Science

Antiquity and its Legacy

Philippa Lang

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English

Bloomsbury Publishing
11 July 2019

Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500; History of ideas; Mathematics & Sciences; History of science

Series: Ancients and Moderns

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.

By: Philippa Lang
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
Weight: 306g
ISBN: 9781350121515
ISBN 10: 1350121517
Series: Ancients and Moderns
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 11 July 2019
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgments Note on Dates Foreword (by the series editor) Ch 1: Strange Worlds Ch 2: Strange Creatures Ch 3: Natural Laws and How to Discover Them Ch 4: Illness and Disease Ch 5: Controlling the World Ch 6: Then and Now Some Suggestions for Further Reading Notes Index

Philippa Lang was Professor of Classics at Emory University, USA from 2004 to 2013. Her previous works include Medicine and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt (2013) and, as editor, Reinventions: Essays on Hellenistic and Early Roman Science (2004).

Reviews for Science: Antiquity and its Legacy

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 *