My Science School

Andreas Vesalius was the founder of modern anatomy. This 16th century physician and surgeon completely revolutionized the science of biology and medicine.

     By careful and painstaking dissections of cadavers, he learned a great deal about the structure of the human body and laid the foundation for modern physiology.

    In 1543, he published a remarkable book ‘De humani corporis fabrics’. It was a fully illustrated anatomy of the human body, based on the observations Vesalius had made during his dissections. The book destroyed the misconceptions in anatomy that had persisted for over a thousand years.

    Vesalius’ anatomical studies corrected many religious beliefs and the finding of a previous physician Galen, who had dissected apes because religion forbade him to dissect real human cadavers.

     Vesalius was the first surgeon to actually cut open a cadaver or dead body of a human being, and his exceptionally detailed muscle drawings changed medical history for all time.

Paracelsus was a renowned German physicist, and botanist of Swiss origin. His path breaking findings in botany and medicine made him a pioneer in his field.

     Paracelsus became a notable physician in the early 16th century. He rejected most of the prevalent and widely accepted world views, and magic theories of medicine. While working on medicines, Paracelsus brought together the use of chemicals in medicines. In1526, he coined the term ‘ZINCUM’ for the chemical element zinc. He is also known for discovering ‘Laudanum’ which is an alcoholic herbal preparation.

      Paracelsus was a strict follower, and a firm believer of the classical Greek concept of elements. However, he added his own findings to this concept. Paracelsus’ real name was Philipp us von Hohenheim.

       The name ‘Paracelsus’ was actually a nickname. It means ‘equal to or greater than celsus’ and refers to his medical skill.

Nicolaus Copernicus was a 15th century astronomer, mathematician, translator, artist, and physicist, among other things.

      He is best known as the first astronomer to put forward the idea of a system in which the planets and planetary objects orbit the sun.

         By 1508, Copernicus had begun to create his model of the planetary system, suggesting that the sun, and not our Earth, was the centre of the universe. His model of the universe was accepted, whereas earlier models had not been, because his was more detailed and accurate. He also had a better formula for the calculation of the positions of the planets at different times of the year.

     The Roman Catholic Church criticized Copernicus’ theories. It went so far as to ban his book ‘De Revolution bus Erbium Coelestium,’ after he died, and it remained a forbidden book for almost three hundred years.

          The ideas of Copernicus were instrumental in the evolution of the field of astronomy. In fact, almost every notable astronomer who came after him was influenced by his theories.

Roger Bacon was an English philosopher and Franciscan monk who promoted experimental science and was deeply interested in the study of nature.

      He studied mathematics, astronomy, optics, alchemy and languages. His studies on the nature of light, and on rainbows, are especially noteworthy, and he seems to have planned and interpreted these experiments carefully.

     He seriously studied the problem of flying in a machine with flapping wings. He was also the first person in the West to give exact directions for making gun-powder.

     Roger Bacon’s work was talked about everywhere, and eventually won him a place in popular literature as a kind of wonder worker. He was also called Doctor Mirabilis- ‘mirabilis’ in Latin means ‘wonderful teacher.’

Galen was a Greek who became the Ancient Roman Empire’s greatest physician. He had great expertise in anatomy, surgery, pharmacology and therapeutic methods.

    Galen had an absolute belief in the power of experiment and observation. He did not believe in merely following what books told him was true. He needed to verify the truth for himself.

     His anatomical reports, based mainly on dissection of monokeys, remained uncontested until 1543, when printed descriptions and illustrations of human dissections were published.

   Galen, the great scientist, consolidated the work of previous Greek medical researchers, adding the results of his own research, to create an incredibly long-lasting medical doctrine. This medical doctrine dominated the Western world for 1500 years.

Ptolemy was a Greek astronomer, astrologer, mathematician and geographer who lived and worked in Alexandria in Ancient Egypt, in the second century AD.

      His work ‘Almagest,’ is one of the most important works in ancient astronomy. It covers the motion of sun, moon, and the planets around the Earth. It also contains a catalogue of stars with their brightness on a logarithmic scale.

      Ptolemy’s description of the universe was accepted by the astronomical community for more than a thousand years. Ptolemy’s second important work is called ‘Geography.’ It is a thorough discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world.

       Ptolemy’s treatise on astrology was influential because of its practical treatment of astrology. Ptolemy discarded practices that did not have a logical basis, and also believed that astrology was not a completely reliable science.

Eratosthenes was an Ancient Greek scientist born in the town of Cyrene, which is no in Libya, in about 276 BC. He was famous as a mathematician and geographer.

         Eratosthenes produced a reliable, logical method to discover prime numbers. It’s known as the sieve of Eratosthenes, and is still important in modern number theory in an updated form.

    Assuming that the earth was a sphere, Eratosthenes calculated its size with good accuracy. He also calculated the tilt of earth’s axis fairly accurately. Eratosthenes produced the first map of the world which used meridian lines and parallel lines. These were similar to our modern lines of latitude and longitude. This great scientist can be said to have invented geography

     In fact, today we still use the word he invented for this new discipline. ‘Geo’ was Greek for ‘Earth’ and ‘graphy’ meant ‘field of study.’

