwheel, constituting the earliest
instance of wind harnessing on land, and a well-recognized
description of a steam-powered device called an aeolipile,
which was the first-recorded steam engine.

See also[edit]
 Ancient Greek technology
  Ancient Greek geography
 Forensics in antiquity
 Protoscience
 Roman technology
 Obsolete scientific theories

Notes[edit]
1. ^ Grammaticos, P. C.; Diamantis, A. (2008). "Useful
known and unknown views of the father of modern
medicine, Hippocrates and his teacher
Democritus". Hellenic Journal of Nuclear
Medicine. 11 (1): 2–4.  PMID  18392218.
2. ^ The father of modern medicine: the first research of the
physical factor of tetanus Archived 2011-11-18 at
the Wayback Machine, European Society of Clinical
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
3. ^ Lloyd (1970), p. 81; Thurston, p. 21.
4. ^ Thurston, pp. 111–12; D. R. Lehoux, Parapegmata: or
Astrology, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient
World, PhD Dissertation, University of Toronto, 2000, p.
61.
5. ^ Lloyd (1979), pp. 38–9.
6. ^ Lloyd (1979), pp. 15–24.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b Lloyd (1970), pp. 144–6.
8. ^ Cornford, p. 159.
9. ^ Lloyd (1970), pp. 16–21; Cornford, pp. 171–8.
10. ^ Lloyd (1970), pp. 21–3.
11. ^ Lloyd (1970), pp. 36–7.
12. ^ Lloyd (1970), pp. 39–43.
13. ^ Lloyd (1970), pp. 45–9.
14. ^ Barnes p. 47, quoting Hippolytus Refutation of all
Heresies I xiv 1–6
15. ^ Lloyd (1970), pp. 24–31.
16. ^ 1870-1935., Garrison, Fielding H. (Fielding Hudson)
(1966).  An introduction to the history of medicine, with
medical chronology, suggestions for study, and
bibliographic data. W.B. Saunders
Company.  OCLC 230950340.
17. ^ Iniesta, Ivan (2011-04-20). "Hippocratic
Corpus". BMJ. 342:
d688.  doi:10.1136/bmj.d688.  ISSN  0959-8138. S2CID  2
20115185.
18. ^ Karpozilos, A.; Pavlidis, N. (2004-09-01).  "The
treatment of cancer in Greek antiquity". European
Journal of Cancer. 40 (14): 2033–
2040.  doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2004.04.036.  ISSN  0959-8049. 
PMID 15341975.
19. ^ A. M. Alioto, A History of Western Science, (Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice–Hall, 1987), p. 44.
20. ^ Calian, Florin George (2021-12-09).  Numbers,
Ontologically Speaking: Plato on Numerosity.
Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-46722-4.
21. ^ Lindberg, pp. 35–9; Lloyd (1970), pp. 71–2, 79.
22. ^ Plato, Republic, 530b–c.
23. ^ Plato, Timaeus, 28b–29a.
24. ^ Lindberg, pp. 47–68; Lloyd (1970), pp. 99–124.
25. ^ Hennig, Boris (2009).  "The Four Causes". The Journal
of Philosophy.  106  (3): 137–160.  ISSN  0022-362X.
26. ^ Aristotle, De partibus animalium, 645a22–6; quoted in
Lloyd (1968), p. 70.
27. ^ Lloyd (1968), pp. 134–9, 162–70.
28. ^ Lang, Sidney B. (August 2005), "Pyroelectricity: From
Ancient Curiosity to Modern Imaging Tool",  Physics
Today, 58 (8): 31–
 36,  Bibcode:2005PhT....58h..31L,  doi:10.1063/1.206291
6
29. ^ Lloyd (1973), pp. 1–7.
30. ^ Lloyd (1973), p. 177.
31. ^ F. M. Cornford, The Unwritten Philosophy and Other
Essays, p. 83, quoted in Lloyd (1973), p. 154.
32. ^ Russo, Lucio  (2004). The Forgotten Revolution: How
Science Was Born in 300 BC and Why It Had To Be
Reborn. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 3-540-20396-6. But see
the critical reviews by Mott Greene, Nature, vol 430, no.
7000 (5 Aug 2004):614 [1] and Michael Rowan-
Robinson, Physics World, vol. 17, no. 4 (April 2004)[2].
33. ^ Freeth, T.; et  al. (2006). "Decoding the ancient Greek
astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera
Mechanism".  Nature.  444  (7119): 587–
91.  Bibcode:2006Natur.444..587F.  doi:10.1038/nature05
357.  PMID  17136087. S2CID  4424998.; Marchant, Jo
(2006).  "In Search of Lost Time". Nature. 444 (7119):
534–8. Bibcode:2006Natur.444..534M. do
i:10.1038/444534a. PMID 17136067.;
34. ^ Charette, F (November 2006). "Archaeology: high tech
from Ancient Greece". Nature. 444 (7119): 551–
52.  Bibcode:2006Natur.444..551C. doi:10.1038/444551a
. PMID 17136077.  S2CID 33513516..
35. ^ Maddison, Francis (28 March 1985). "Early
mathematical wheelwork: Byzantine calendrical
gearing".  Nature.  314  (6009): 316–
17.  Bibcode:1985Natur.314..316M.  doi:10.1038/314316b
0. S2CID  4229697..
36. ^ Serageldin, I. (2013). "Ancient Alexandria and the
dawn of medical science". Global Cardiology Science &
Practice. 2013 (4): 395–
404.  doi:10.5339/gcsp.2013.47.  PMC 3991212. PMID 2
4749113.
37. ^ Štrkalj, G.; Chorn, D. (2008).  "Herophilus of Chalcedon
and the practice of dissection in Hellenistic
Alexandria".  SAMJ: South African Medical
Journal.  98  (2): 86–89.  ISSN  0256-9574.
38. ^ Pearce, J. M. S. (2013). "The Neuroanatomy of
Herophilus". European Neurology.  69  (5): 292–
295.  doi:10.1159/000346232.  PMID  23445719.
39. ^ "Herophilus".  Britannica.
40. ^ Christie, R. V. (1987). "Galen on
Erasistratus".  Perspectives in Biology and
Medicine. 30 (3): 440–
449.  doi:10.1353/pbm.1987.0050. ISSN 1529-8795.  PMI
D 3295753. S2CID  39137284.
41. ^ Reverón, R. R. (2014).  "Herophilus and Erasistratus,
