MSRODRIGUEZ
1st sem 2016-2017
In this course, we study the
development of some basic
concepts of physics and chemistry,
and how some of the early
processes were dependent or
influenced by the development of
civilizations.
Why look back?
Science is a human activity, influenced by social,
cultural and environmental context in which it
occurs.
Self-improvement: history illuminates science and
makes us better human beings
Efficiency: learn from mistakes, and avoid
repeating the past.
Perspective: provide better judgment and clarity.
Imagination: many new ideas are clever
adaptations of the past.
Education and public understanding: promote
good citizenship; address issues appropriately.
Changing views about matter
Roman Empire
Divided in 395 AD
Greek culture
& science
Athens
Arabic Civilization
~ 600 AD
11th-14th century
No scientific progress
Fall of Constantinople
1453 AD
494 BC – the Persians captured the city of Miletos: Ionian
philosophers were driven westward; Athens emerged as
the center of Greek philosophy, art, and drama.
The Dawn of Science:
Greece
Greece was a civilization on the margin
of the great, stable empires of Egypt
and Mesopotamia – teaching but not
dominating.
Political structure of Greece was that of
independent city-states.
Greek philosophical speculations to
modern science – were they useful?
“Can everything be
regarded as a SINGLE
REALITY appearing in different
forms?”
Thales (640-546 BC)
WATER
“… the inexhaustible substance from
which everything is born and into which
everything passes…”
Empedocles of Agrigentum in
Sicily (490-430 BC)
For the first time, a theory of
4 elements – EARTH,
WATER, FIRE and AIR
Plato (428-348 BC)
•idea of 4 elements
•idea of INTERCONVERTIBILITY –
elements could be converted one into
another
Aristotle (384-321 BC)
The most celebrated scientific
authority of antiquity
AIR EARTH
(moist, hot) (dry, cold)
moist cold
WATER
(cold, moist)
•The 4 elements make up all earthly matter.
natural motion is
along a straight
line towards the
domain of the
predominant
element in the
object
Greek Ideas about Matter:
Who prevailed?
Leucippus and Democritus’
Aristotelean View
Ideas
The Beginnings of Greek Alchemy
Historical background:
• Conquests ushered
in a new period in
history – the
Hellenistic Age
Alexandria (founded 332 BC) -
Most famous settlement and most
significant for the future history
of chemistry
•Greek philosophy
•Eastern mysticism
•Egyptian technology
Lesson from alchemy:
THEORY is important as a
guide to the advancement of
science