      Eratosthenes also wrote books on philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, history, comedy, and poetry. His all-round knowledge made him the ideal choice for the most prestigious job an academic could enjoy in Ancient Greece. He was the director of the library of Alexandria, the greatest intellectual institution of the ancient world.

Johannes Kepler was a leading astronomer of the scientific revolution. The scientific revolution is the term used to describe the emergence of modern science that took place throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

        Before the scientific revolution, astronomy was closely tied to astrology, which is the belief that the movement of the stars and planets can be interpreted to predict the future.

      As the scientific revolution progressed, astrology increasingly came to be replaced by astronomy as a modern, legitimate science. Johannes Kepler is best known for his discovery that the orbits in which the earth and the other planets of the solar system travel around the sun are elliptical, or oval, in shape.

     He was also the first to explain correctly hoe human beings see, and demonstrated what happens to light when it enters a telescope.

      In addition, he designed an instrument that serves as the basis of the modern refractive telescope.

      Since he was such a prominent figure in the field of astronomy, a lot of spots on distant planets have been named after him such as ‘Kepler’s Crater on Mars’ and ‘The Kepler Crater,’ on the Moon.

Born in the tenth century AD, Alhazen was an Arab who was known as the first true scientist.

           He developed the scientific method of experimentation, and was the first person to formulate hypothesis and conduct verifiable experiments. A scientist, philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, Alhazen wrote over a hundred books, more than half of which have been preserved.

        One of his most influential writings was in the field of optics. In this book, Alhazen gave experimental proof of the nature of light, the structure of the eye and the basic principles of reflection via mirror. He stated that contrary to popular belief, the eye does not send out rays to the object it sees. Rather it is the light reflected via the object that the eye beholds.

     This was a completely new and revolutionary concept. The book comprises seven volumes, and was translated into Latin.

Galileo Galilei was a groundbreaking Italian astronomer, physicist, mathematician, philosopher and inventor. He opened the eyes of the world to a new way of thinking about how the solar system works.

       For many years, scientist had believed that the solar system revolved around the earth, and that the earth was the centre of the universe.

         Galileo was the first scientist to prove that this wasn’t correct. He stated that in fact, the solar system revolved around the sun.  he also invented an improved telescope so that he could gaze far into space. He was the first to see Jupiter’s moons, and the first to realize that our moon was covered with craters. Besides inventing the improved telescopes, he also invented the compass and a thermometer. Galileo has played a major role in the scientific revolution of the 17th century.

 

 

Euclid, who was born in Alexandria in Egypt, lived more than 300 years before Christ. He is renowned to this day for his book ‘Elements’.

      For centuries, this book was one of the main texts for teaching geometry. ‘Elements’ is divided into thirteen books, which cover plain geometry, arithmetic and number theory, irrational numbers, and solid geometry.

     His books begin with basic definitions, and then go on to prove different mathematical theories. So, it is only natural that Euclid is called the father of geometry. He stressed the importance of logic and reason in teaching and understanding maths. Though some of his books are lost, at least five of them are still in existence, and are proof of his remarkable gift for mathematics.

Aristotle was one of the most respected Greek thinkers. He was the star pupil of Plato, a famous Greek philosopher. He was also the teacher of Alexander the great!

     Aristotle wrote on many subjects including physics, biology, zoology, meta-physics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, and government.

        He believed that the universe was eternal, that there was neither a beginning nor an end. Aristotle accepted that things can change, but fundamentally believed that the overall conditions would always remain the same. He studied zoology very closely, and through careful observation, he was able to arrive at his conclusions. His careful study of animals enabled him to classify them into different groups and species.

     Aristotle’s influence on western culture and science has been enormous. His writings show him to be a man of tremendous intellect, who thought deeply about the world.

 

Hippocrates, a Greek physician, lived in the 5th century BC, and founded the Hippocratic School of medicine. He revolutionized Greek medicine, for he believed in, and developed the practice of the clinical method of observation. This was the careful nothing of all the symptoms of a disease, and of the changes in a patient’s condition during the illness.

       Hippocrates believed that the body must be treated as a whole. He made medicine a discipline distinct from other fields, and his biggest contribution was that he rejected superstition and the belief that supernatural, or divine forces, were the cause of illness.

       In short, it was Hippocrates who transformed medicine into a science. He wrote on a variety of medical topics including diagnosis, epidemics, obstetrics, paediatrics, nutrition and surgery.

       To this day, newly qualified doctors take an oath called the Hippocratic Oath that lays down the basic rules of conduct that doctors must follow.

 

Pythagoras was an ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher who lived more than 500 years before Christ.

        He spent most of his life in the Greek colonies in Sicily and southern Italy. He was also a philosopher, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreans.

        Pythagoras had a group of disciples who followed him around, and taught other people what he had taught them. He made crucial contributions to modern philosophy, as well as mathematics, science, and religious mysticism. It is also believed that he had a significant influence on medicine, music, astronomy, and divination.

        Pythagoras is best known for the mathematical theory named after him. He is without doubt, one of the greatest scientists not only of the ancient world, but of all time.