pioneers of human anatomical dissection".  Vesalius:
Acta Internationales Historiae Medicinae.  20  (1): 55–
58.  PMID  25181783.
42. ^ Keyser, P. T.; Scarborough, J. (2018).  The Oxford
Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical
World. Oxford University Press.  ISBN  978-0-19-973414-
6.
43. ^ Russo, L. (2004).  The Forgotten Revolution. Berlin:
Springer. p.  273-277.
44. ^ Knorr, W. R. (1990).  "New Readings in Greek
Mathematics: Sources, Problems, Publications". Impact
of Science on Society.  40  (3): 207–18.  ISSN  0019-2872.
45. ^ Bruno, Leonard C.; Baker, Lawrence W. (1999).  Math
and mathematicians  : the history of math discoveries
around the world. Internet Archive. Detroit, Mich.  : U X
L. ISBN 978-0-7876-3813-9.
46. ^ Dijksterhuis, E. J.
(1987).  "Archimedes".  www.jstor.org. JSTOR j.ctt7ztpbp.
Retrieved 2021-09-13.
47. ^ Kish, George (1978).  A Source Book in
Geography. Harvard University Press. p. 51.  ISBN  978-
0-674-82270-2.
48. ^ "Hipparchus of Rhodes". School of Mathematics and
Statistics, University of St Andrews,
Scotland.  Archived  from the original on 23 October 2007.
Retrieved 28 October  2007.
49. ^ Thurston, H. (1996). Early Astronomy. Springer
Science & Business Media. p.  2.  ISBN  978-0-387-
94822-5.
50. ^ Otto Neugebauer, A History of Ancient Mathematical
Astronomy, (New York: Springer, 1975), pp. 284–5; Lloyd
(1973), pp. 69–71.
51. ^ Schaefer, Bradley E. (2005).  "The Epoch of the
Constellations on the Farnese Atlas and Their Origin in
Hipparchus's Lost Catalogue"  (PDF). Journal for the
History of Astronomy.  36  (2): 167–
96.  Bibcode:2005JHA....36..167S.  doi:10.1177/0021828
60503600202. S2CID  15431718.; But see also Duke,
Dennis W. (2006). "Analysis of the Farnese
Globe". Journal for the History of Astronomy.  37  (126):
87–100. Bibcode:2006JHA....37...87D.  do
i:10.1177/002182860603700107.  S2CID 36841784.
52. ^ Stahl, see esp. pp. 120–133.
53. ^ Jones, A. (2005), Van Brummelen, G.; Kinyon, M.
(eds.), "Ptolemy's Mathematical Models and their
Meaning", Mathematics and the Historian’s Craft: The
Kenneth O. May Lectures, CMS Books in Mathematics,
Springer, pp.  23–42,  doi:10.1007/0-387-28272-
6_3,  ISBN  978-0-387-25284-1
54. ^ Goldstein, Bernard R. (2007).  "What's new in
Ptolemy's Almagest?". Nuncius. 22 (2): 261–
285.  doi:10.1163/182539107X00545.
55. ^ Hamm, Elizabeth (2016).  "Modeling the Heavens:
Sphairopoiia and Ptolemy's Planetary
Hypotheses".  Perspectives on Science.  24  (4): 416–
424.  doi:10.1162/POSC_a_00214.  S2CID 57560804.
56. ^ Berggren, J. L.; Jones, A. (2002). Ptolemy's
Geography: An Annotated Translation of the Theoretical
Chapters. Princeton University Press.  ISBN  978-0-691-
09259-1.
57. ^ Barker, Andrew (2010). "Mathematical Beauty Made
Audible: Musical Aesthetics in Ptolemy's
Harmonics". Classical Philology. 105 (4): 403–
420.  doi:10.1086/657028. S2CID  161714215.
58. ^ Smith, A. M. (1982).  "Ptolemy's Search for a Law of
Refraction: A Case-Study in the Classical Methodology of
"Saving the Appearances" and its Limitations".  Archive
for History of Exact Sciences.  26  (3): 221–
240.  Bibcode:1982AHES...26..221S. JSTOR 41133649.
59. ^ Sidoli, N. (2014). "Mathematical tables in Ptolemy's
Almagest". Historia Mathematica.  41  (1): 13–
37.  doi:10.1016/j.hm.2013.10.004.
60. ^ Riley, Mark T. (1995). "Ptolemy's Use of His
Predecessors' Data". Transactions of the American
Philological Association.  125: 221–
250.  doi:10.2307/284353. JSTOR 284353.
61. ^ Goldstein, Bernard R. (1997). "Saving the Phenomena:
the Background to Ptolemy's Planetary Theory". Journal
for the History of Astronomy.  28: 1–
12.  Bibcode:1997JHA....28....1G. doi:10.1177/00218286
9702800101.  S2CID 118875902.
62. ^ Singe, P. N. (1997). "Levels of explanation in
Galen".  The Classical Quarterly.  47  (2): 525–
542.  doi:10.1093/cq/47.2.525.
63. ^ Thorndike, L. (1922).  "Galen: The Man and His
Times".  The Scientific Monthly.  14  (1): 83–
93.  Bibcode:1922SciMo..14...83T.
64. ^ Gross, C. G. (1998). "Galen and the Squealing
Pig". The Neuroscientist. 4  (3): 216–
221.  doi:10.1177/107385849800400317. S2CID  721259
62.
 65. ^ Lloyd, G. E. R. (1996), Frede, M.; Striker, G.
(eds.), "Theories and Practices of Demonstration in
Galen",  Rationality in Greek Thought, Oxford University
Press
66. ^ Boylan, M. (2007). "Galen: On Blood, the Pulse, and
the Arteries".  Journal of the History of Biology. 40 (2):
207–230. doi:10.1007/s10739-006-9116-2.  PMID  18175
602.  S2CID 30093918.
67. ^ Marketos, S. G.; Skiadas, P. K. (1999).  "Galen: A
Pioneer of Spine Research". Spine. 24 (22): 2358–
2362.  doi:10.1097/00007632-199911150-00012.  ISSN  0
362-2436.  PMID  10586461.
68. ^ Ballester, L. G.; Arrizabalaga, J.; Cabré, M.; Cifuentes,
L. (2002).  Galen and Galenism: Theory and Medical
Practice From Antiquity to the European Renaissance.
Routledge.
69. ^ Research Machines plc. (2004). The Hutchinson
dictionary of scientific biography. Abingdon, Oxon:
Helicon Publishing. p. 546.  Hero of Alexandria (lived
c. AD  60)  Greek mathematician, engineer and the
greatest experimentalist of antiquity

