أوريكا: ولادة العلم

Icon Science

by Andrew Gregory, أندرو غريغوري, أمل منصور (ترجمة)

That man ever managed to develop a scientific attitude to the natural world is one of the true wonders of human thought. And answering the question of where and how this attitude began can help us better understand the world we live in and the science that governs it.

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, History Of Science, Stem, Philosophy

193 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 1997

Reviews

[Simon Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's something that I think we can all agree on: lists are not interesting. You could show me Elon Musk's shopping list, or the notated holdings of the British Museum and it's just going to bore me. That's not to say that there's nothing interesting about either of those things, in fact in the right format the information in either of those objects would be fascinating reading. A deep psychological dive into Musk based on his choice of yoghurt. A rich history of selected artefacts from the museum. But lists? I'll pass.

This book is almost entirely a collection of lists.

Anyone who's studied the history of science at all will know that we owe the Greeks a great deal, in fact it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they founded science as we know it. I read this book knowing this, and hoping to learn more about why this happened in Greece and not somewhere else. There are perhaps two paragraphs explaining this in cursory detail, and then an awful lot of pages listing 'X person thought Y about this subject, but Z felt differently'. A list of names and briefly sketched views. I can understand that maybe to someone coming in completely ignorant of the subject might find this a valuable overview of what Greek thought about science was. But if, like me, you were after a deep sociological dive into why science sprang into being in Greece, or a well-researched and cited look into the great minds of the period and their debates, then give this a miss. A complete lack of characterisation of scientist and location make this little more than a list of names and one-sentence ideas.

Maybe next time I'll read Elon's choice of fabric softener instead.

[Serhat · Rating 3 out of 5]

bilimin temellerini anlatma iddiasında bir kitap olduğunu zaten isminden de anlayabiliyoruz. yazarın bilimin doğuşu için milat aldığı dönem, çoğunlukla antik yunan’daki gelişmelere dayanıyor. bu dönemin milat kabul edilmesi, bana kalırsa makul bir şekilde anlatılmış. buradaki ayrımı anlamak çok önemli çünkü bilim ve teknoloji aynı şeyler değil. yazar burada teknolojiye dair alet edevat örnekleri vererek aslında teknolojinin çok uzun süredir insan hayatında olduğunu anlatıyor. teknoloji kullanımının bilim sayılmamasının sebebini ise, bilimsel yönteme uygun şekilde geliştirilmek zorunda olmamasına bağlıyor. bilimsel yöntemde bir olayı gözlemleme, bunu bir teoriye oturtma ve deneylerle destekleme gibi aşamalar yer alır. tabii benim antik yunan’a ve öncesine dair tarih bilgim çok sınırlı olduğu için, yazarın buradaki görüşlerini doğru kabul ederek okumak durumundaydım.

platon, sokrates, aristotales ve anaksimandros tabii ki antik yunan söz konusu olduğu neredeyse her konuda olduğu gibi burada da başrolde yer alıyor. bu isimlerin aslında çoğunlukla felsefe gibi sosyal bilimlerle ilişkilendirildiklerini biliyordum ama bu ölçüde bir düşün yetisine sahip olmalarına şaşırmadım diyemem. bu kadar geniş bir spektrumda teoriler üretebilmek için deha olmak sanki yeterli değil. özel olarak dünyaya gönderilmiş gibi bu kişiler.

kitabın bu ağırlıklı antik yunan’da geçen konularında, coğrafik ve kozmolojik araştırmaların kökenine uzun bir bölüm ayrılmış. bunun sebebi de aslında basit, çünkü insanların etrafında olup biteni anlamaya ihtiyacı bulunuyor. hem yeryüzünde hem de gökyüzünde insan hayatını etkileyen çok fazla aksiyon var. güneşin doğuşundan nehrin akışına kadar çok fazla hareket var ve bu konularda detaylı bilgi sahibi olunduğu takdirde daha verimli bir hayat sürmek mümkün. işin bir de felsefi boyutu da her zaman bulunuyor çünkü belki de insanların en eski soruların birisi “neden buradayız?”a cevap bulmak hepimizin hala derdi. kitapta hipokrat’tan öklid’e, pisagor’dan kitaba ismini veren arşimed’e kadar çok sayıda bilim insanının bilimde kilometre taşı kabul edilecek katkıları da detaylandırılmış.

bilimin tarihine dair hap bilgiler içeren bir eser ortaya çıkmış diye düşünüyorum. yalnız eski metinlerde geçen birçok iddianın günümüzdeki bilimsel doğrularla bağdaştırılmaya çalışılması biraz yapay duruyor ve bu zamanlarda yaşayanların iddialarını günümüz kavramlarıyla birebir ilişkilendirmeyi doğru bulmuyorum. antik yunanlıların tasvir ettiği birçok şeyin tam olarak bugünkü modern kavramlarla aynı anlama gelmeyebileceğini kabul etmek gerekir. çoğu fikrin çatı bir fikir olarak benzediğine ise katılabilirim.

