The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450

645 Pages·2008·9.91 MB·English

by  David C. Lindberg

Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Preface
Chapter 1 - Science before the Greeks

WHAT IS SCIENCE?
PREHISTORIC ATTITUDES TOWARD NATURE
THE BEGINNINGS OF SCIENCE IN EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA

Chapter 2 - The Greeks and the Cosmos

THE WORLD OF HOMER AND HESIOD
THE FIRST GREEK PHILOSOPHERS
THE MILESIANS AND THE QUESTION OF UNDERLYING
REALITY
THE QUESTION OF CHANGE
THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE
PLATO’S WORLD OF FORMS
PLATO’S COSMOLOGY
THE ACHIEVEMENT OF EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHY

Chapter 3 - Aristotle’s Philosophy of Nature

LIFE AND WORKS
METAPHYSICS AND EPISTEMOLOGY
NATURE AND CHANGE
COSMOLOGY
MOTION, TERRESTRIAL AND CELESTIAL
ARISTOTLE AS A BIOLOGIST
ARISTOTLE’S ACHIEVEMENT

Chapter 4 - Hellenistic Natural Philosophy
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
THE LYCEUM AFTER ARISTOTLE
EPICUREANS AND STOICS

Chapter 5 - The Mathematical Sciences in Antiquity

THE APPLICATION OF MATHEMATICS TO NATURE
GREEK MATHEMATICS
EARLY GREEK ASTRONOMY
COSMOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
HELLENISTIC PLANETARY ASTRONOMY
THE SCIENCE OF OPTICS
THE SCIENCE OF WEIGHTS

Chapter 6 - Greek and Roman Medicine

EARLY GREEK MEDICINE
HIPPOCRATIC MEDICINE
HELLENISTIC ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
HELLENISTIC MEDICAL SECTS
GALEN AND THE CULMINATION OF HELLENISTIC MEDICINE

Chapter 7 - Roman and Early Medieval Science

GREEKS AND ROMANS
POPULARIZERS AND ENCYCLOPEDISTS
TRANSLATIONS
THE ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY
ROMAN AND EARLY MEDIEVAL EDUCATION
TWO EARLY MEDIEVAL NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS
LEARNING AND SCIENCE IN THE GREEK EAST

Chapter 8 - Islamic Science

EASTWARD DIFFUSION OF GREEK SCIENCE
THE BIRTH, EXPANSION, AND HELLENIZATION OF ISLAM
TRANSLATION OF GREEK SCIENCE INTO ARABIC
ISLAMIC RECEPTION AND APPROPRIATION OF GREEK
SCIENCE
THE ISLAMIC SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT
THE FATE OF ISLAMIC SCIENCE

Chapter 9 - The Revival of Learning in the West

THE MIDDLE AGES
CAROLINGIAN REFORMS
THE SCHOOLS OF THE ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH-CENTURY SCHOOLS
THE TRANSLATION MOVEMENT
THE RISE OF UNIVERSITIES

Chapter 10 - The Recovery and Assimilation of Greek and Islamic Science

THE NEW LEARNING
ARISTOTLE IN THE UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM
POINTS OF CONFLICT
RESOLUTION: SCIENCE AS HANDMAIDEN
RADICAL ARISTOTELIANISM AND THE CONDEMNATIONS OF
1270 AND 1277
THE RELATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY AFTER 1277

Chapter 11 - The Medieval Cosmos

THE STRUCTURE OF THE COSMOS
MATHEMATICAL ASTRONOMY
ASTROLOGY
THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH

Chapter 12 - The Physics of the Sublunar Region

MATTER, FORM, AND SUBSTANCE
COMBINATION AND MIXTURE
ALCHEMY
CHANGE AND MOTION
THE NATURE OF MOTION
MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF MOTION
THE DYNAMICS OF LOCAL MOTION
QUANTIFICATION OF DYNAMICS
THE SCIENCE OF OPTICS

Chapter 13 - Medieval Medicine and Natural History

THE MEDICAL TRADITION OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES
THE TRANSFORMATION OF WESTERN MEDICINE
MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS
MEDICINE IN THE UNIVERSITIES
DISEASE, DIAGNOSIS, PROGNOSIS, AND THERAPY
ANATOMY AND SURGERY
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOSPITAL
NATURAL HISTORY

Chapter 14 - The Legacy of Ancient and Medieval Science

THE CONTINUITY QUESTION
CANDIDATES FOR REVOLUTIONARY STATUS
THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

Notes
Bibliography
Index

DAVID C. LINDBERG is the Hilldale Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and past president of the History of Science Society. He is the author or editor of many
books, including, with coeditor Ronald L. Numbers, When Science and Christianity Meet, also published by
the University of Chicago Press.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 1992, 2007 by The University of Chicago All rights
reserved. Published 2007
Printed in the United States of America I6 I5 I4 I3 I2 II I0 09 08 07 I 2 3 4 5

ISBN-13: 978-0-226-48205-7 (paper) ISBN-10: 0-226-48205-7 (paper) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data Lindberg, David C.
The beginnings of western science : the European scientific tradition in philosophical,
religious, and institutional context, prehistory to A.D. 1450 / David C. Lindberg.—2nd
ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-I3: 978-0-226-48205-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-I0: 0-226-48205-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Science, Ancient—History. 2. Science,
Medieval—History. I. Title.
Q124.95.L55 2007
509.4—dc22
2007029485
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of the American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, A NSI Z39.48-I992.
To Greta, Chris, John, Erik, Liana, Annie, and Davey, who have brought so
much joy to my life.