University of Virginia Library

CONTENTS
BOOK I

CHAPTER I
PREHISTORIC SCIENCE

• What is science? p. 3—Scientific instincts in the lower animals, p. 4—Scientific knowledge of primitive man, p. 5—His observations of the sun and moon, p. 7—His observation of universal gravitation, p. 9—His observations in biology, p. 11—His knowledge of medicine, p. 13—His conception of life and his late conception of natural death, p. 15—His political ideas and conceptions of ownership, p. 20—His questionings of natural phenomena and his fanciful explanations, p. 22—His superstitious and their perpetuity throughout succeeding centuries, p. 23.

CHAPTER II
EGYPTIAN SCIENCE

• Sources of our knowledge of Egyptian history, p. 25—Deciphering the hieroglyphics, p. 27—State of civilization at the beginning of the historic period, p. 30—Building the pyramids, p. 32—The dawn of astronomy, p. 33—The Egyptian calendar, p. 34—Adjustment of the calendar, p. 35—The Egyptians' ideas of cosmology, p. 41—Their scheme of celestial mechanism, p. 42—Their conceptions of the heavenly bodies, p. 44—Charms and incantations, p. 46—Scientific knowledge of the Egyptian physician, p. 49—Abstract science, p. 51—Methods of computation, p. 52—Science and superstition, p. 54.

CHAPTER III
SCIENCE OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.

• Babylon in the time of Herodotus, p, 57—Assyrian and Babylonian records, p. 59 Babylonian astronomy, p. 61—The adjustment

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  of the calendar, p. 62—Astrology, p. 66—Chaldean magic, p. 69—Various classes of evil spirits in different parts of the body, p. 71—The import of various omens, p. 71—Babylonian medicine, p. 75—Estimates of Babylonian science, p. 77—Canon Rawlinson's estimate, p. 82.

CHAPTER IV
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALPHABET

• The Greek legend of Kadmus and the introduction of letters, p. 87—The Egyptian and Assyrian characters, p. 87—First steps in picture-writing p. 89—Egyptian writing, p. 90—Babylonian writing, p. 93—The Assyrian grammar, p. 94—The alphabet achieved, p. 98—The extension and perfection of the alphabet, p. 111.

CHAPTER V
THE BEGINNINGS OF GREEK SCIENCE,

• Herodotus' account of an eclipse, p. 103—Thales, the Milesian, the father of Greek astronomy, p. 104—His knowledge of geometry, p. 107—His method of measuring distant objects, p. 107—Anaximander and Anaximenes, p. 109—Anaximander's conception of the, earth, p. 110—His ideas concerning man's development from an aquatic animal, p. 111.

CHAPTER VI
THE EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHERS IN ITALY

• Pythagoras the boxer, p.112—Pythagoras the philosopher, p. 113—Greek philosophers in Italy, p. 114—The followers of Pythagoras, Parmenides, and Empedocles, p. 117—The doctrine that the earth is a sphere, p. 118—Astronomical observations of Pythagoras, p. 119—His measurements of triangles, p. 120—His theories according to Diogenes Laertius, p. 121—His repudiation of the theory of spontaneous generation, p. 123—Xenophanes and Parmenides, p. 127—Xenophanes' conception of the formation of fossils, p. 128—Empedocles, physician, observer, and dreamer, p. 132—His denial of an an anthropomorphic god, p. 134—His anatomical knowledge, p. 136—His conception of evolution, p. 137.

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CHAPTER VII
GREEK SCIENCE IN THE EARLY ATTIC PERIOD

• Anaxagoras, p. 140—His ideas of the sun and stars, and the origin of the heavenly bodies, p. 143—His conception of universal gravitation, p. 145—Anaxagoras as meteorologist, p. 15—His biological speculations, p. 152—His physical speculations, p. 154—Leucippus and Democritus, p. 161—Democritus and the primordial atom, p. 163—Comparison of Anaxagoras and Democritus as inductive thinkers, p. 163—Hippocrates and Greek medicine, p. 170—His humoral theory of disease, p. 176.

CHAPTER VIII
POST-SOCRATIC SCIENCE AT ATHENS

• Socrates and Plato, p. 179—Aristotle, p. 182—His teachings as to the shape of the earth, p. 183—His studies in zoology, p. 185—The similarity of his division of the animal kingdom to the Lamarckian system, p. 187—Theophrastus, the father of botany, p. 188.

CHAPTER IX
GREEK SCIENCE OF THE ALEXANDRIAN OR HELLENISTIC PERIOD

• Alexandria and Ptolemy Soter, p. 189—The great school of science founded, p. 190—Studies in geography and astronomy, p. 191—Euclid and systematic geometry, p. 192—Herophilus and Erasistratus and their studies of anatomy, p. 194—Archimedes and the foundation of mechanics, p. 196—His mechanical contrivances for the defence of Syracuse, p. 201—Plutarch's estimate of Archimedes, p. 203—Aristarchus of Samos, p. 212—His anticipation of Copernicus in his solution of the mechanism of the solar system, p. 214—His theory of the revolution of the earth, p. 215—Eratosthenes, "the surveyor of the world," p. 225—Hipparchus, "the lover of truth" p. 233—His measurement of the length of the year and the moon's disk, p. 239—Ctesibus and Hero, magicians of Alexandria, p. 242—Hero's steam-engine and other mechanical devices, p. 249.

CHAPTER X
SCIENCE OF THE ROMAN PERIOD

• Strabo the geographer, p. 255—His belief in the globe's sphericity, P. 258—His division of the earth into zones, p. 262—Pliny the elder

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  and Ptolemy Secundus, p. 265 Natural History of Pliny, p. 266—Ptolemy, the last great astronomer of antiquity, p. 267—Galen, the last great Alexandrian, p. 272—His teachings in anatomy, surgery, and medicine, p. 278—His conception of the functions of the organs of the body, p. 282.

CHAPTER XI
A RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE AT CLASSICAL SCIENCE

• Periodicity in the continuity of the stream of history, p. 235—Length of the span from Thales to Galen, p. 286—Retrospect of the Greek cosmology, p. 287—Progress in the field of the biological sciences, p. 288—Birthplaces of the great philosophers and their relation to the peninsula of Greece, p. 289—Racial minglings and their bearing upon scientific advancement, p. 290—Superstitions of the ancient Greek and Roman world, p. 292—An example of Greek superstition as told by Herodotus, p. 294—An example as given by Lion Cassius, and the comment of Xiphilinus, p. 296.

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