PHSX 114 : Ancient%20Natural%20Philos..docx
Document Summary
Ancient natural philosophy and the technologies of the first civilizations. Most historians of western science begin with ancient egypt and mesopotamia. These ancient cultures exerted influence on the ancient greeks. Who in turn laid the foundations for western thought & the history of science. Both cultures were literate and left historical records. Led to new skills and new types of knowledge of nature (became diversified) Four great river systems nile, tigris-euphrates, indus-ganges, yellow. Floods renewed the soil and sustained larger populations. People freed from farm work = new skills, new classes. These projects in turn led to more intellectual development. Records necessary knowledge eventually exceeded the capacities of memory. For managing bureaucracies, religious activities, even systems of justice. This introduced concepts of geometry and new measuring devices. These were also useful for large building projects canals, etc. Navigation led to abstract ideas about space and time. Local knowledge was also challenged by traveling further afar.
