Greek Science in Antiquity

By Marshall Clagett

Book Overview

Lucid coverage of science and early natural philosophy: Greek medicine, biology, mathematics, physics and astronomy; Roman and Latin science in late antiquity and early Middle Ages; Greek science in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566195977
• ISBN13: 9781566195973
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Length: 217 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

the foundation of the modern world

Marshall Clagett in this book presents a short though detailed (despite its brevity) summary of the scientific achievements of the Greeks. Clagett surmises the mathematical, mechanical, and medical knowledge that was developed in Classical Greece, and which was continued through the Roman and Byzantine periods, and compares this with what was available to the west during the Late Roman period and Early Middle-Ages. Though most contemporary histories and assessments of Greek civilization concentrate on the humanities; literature (eg Homer), art (eg sculpture and vase-painting), philosophy (eg Plato, Aristotle), history (eg Herodotus), most omit the technical and scientific achievement. Clagett in this book addresses this oversight. It is when Clagett writes on the scientific achievement of the Latin west that the enormity of the chasm of knowledge between Greek east and Latin west becomes most evident. In the field of mathematics for instance, the west was limited to the mathematical information transmitted by Boethius, which in itself was limited to a summary of the Greek mathematician Nicomachus, whose mathematics, as described by Clagett, was mediocre. In the Greek east scholars were still writing commentaries on, and making contributions to, complex mathematical theories, as well as mechanics and physics. It is this scientific achievement which later came to be transmitted to the Arabs (and which later still formed the basis of the renaissance in the west). When compared to the how much of this Greek knowledge was available in the west, Clagett writes on figures such as Isidor of Seville, who wrote "epitomies containing only the simplest mathematical propositions" (p.157) and that his works demonstrate "a superficial knowledge of Greek learning; and his understanding of the subtleties of Greek science is either elementary or completely lacking." (p.157). Both the flowering of Greek knowledge in the Arab world, and the technical achievements which occurred later in the west (eg Galileo) are based squarely on the knowledge that the Greeks developed and maintained. Other books of interest should include: N.G. Wilson's "Scholars of Byzantium" (Scholars of Byzantium) a summary of the scholars in Byzantium who preserved the knowledge which has come down to us; on the non-scientific corpus of Greek civilization (eg Hesiod, Homer, etc) which was disseminated to the west, forming a catalyst for the "renaissance", Deno Geanakoplos' "Constantinople and the West" (Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches); and Delacy O'Leary's "How Greek science passed to the Arabs" (How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs) for a summary of the dissemination of Byzantine learning to the Arabs.

Reprints a 1955 classic study

This short history of Greek science is recommended for readers without specialized scientific backgrounds who want a general survey of the origins and development of Greek science. Greek Science In Antiquity reprints a 1955 classic study which covers all branches of ancient Greek science, from philosophy and medicine to biology and astronomy.