The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450, Second EditionUniversity of Chicago Press, 15. veebr 2010 - 480 pages When it was first published in 1992, The Beginnings of Western Science was lauded as the first successful attempt ever to present a unified account of both ancient and medieval science in a single volume. Chronicling the development of scientific ideas, practices, and institutions from pre-Socratic Greek philosophy to late-Medieval scholasticism, David C. Lindberg surveyed all the most important themes in the history of science, including developments in cosmology, astronomy, mechanics, optics, alchemy, natural history, and medicine. In addition, he offered an illuminating account of the transmission of Greek science to medieval Islam and subsequently to medieval Europe. The Beginnings of Western Science was, and remains, a landmark in the history of science, shaping the way students and scholars understand these critically formative periods of scientific development. It reemerges here in a second edition that includes revisions on nearly every page, as well as several sections that have been completely rewritten. For example, the section on Islamic science has been thoroughly retooled to reveal the magnitude and sophistication of medieval Muslim scientific achievement. And the book now reflects a sharper awareness of the importance of Mesopotamian science for the development of Greek astronomy. In all, the second edition of The Beginnings of Western Science captures the current state of our understanding of more than two millennia of science and promises to continue to inspire both students and general readers. |
From inside the book
Page 1
... thing as science in those times? And if the answer is affirmative, was there enough of it to merit book-length coverage? Before we can answer these questions, we need a definition of “science”— something that turns out to be ...
... thing as science in those times? And if the answer is affirmative, was there enough of it to merit book-length coverage? Before we can answer these questions, we need a definition of “science”— something that turns out to be ...
Page 4
... thing to know how to do things, another to know why they behave as they do. One can engage in successful and sophisticated carpentry, for example, without any theoretical knowledge of stresses in the timbers one employs. An electrician ...
... thing to know how to do things, another to know why they behave as they do. One can engage in successful and sophisticated carpentry, for example, without any theoretical knowledge of stresses in the timbers one employs. An electrician ...
Page 6
... things happen as they do because they have been willed to do so. This tendency has been described by H. and H. A. Frankfort: Our view of causality ... would not satisfy primitive man because of the impersonal character of its ...
... things happen as they do because they have been willed to do so. This tendency has been described by H. and H. A. Frankfort: Our view of causality ... would not satisfy primitive man because of the impersonal character of its ...
Page 7
... things such as fish , thorns , and paddles ; and Woot the sharpener , who first gave an edge to pointed things . Death came to the world when a quarrel between the last two Woots led to the demise of one of them by the use of a ...
... things such as fish , thorns , and paddles ; and Woot the sharpener , who first gave an edge to pointed things . Death came to the world when a quarrel between the last two Woots led to the demise of one of them by the use of a ...
Page 11
... thing , the items in a list are removed from the context that gives them meaning in the world of oral discourse , and in that sense they have become abstractions . And in this abstract form they can be separated , sorted , and ...
... thing , the items in a list are removed from the context that gives them meaning in the world of oral discourse , and in that sense they have become abstractions . And in this abstract form they can be separated , sorted , and ...
Contents
1 | |
21 | |
3 Aristotles Philosophy of Nature | 45 |
4 Hellenistic Natural Philosophy | 67 |
5 The Mathematical Sciences in Antiquity | 82 |
6 Greek and Roman Medicine | 111 |
7 Roman and Early Medieval Science | 132 |
8 Islamic Science | 163 |
10 The Recovery and Assimilation of Greekand Islamic Science | 225 |
11 The Medieval Cosmos | 254 |
12 The Physics of the Sublunar Region | 286 |
13 Medieval Medicine and Natural History | 321 |
14 The Legacy of Ancient and Medieval Science | 357 |
Notes | 369 |
Bibliography | 413 |
Index | 463 |
Other editions - View all
The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific ..., 1450. osa David C. Lindberg No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
A. I. Sabra Abbasid achievement Albert Almagest anatomical ancient Arabic argued Aristotelian Aristotle Aristotle’s arts astrology astronomy atoms Averroes Avicenna Babylonian body Byzantine Cambridge University Press Carolingian celestial sphere chap Christian Clagett classical commentary cosmology cosmos culture David developed divine Early Greek early medieval earth elements Empire Erasistratus example existence G. E. R. Lloyd Galen geometrical Greek Science healing heavens Hellenistic Hippocratic History of Science human Ibn al-Haytham important influence intellectual Islamic John knowledge Latin learning Lindberg Lloyd mathematical Medicine Medieval Science Middle Ages modern motion mover moving natural philosophy Nicole Oresme object observation optics Oresme Oxford Paris physical physician Pierre Duhem planetary planets Plato pneuma practice problem Ptolemy Ptolemy's question Renaissance Roger Bacon Roman scholars schools soul sources Stoic Studies teaching texts theology things thirteenth century tion tradition trans translation treatises twelfth century vols Western