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The Greek Scientist

Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: General History
Forum Name: Science through the Ages
Forum Discription: Discuss science and its effects on the world…
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18978
Printed Date: 19-Mar-2024 at 03:33
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.56a - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: The Greek Scientist
Posted By: rider
Subject: The Greek Scientist
Date Posted: 03-Apr-2007 at 13:03
What was the reason that the Greeks developed the highest (disputable) level of science (maths, astronomy, biology, chemistry, geography) in the Ancient world (I am discarding Asia here actually)?

Did they also take information and data from the Egyptians? The Egyptians were also highly developed in these areas so did they pass their knowledge to the Greeks in some areas? I know that many Greeks visited Egypt ('many' is perhaps a wrong word for it) and learned there.



Replies:
Posted By: Leonardo
Date Posted: 04-Apr-2007 at 04:04
Speaking about mathematical sciences, the Greeks, after Alexander the Great, inherited a lot of data from the Mesopotamians, who had recorded for centuries astronomical observations.
 
I wouldn't say that they took a lot of informations and data from the Egyptians ... the "science" of ancient Egyptians was indeed not so advanced (pace afrocentrists Smile ), at least  mathematical sciences, as was that of ancient Mesopotamians. This was stated scholarly by the famous historian of ancient astronomy Otto Neugebauer:  http://www.mat.ufrgs.br/~portosil/neugebau.html - http://www.mat.ufrgs.br/~portosil/neugebau.html  
 


Posted By: rider
Date Posted: 04-Apr-2007 at 11:10
Interesting..

Wouldn't you consider the Egyptian mathematics developed however? The pyramids and ways they were built in?

And I must agree on the fact that the Sumers and other Mesopotamians were at least as good engineers as the Egyptians.


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Posted By: Leonardo
Date Posted: 04-Apr-2007 at 12:03
Originally posted by rider

Interesting..

Wouldn't you consider the Egyptian mathematics developed however? The pyramids and ways they were built in?
 
 
The mathematics of ancient Mesopotamians was far more developed ... and in order to build a pyramid you don't need a very sophisticated mathematics.
 
 

Originally posted by rider

And I must agree on the fact that the Sumers and other Mesopotamians were at least as good engineers as the Egyptians.
 
 
Agreed
 
 


Posted By: Spartakus
Date Posted: 21-Apr-2007 at 16:38

The reason why they were so advanced was their spirit ,to learn things around them and their curiosity.That's the only explanation i can give.



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"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them. "
--- Joseph Alexandrovitch Brodsky, 1991, Russian-American poet, b. St. Petersburg and exiled 1972 (1940-1996)


Posted By: Athanasios
Date Posted: 21-Apr-2007 at 20:40

The reason why they were so advanced was their spirit ,to learn things around them and their curiosity.That's the only explanation i can give.

 
And the methodology , wich transforms knowledge into science.
 
 
When we're talking about ancient Greece , we refer to the city states and the never ending wars between them. I believe that the ancient greek cities were always in a competition  in all sectors-economic , cultural, political etc.-
 I don't want to connect the science with military aims in those ages , but the scientific developement was always presented  in eras of martial activity and of course, spiritual freedom.
 
I think a similar example is the Italian cities of renaissance.
 
Of course , the ensurance of viability and freedom were two things which  were required for scientific developement in ancient Greece.


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Posted By: Nurica
Date Posted: 26-May-2010 at 22:25
greeks had their time of inovations, "science" and originality, but they of course had teachers too, egyptians, and easterners. In my view, their "science" died because they created it before the proper time for such an activity; pretty soon their endeavour to search and understand nature's laws subsided, the complexity of nature being too big for their methodological and technological means. But to be honest, the science was to an a brazen enterprise for a society where people prefered religious explanations. The greek science was born when some few people dared to search and give natural explanations for natural phenomena, and died or became barren when religious masses and their leaders killed this kind of philosophical freedom, so needed for the science to be done. Others, later, gradually conquered their liberty to think and science was reborn. Maybe tomorow "western science" will die from the same illness of lack of freedom and religon meddling in science, or maybe not, but for sure is that the far east has already taken the relay. Others failed! But there is no guilty to throw to someone here, societies are like humans, are born, thrive and to a point in their natural history get old and die.


Posted By: Baal Melqart
Date Posted: 23-Apr-2011 at 21:01
Of course Greeks took some things from the Egyptians. It seems that Pythagoras' theorem was in fact used a long time before by the Egyptians. They were not great Mathematicians, but they excelled in Geometry.

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Timidi mater non flet



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