Eureka! (Icon Science): The Birth of Science

by Andrew Gregory

Book Overview

Medicine, anatomy, astronomy, mathematics and cosmology, science began with the Greeks, and Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Archimedes and Hippocrates were amongst its stars. That man ever managed to develop a 'scientific' attitude to the natural world at all is one of the true wonders of human thought.

Eureka shows how, free from intellectual and religious dogma, these early thinkers rejected myths and capricious gods...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 178578191X
• ISBN13: 9781785781919
• Release Date: February 2017
• Publisher: Icon Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Didn't know what to rate this until it was time to review

I read this book with seriously mixed feelings until I finished it. The premise is the ancient origins of science. Andrew Gregory focused much of his attention of course on the Greeks, I suppose the philosophy of their "big names" like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle naturally evolved into natural philosophy, a point hinted at in the text. However I felt slightly gypped(sp?) as my limited knowledge of the subject led me to believe scienctific thoughts were around the Babylonian and Phoenician culture(who got very little space in book). Then I reread the blurb on back and realized this book delivers exactly what it promises. It is the birth of science, charting how the ancient Greeks turned away from supernatural, and mythological explanations of the universe and looked instead for natural reasons. It is very make that VERY readable. Without talking down to his audience Gregory relates how various schools of thought sought to enlighten humanity about the cosmos, human anatomy etc... in very simple layperson's terms so a degree in science is unneccesary. It is a little book, yet that too delivers the promise of the title as it is the birth of science so it like a birth deals with the very beginning although light mention is made of scientific discovery's toddler years and adolescence. A fascinating read, although I confess found the latter chapters especially one on science's ties to Astrology and Alchemy to be my favourites.

Very stimulating

Most of the information about Astronomy was familiar to me, but it was interesting to get a refresher. The material on Medicine was new to me; I'd heard of Galen but didn't know he was Greek. Some excellent quotations from the original reference material helped to put it into the context of the time.