
Science
Antiquity and its Legacy
Philippa Lang(Author)
I.B. Tauris (Publisher)
Published on 13. October 2015
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-78076-171-8 (ISBN)
Article exhausted; check different version
Description
Ancient science is a subject that commands extensive general interest. This is the first non-technical survey of the interface between ancient and modern science. It is aimed at crossover student sales in classics, the history of ideas and the history and philosophy of science. Modern science and its technology are the children of the seventeenth-century. But the bold investigative experimentation and scientific systems of thought that this era spawned were in turn thoroughly influenced by Greek and Roman authors and ideas. Xenophanes' ideas about fossils informed the science of geology. Copernicus and his novel notion that the earth revolved around the sun, and not vice versa, were arguably influenced by the Samian philosopher and mathematician, Aristarchus. And the anatomists of Alexandria still - even today - have valuable insights to bring to current ethical discussions of vivisection and animal welfare. Shedding fresh light on topics such as Euclid's geometry, Aristotelian physics and the proto-Darwinism of pre-Socratic thinkers like Empedocles, Philippa Lang addresses the fascinating differences and similarities between ancient and modern conceptions of 'science'.She discusses the origins of the cosmos; natural laws in mathematics and physics; conceptions and philosophies of biology and disease; ideas about mechanistic science and technology as they have been used to control the societies of human beings; and the important nexus between science, morality and ethics.
Greek and Roman parallels illuminate and clarify the meaning of science itself.
Greek and Roman parallels illuminate and clarify the meaning of science itself.
Reviews / Votes
Despite its brevity, the book treats a big wealth of evidence ... Offers a beguiling mixture of ancient accounts and modern examples arranged in an often thematic order. * Journal of Classics Teaching *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
Weight
422 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78076-171-8 (9781780761718)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
Philippa Lang was Associate Professor of Classics at Emory University, and is the author of Medicine in Ptolemaic Egypt (2012).

