Table Of ContentA History of Science in
World Cultures
T o understand modern science, it is essential to recognize that many of the most
fundamental scientific principles are drawn from the knowledge of ancient civi-
lizations. Taking a global yet comprehensive approach to this complex topic, A
History of Science in World Cultures uses a broad range of case studies and examples
to demonstrate that the scientific thought and method of the present day is deeply
rooted in a pluricultural past.
C overing ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Greece, China, Islam, and the
New World, this volume discusses the scope of scientific and technological achieve-
ments in each civilization and how the knowledge it developed came to impact
the European Renaissance. Themes covered include the influence these scientific
cultures had upon one another, the power of writing and its technologies, visions
of mathematical order in the universe and how it can be represented, and what
elements of the distant scientific past we continue to depend upon today. Topics
often left unexamined in histories of science are treated in fascinating detail, such
as the chemistry of mummification and the Great Library in Alexandria in Egypt,
jewelry and urban planning of the Indus Valley, hydraulic engineering and the
compass in China, the sustainable agriculture and dental surgery of the Mayans,
and algebra and optics in Islam.
This book shows that scientific thought has never been confined to any one era,
culture, or geographic region. Clearly presented and highly illustrated, A History
of Science in World Cultures is the perfect text for all students and others interested in
the development of science throughout history.
Scott L. Montgomery is an affiliate faculty member in the Jackson School of
International Studies, University of Washington (Seattle). His publications include
Does Science Need a Global Language? English and the Future of Research (2013), S cience and
Translation: Movements of Knowledge in Culture and Time (2001), and The Scientific Voice
(1996).
Alok Kumar is professor of physics at the State University of New York, Oswego.
His publications include S cience in the Medieval World (1991 and 1996) and Sciences of
the Ancient Hindus: Unlocking Nature in the Pursuit of Salvation (2014).
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A History of Science in
World Cultures
Voices of knowledge
Scott L. Montgomery and
Alok Kumar
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Scott L. Montgomery and Alok Kumar
The right of Scott L. Montgomery and Alok Kumar to be identified as
author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Montgomery, Scott L.
A history of science in world cultures : voices of knowledge /
Scott L. Montgomery and Alok Kumar.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Science—Philosophy—History. 2. Science—History. 3. Science
and civilization—History. 4. Civilization, Western—History.
5. Science, Renaissance. I. Kumar, Alok, 1954– II. Title.
Q174.8.M66 2015
509—dc23
2015002474
ISBN: 978-0-415-63983-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-63984-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-69426-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Baskerville
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To our families:
Kiran and Aarti
Marilyn, Kyle, Cameron, and Clio
Love and knowledge, endless roads whose dust is gold
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Contents
List of figures viii
Preface xii
1 Cultural diversity and the scientific endeavor 1
2 Science in Egypt: creating a civilization 14
3 Land between two rivers: science in ancient Mesopotamia 54
4 Indian science: a great blending of traditions 88
5 The Greeks and science: powers of discovery and inheritance 125
6 Science in China: the wages of order and invention 166
7 Science in Islam: absorption and transformation 211
8 New World civilizations: Olmecs, Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs 253
9 Inheriting and interpreting the world: the scientific culture
of late Medieval and Renaissance Europe 293
10 Conclusion: themes in the world history of scientific cultures 330
Index 339
F igures
2.1 Map showing the major cities of ancient Egypt 16
2.2 A satellite image of part of the “great bend” in the upper Nile,
showing the width of the floodplain and the intense agricultural
development within it 17
2.3 A picture of Plate 6 and 7 of the Edwin Smith Papyrus 18
2.4 Detail of the “Scorpion King” mace head, showing the king
holding a hoe and, below him, men apparently working on
dikes or a canal 20
2.5 Ancient Egyptian number system, showing symbols and their
literal meaning 23
2.6 Writing numbers over 100 in the Egyptian system quickly became
burdensome, making simple arithmetic laborious 24
2.7 Problem 56 of the Rhind Papyrus, showing how to find the slope
of a pyramid 25
2.8 A line drawing of part of a wall painting in the tomb of
Djehutihotep, showing workers pulling a sledge bearing a giant
statue, bound in place by ropes 28
2.9 Many archeologists believe the pyramids were built using a
sequence of ramps of constant slope 30
2.10 A picture of the pyramids of Giza, including the Great Pyramid 31
2.11 Canopic jar to store body organs 33
2.12 Part of a frieze from the Tomb of Ankhmahor in Saqqara, also
known as the “Physician’s Tomb” 38
2.13 A prosthetic toe taken from a mummy dated at before 600 B.C. 39
2.14 The Rosetta Stone, showing three scripts of hieroglyphics (top),
demotic (middle), and Greek (bottom) 47
3.1 Map of the Fertile Crescent region, showing the location of
major civilizations (Sumer, Babylon, Akkad, Assyria) in
ancient Mesopotamia 55
3.2 Map of the Near East showing areas of early domestication of
pig, cattle, sheep, and goats, as well as cultivation of three
“founder crops”: emmer wheat, barley, and einkorn wheat 58
Figures ix
3.3 Number system used by Babylonians, in base-60. Cuneiform
symbols for each number are shown 67
3.4 Drawing of clay tablet figure (left) showing knowledge of the
square root of 2 (1.41421296) and its use to derive the length of
the hypotenuse in an isosceles right triangle with the other two
sides 30 units in length 69
3.5 Stele bearing the Code of Hammurabi, showing Hammurabi (left)
receiving the code (system of laws) from the god Shamash (sitting) 76
3.6 A Babylonian map of the world 83
3.7 Dying Lioness, Palace of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, Iraq, bas relief
panel, limestone, c. 669–633 B.C. 86
4.1 Regional map of Indus Valley, showing location of major ancient
cities of Indus Valley civilization 90
4.2 Examples of the Indus script, taken from clay impressions of
cylindrical seals 92
4.3 Turning a square into a circle of equal area, according to the
Baudhayana Sulba Sutra (ca. 600 B.C.) 101
4.4 Nagari numerals, ca. 11th century C.E. 108
4.5 Directions given in the S ulba Sutras for the Pythagorean theorem 109
4.6 The Iron Pillar of Delhi 112
4.7 An inscription and chipped metal on the Iron Pillar of Delhi 112
5.1 Map of ancient Greece, showing cities and locations discussed in
the chapter 127
5.2 The Lion’s Gate entrance to Mycenae, showing the two facing
lions separated by a pillar, and huge, cyclopean stones used to
build the protective outer walls around the city 129
5.3 Photograph inside the Treasury of Atreus, a t holos or beehive
tomb at Mycenaea 130
5.4 The basic model of the universe invented by Eudoxus 138
5.5 Aristotle’s model of the universe, based on 55 concentric spheres,
remained accepted by Islam and Europe until as late as the 16th
century, as shown by this Christianized version of it in
Peter Apian’s Cosmographia (1544) 139
5.6 Diagram showing models of the universe created by
Pythagoreans (left) and Aristarchus (right) 140
5.7 Diagram to illustrate the geometry used by Eratosthenes to
measure the circumference of the Earth 143
5.8 Diagram showing precession discovered by Hipparchus 144
5.9 Models of planetary motion proposed by Hipparchus and the
adapted version conceived by Ptolemy 145
5.10 One of the oldest known fragments showing a diagram from
Euclid’s Elements , dated 75–125 C.E. 159
5.11 Drawing to illustrate Archimedes’ “claw” invention, using a pulley
system and grappling hook to lift attacking ships out of the sea 160
