HIST 1250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Portolan Chart, Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Lightning
3 Feb 2017
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Non-western science: da(cid:374)ge(cid:396) of (cid:862)othe(cid:396)(cid:863) s(cid:272)ie(cid:374)(cid:272)es, easy to dismiss them as irrelevant, western science is able to progress well. Easy to over-emphasize their importance or accuracy. But then we are measuring them by our standards. (cid:272)ie(cid:374)(cid:272)e is al(cid:449)a(cid:455)s so(cid:272)ial a product of a given society. Dangers of chauvinism, whig history: greek science. Usuall(cid:455) (cid:396)ega(cid:396)ded as the (cid:271)asis fo(cid:396) (cid:862)(cid:449)este(cid:396)(cid:374)(cid:863) s(cid:272)ie(cid:374)(cid:272)e. The greeks is more of a philosophical argument. Part of a systematic effort to understand the world. Not much of an apparent interest in applied science. More of a philosophical argument than a practical one: the pre socratics. Philosophers who lived and worked before socrates (well, duh) Rejected magical, mythological causes (if you believe in magic, magic is not consistent) How can we explain nature mathematically: thales. Believed the fundamental, underlying matter was water. (cid:862)water (cid:272)o(cid:374)stitutes the pri(cid:374)(cid:272)iple of all thi(cid:374)gs. (cid:863) Early example of monism (everything is the same) First recorded thinker to explain without appeal to mythology.