[Sinem Pamuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

As if somebody printed their thesis and made it publicly available, gives a broad comprehension on basic history of science.

[Ha Cung · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would not expect more from a 164-page book. Eureka! is a clear, concise, interesting summary of pioneers before the birth of Science. More than half of the book is about Philosophy and many great thinkers, but not dig deep into details. The author seems to rush on Astrology and Alchemy part, but that's understandable. The end of the book is a little bit abrupt. Still recommend for those who want to have a brief understanding of the Greek's achievements.

[Peter Moy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is mistitled. The Author seems to be confused between the Science and Philosophy

I was very annoyed that I was conned into wasting my time reading this book by the title and reviews. It is a confusing mess. I am a believer in Brian Cox’s definition of a scientific theory. This is that they can be used to make predictions, then observations can be performed to test if the prediction is true. By this definition almost all of the theories discussed in this book are not scientific theories and merely philosophical conjecture. For example, the author discusses Greek atomic theory as if it had a scientific basic and was not merely the rambling of people with too much spare time on their hands. It was not until late 18th century with work of Dalton, Lavoisier, and Proust that existence of atoms could be used to create the scientific theory that is the basis of modern chemistry.

The Greeks may have been the first people in human history to develop scientific theories but I found very little information in this book to justify this point of view. In my humble opinion the Greeks major contribution to science was their philosophical position was that events that previous cultures had attributed to the actions of gods where just natural phenomena. But this breakthrough thinking and why it came about is not given any real analysis in the book.

The does contain a good discussion of the various and mostly bogus philosophical or metaphysical theories promoted by the Greeks but in no way could these be described as scientific. These theories do have a place in the history of science as did provide the background against which genuine scientific theories had to establish themselves following the European enlightenment. But unless you are interested in this background information, I would give this book a wide berth.

[Mohamed Asraf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes on a journey through ancient Greece, where the foundations of modern science were laid. The title "Eureka" refers to the famous exclamation by Archimedes, meaning "I have found it!" - a word symbolizing moments of brilliant discovery that shaped scientific thought. The book explores the intriguing differences between science and technology in Greek society, noting how their reliance on slavery meant there was little need for time-saving inventions.

It also examines the Greek passion for debate and logic, revealing how debate culture was so embedded that people even hired professional debaters. However, Plato opposed this practice, arguing that the goal should be the pursuit of truth, not just defeating an opponent. This led Plato and Aristotle to develop rhetoric, focusing on logic as a tool to form strong, reasoned arguments which is an essential foundation for modern scientific reasoning.

The book also delves into the critical transition from myth to theory. Myths, being subjective and lacking evidence, cannot be debated, while theories are objective, open to debate, and can be supported by evidence. It explores how this shift allowed the Greeks to seek natural explanations for the world around them.

Key topics include the Pythagorean belief in the connection between numbers and nature, the logical arguments for a designer behind nature's order (which personally attracted me), and the ethical codes established by Hippocrates, including the Hippocratic Oath an ethical code for doctors that is still in practice today, challenging magical thinking in medicine.

[Yasin Çetin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Söylenceden teoriye geçişi, bilim ve tekniğin arasındaki farkı sade bir dille anlatmaktadır. Mitos'tan Logos'a Batı Anadolu kıyılarında nasıl geçildiği, bu ilk doğa düşünürlerinin fikirleri anahatlarıyla anlatılır. Pitagoras, Elealı Ksenophon, Atomcular, Platon, Aristoteles, Helenistik Dönem düşünürleri ve Roma dönemindeki gelişmeler temel bir anlatımla, olabildiğince sade bir dille anlatılmaktadır. Astronomi ve fizyoloji üzerine yazılanları temelde basit bir anlatıma sahip olmakla beraber, konuya aşina olmayanlar için biraz zorlayabilir. Konunun teknik kısımlarına girmek suretiyle, daha sade bir anlatım da mümkün olmayabilir. Antik Yunan bilimine, astronomi, fizyoloji, tıp ve bilimsel anlayış konularına ilgisi olanlara tavsiye ederim.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice summary of the history of ancient Greek philosophy, mathematics, medicine, astrology, astronomy, and alchemy. Good basic text for introduction of layman to the subject. Does not go deep into the weeds, so if you're looking for detailed descriptions of the various subjects this is not the book for you. But if you want an introduction to the subject, this is a good start. Book also has a glossary and a timeline of the various philosophers and their related schools of thought.

[Jerrid Kruse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Focused on the development of Ancient Greek ideas about the natural world including the cosmos, medicine, life, taxonomy, etc. Chapter 2 provides a nice summary and abstraction of how science evolved within the Greek context. The rest of the book provides semi-detailed accounts about particular Greek thinkers and particular ideas.

[Ayhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Milet’de başladığı kabul edilen bilimsel düşünce serüvenine ait güzel bir derleme.
Bilim, felsefe ve Eski Dünya’da yaşayan insanların Evren ve hayata dair kuramlarına ilgi duyanların hoşlanacağı, diğer türlü sıkıcı gelebilecek bir kitap.

