Hellenistic Science.

1. Some important disciplines of scientific speculation:
   1. Medicine and Biology
      1. Hippocratic school (fl. by 420). Large number of treatises with extraordinary influence.
      2. Galen on kidneys. Galen concludes: 'Now if anyone will but test this for himself on an animal...he will be persuaded'
      3. from the Hippocratic corpus: "in Thasos during autumn ... there were many rains, gently continuous, with southerly winds. Winter southerly, north winds light, droughts; on the whole, the winter was like spring. Spring southerly and chilly; slight showers. Summer in general cloudy. No rain. Etesian [strong, cold, from north]winds few, light, irregular. In the spring a few patients suffered from ardent fevers, causing hemorrhage in few cases but no deaths. There were swellings beside the ears, in many cases on one side, but in most on both; in most cases unattended with fever, so that the confinement to bed was unnecessary [mumps]. In some cases there was slight heat, but in all the swellings subsided, without causing harm; in no case was there suppuration such as attends swelling of other origin. This was the character of them: flabby, big, spreading, with neither inflammation nor pain, in every case the disappeared without a sign. The sufferers were youths, young men and men in their prime, usually those who frequented the wrestling school or gymnasia. Few women were attacked. Many had dry coughs which brought up nothing when the coughed, but their voices were hoarse. Soon thereafter, though in some cases after some time, painful inflammations occurred either in one testicle or in both, sometimes accompanied with fever, in other cases not. Usually they caused much suffering. In other respects the people had no ailments requiring medical assistance."
   2. Physics and Astronomy.
      1. Two important concepts:
         1. Plato set the problem that was to influence the study of astronomy for generations: "By the assumption of what uniform and ordered motions can the apparent (i.e., "erratic") motions of the planets be accounted for." That is to "save the phenomena" in terms of uniform circular movement. Note the number and significance of the assumptions here. The most important of which is that the earth stands at the center of an ordered universe (cosmos) and cannot move; is "absolutely immobile.". The absolute immobility of the Earth: Ptolemy, Almagest I, 7:...it may be proved that the earth cannot make any movement whatever...or ever change its position at all from its place at the center of the cosmos ... it is manifest to any observer that the earth occupies the middle place in the cosmos, and that all weights move toward it..the earth is spherical and situated in the middle of the cosmos...and it is a simple fact that in all parts of the earth without exception the tendencies and the motions of bodies which have weight operate at right angles to the tangent drawn through the point of contact where the object falls...That is, objects that have weight "naturally" fall to the center of the cosmos. Note that this explanation is consistent with all observations.
         2. The Greeks in general and Aristotle in particular distinguishes between terrestrial and celestial areas of activity. In contrast, we assume that laws of gravity apply throughout the cosmos, the Greeks believed that other laws applied outside the lunar sphere. The latter knew neither life nor death and the bodies within it were composed not of Earthly matter but of a Fifth Element. It was the innermost sphere, carrying the Moon, he believed, that marked the boundary between the impermanent "sublunary" realm of the Earth and the unchanging superlunary" domain of the heavens.[see below].
   3. The basics:.
   1. Aristotle and the four causes/factors involved the things that exist in terrestrial world: material, formal, efficient, final
   2. Four basic elements: earth, air, fire and water, each having a distinctive pair of opposites, so earth is cold and dry, water is cold and wet, air is hot and wet, fire is hot and dry.
   3. Doctrine of Natural Place. In Aristotle's cosmology, the Earth was located at the center of a nested system of crystalline spheres to which were attached the Moon, Sun, planets, and stars. According to his doctrine of natural motion and place, the four basic elements of earth, air, fire, and water tended to move to their rightful positions with respect to the Earth. Fire moved naturally outward / upward. Earth, air and water move naturally inward / downward to the center. Air and water are lighter than earth so their upward due to displacement rather than any natural tendency. This fundamental tenet underlay Aristotle's belief in a single kosmos, or world system, with the Earth at its focus. If there were more than one world, the elements of fire and earth would have no unique natural place to which to move – for him, a physical and logical contradiction.
   4. Celestial: laws of movement: uniform, continuous, circular movement; no need for force or resistance; all bodies have weight and tend downward; upward movement is displacement
   5. Other facts:
      1. true nature of eclipses discovered
      2. sun is source of moon's light
      3. sun's path through fixed stars is inclined to celestial equator
      4. earth spherical
   6. problem of the planets; basic requirement of an astronomical explanation: save the phenomena and celestial bodies must move in uniform perfect circles. True explanation.
   7. Eratosthenes and size of earth
2. Conclusions
   1. Science was in this period more widely spread, supported and productive than at any time in western history until the Late Renaissance.
   2. Characterized by non-theological speculation (gods may exist, but they are not active in the world), rather there is a pattern to natural events and man can come to understand how nature works. All this had developed among the "Pre-Socratic" thinkers, men who lived in the 6th and 5th centuries, B.C.
   3. Method: clearly defined by Aristotle, but goes back much earlier: collect and analyze data, generate hypotheses to explain data, test conclusions against other data.
   4. Hellenistic science was essentially theoretical. Plato and a powerful aristocratic bias against the banauistic (handwork) discouraged the application of theory to practice (technology). The architectural and engineering professions were not considered appropriate for gentlemen. A rare exception: Clepsydra but never used to measure time as do our clocks.
   5. Most importantly, science is no longer conducted as part of public discussion in a free city-state / polis, but rather in isolation from the public. As long as kings and tyrants through they could profile themselves by supporting research, scholarship thrived. But its future was very much at risk in an increasingly closed society.