References[edit]
 Alioto, Anthony M. A History of Western Science. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1987. ISBN 0-13-392390-8.
 Clagett, Marshall. Greek Science in Antiquity. New York:
Collier Books, 1955.
 Cornford, F. M. Principium Sapientiæ: The Origins of Greek
Philosophical Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr,
1952; Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1971.
 Lindberg, David C. The Beginnings of Western Science: The
European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and
Institutional Context, 600 B.C. to A.D. 1450. Chicago: Univ. of
Chicago Pr, 1992. ISBN 0-226-48231-6.
 Lloyd, G. E. R. Aristotle: The Growth and Structure of his
Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr, 1968. ISBN 0-521-
09456-9.
 Lloyd, G. E. R. Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle. New
York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1970. ISBN 0-393-00583-6.
 Lloyd, G. E. R. Greek Science after Aristotle. New York: W.W.
Norton & Co, 1973. ISBN 0-393-00780-4.
 Lloyd, G. E. R. Magic Reason and Experience: Studies in the
Origin and Development of Greek Science. Cambridge:
Cambridge Univ. Pr, 1979.
 Pedersen, Olaf. Early Physics and Astronomy: A Historical
Introduction. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1993. ISBN 0-521-40899-7.
 Stahl, William H. Roman Science: Origins, Development, and
Influence to the Later Middle Ages. Madison: Univ. of
Wisconsin Pr, 1962.
 Thurston, Hugh. Early Astronomy. New York: Springer,
1994. ISBN 0-387-94822-8.
 Barnes, Jonathan. Early Greek Philosophy. Published by
Penguin Classics