Kendi adıma Eratosthenes ile tanışmamı sağlayan güzel bir eser.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic over view of ancient Greek thinkers.

[Rolande · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice quick read. And why not?

[Laylay l · Rating 2 out of 5]

antik yunanda bilim olmalı kitabın adı. ayrıca kadın bir çevirmen niye bilim adamı gibi cinsiyetçi tabiri niye kullanır

[Ruba Alawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب لتأريخ مراحل تطور العلم واكثر الحقبات التاريخية المفصليه علميا واكثر العلماء تأثيرا في نمو وتطور العلوم بشتى انواعها.. ويعيد الفضل الى اهله وينتزعه من اليونان

[Dilara T. K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Yaşayan her canlıda mükemmel olan bir şey vardır." -Aristoteles

Kitap ismi biraz yanıltıcı olmuş. Tüm dünya ölçeğinde bir bilimin başlangıcını anlatacağını düşünerek almıştım. Kitap yunan bilimi ve yunan bilim felsefesi sınırlarının dışına neredeyse hiç çıkmamış. Ama yine de bir çok şey öğrendiğim ve keyifle okuduğum bir kitaptı.

[Delson Roche · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book for a quick read- briefly introduces various Greek philosophers- scientist's who have contributed to our civilization. Very short chapters

[Muhammad Rasikh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good history book, really. Simple but explaining much.

Read my review:
https://medium.com/testnyoba/eureka-i...

[Khubaib Huda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must have for future references.

[Ian_Baut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just an average science book

[Bala · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fun brochure on what made a few Ancient Greeks so relevant.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting. (Note on page 145 the word diameter should be replaced by circumference.)

[Ras Vis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted on: http://rasmusvisgaard.com/book-review...

The title of the book is Eureka! The Birth of Science and the author defines science with an analogue. For argues sake, let’s turn back time and forget everything about the universe, gravity, laws of nature and you name it. We can observe, by looking up in the sky, that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. We can predict when the sun shall rise and set; it happens within a reasonable repetitive time-frame. This is what Andrew Gregory calls an observation. With observations we can start asking questions; why does the sun rise and set? Why does it happen everyday at approximately the same time? The notion that we can observe it or measure it, is what Andrew calls technology. The answers to the questions, however, is the science. The theories and explanations behind the movements of the sun. Before 500 BC, the observation of the sun was just described as some kind of God moving around in the sky. The Babylonian people also believed that all diseases were of a supernatural cause, and before any surgery could be made, they had to figure out what sin was committed. The early Greek philosopher-scientists (Thales 585 BC, Anaximander 555 BC and Anaximenes 525 BC) were the first to reject explanation by myths and instead reasoned that the cosmos was a natural place. A place where there was no interference from gods. A place with order. This line of reasoning had, at that time, many consequences to how they explained different phenomena. Thunder was no longer god being mad at human beings; perhaps it was something from the clouds. The philosopher-scientists believed that myth carried too much imagination. It is sort of like explaining as a parent to a child how the presents beneath the Christmas tree appeared. “Oh, it was of course Santa Claus who came with them!” (myth and imagination) or what the Greeks believed in: “sorry kiddo, that was me…” (natural and orderly).

These early theories from the Greeks lead to some interesting, and to us, quite hilarious attempts to explain the world around them: The Earth was flat with a hemispherical heaven above it. “But what is the Earth supported by then?” they asked themselves. “Well, maybe the Earth rests on air or water”. Eventually they agreed that the Earth must be spherical and Aristotle (384-322 BC) said that the Earth was the centre of the cosmos. They had no knowledge of gravity, so Aristotle said that things fall, because the center of the Earth and therefore the cosmos, is the natural place for objects, which explained why objects fell in a natural linear motion towards the ground.

It was a brilliant time to be a philosopher-scientists but unfortunately all good things must come to an end. It is not fully clear why there was such a significant decline in, especially Greek, scientist-thinking, but the introduction of Christianity did not amplify scientific thinking, and this led to some rather disturbing (in my opinion) thinking around 160 – 225 AD:

“We need not be afraid if the Christian does not know the powers and the number of the elements, the motions and eclipses of the heavens, the nature of the animals, plants and stones… It is sufficient for the Christian to believe that the cause of everything created, whether in heaven or on earth, visible or invisible, is the goodness of the Creator, of the one true God.”

We owe a great deal to the Arabic/Islamic culture who did a great deal to preserve, and then extend and transform, Greek scientific thinking during and after the decline of the Roman Empire (about 470 AD).

Andrew Gregory does a great job by chronologically taking us through the period of the very first Greek philosopher-scientists and until the decline of it, a couple decades after Christianity came about. There is also plenty of tales, not only about cosmology and astronomy, but also of mathematics and medicine and more. The book even comes with a timeline of ancient Greek philosopher-scientists which I greatly appreciated! The book is fairly easy to read and it is a fast one. I would recommend this book to anyone who have not heard or read about the earliest scientists, but if you are familiar with them, better find a more in-depth book.