How did science begin?


Science began with the wish of some prehistoric man to find out about the workings of the world about him. But the first recorded scientific discoveries are those of the ancient Babylonians who observed the positions of the sun, moon and planets. The ancient Egyptians invented simple arithmetic and geometry around 4,000 B.C. and acquired a considerable knowledge of engineering, medicine and anatomy.



      From about 600 B.C. the Greeks made great progress in philosophy and geometry, where intellectual effort only was required. But they achieved little advance in practical science, except for the discoveries of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), who founded the study of biology. Archimedes (287-212 B.C.) discovered many simple principles of physics and Ptolemy (about A.D. 140) made advances in astronomy.



    Under Rome progress slowed down. Then the barbarians over-ran Europe and for almost 1,000 years – from 300-1100- science was kept alive first in Byzantium and then, from about 700, by the Arabs. From the 15th century, practical experiments in science began in earnest Galileo (1561626) carried out physical measurements and laboratory experiments. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and Rene Descartes (1596-1650) pioneered the new scientific philosophy.



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