hide

History of science
Theories and sociology

Historiography

Pseudoscience

Early cultures

Classical Antiquity

The Golden Age of Islam

Renaissance

Scientific Revolution

Romanticism

African

Byzantine

Medieval European

Chinese

Indian

Medieval Islamic

Korean

Astronomy

Biology

Chemistry

Earth science

Physics

Algebra
Calculus

Combinatorics

Geometry

Logic

Probability

Statistics

Trigonometry

Anthropology

Archaeology

Economics

Linguistics

Psychology

Sociology

Agricultural science

Computer science

Materials science

Engineering

Human medicine
Veterinary medicine

Anatomy

Neuroscience

Neurology and neurosurgery 

Nutrition

Pathology

Pharmacy

  Timelines

  Portal

  Category

Categories: 
 History of science
 Ancient science
 Ancient Greek science
 Roman science
 Classical antiquity

Navigation menu
 Not logged in
 Talk
 Contributions
 Create account
 Log in
 Article
 Talk
 Read
 Edit
 View history
Search
Search Go

 Main page
 Contents
 Current events
 Random article
 About Wikipedia
 Contact us
 Donate
Contribute
 Help
 Learn to edit
 Community portal
 Recent changes
 Upload file
Tools
 What links here
 Related changes
 Special pages
 Permanent link
 Page information
  Cite this page
 Wikidata item
Print/export
 Download as PDF
 Printable version
Languages
 ‫العربية‬
 Español
 Français
 한국어
 Italiano
 Português
 Русский
4 more
Edit links
 This page was last edited on 1 June 2022, at 03:28 (UTC).
 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may apply.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
 Privacy policy

 About Wikipedia

 Disclaimers

 Contact Wikipedia

 Mobile view

 Developers

 Statistics

 Cookie statement