The popularity of Stephen Hawking's work has put cosmology back in the public eye. The question of how the universe began, and why it hangs together, still puzzles scientists. Their puzzlement began two and a half thousand years ago when Greek philosophers first looked up at the sky and formed a theory of everything. Though their solutions are little credited today, the questions remain fresh. The early Greek thinkers struggled to come to terms with and explain the totality of their surroundings, to identitify an original substance from which the universe was compounded, and to reconcile the...

Ancient Natural History surveys the ways in which people in the ancient world thought about nature. The writings of Aristotle, Theophrastus, Strabo, Pliny are examined, as well as the popular beliefs of their contemporaries. Roger French finds that the same natural-historical material was used to serve the purposes of both the Greek philosopher and the Christian allegorist, or of a taxonomist like Theophrastus and a collector of curiosa like Pliny. He argues convincingly that the motives of ancient writers on nature were rarely scientific' and, indeed, that there was not really any...

Ancient Natural History surveys the ways in which people in the ancient world thought about nature. The writings of Aristotle, Theophrastus, Strabo, Pliny are examined, as well as the popular beliefs of their contemporaries. Roger French finds that the same natural-historical material was used to serve the purposes of both the Greek philosopher and the Christian allegorist, or of a taxonomist like Theophrastus and a collector of curiosa like Pliny. He argues convincingly that the motives of ancient writers on nature were rarely scientific' and, indeed, that there was not really any...

The popularity of Stephen Hawking's work has put cosmology back in the public eye. The question of how the universe began, and why it hangs together, still puzzles scientists. Their puzzlement began two and a half thousand years ago when Greek philosophers first 'looked up at the sky and formed a theory of everything.' Though their solutions are little credited today, the questions remain fresh.
The early Greek thinkers struggled to come to terms with and explain the totality of their surroundings; to identitify an original substance from which the universe was compounded; and to reconcile...

The first book of its kind in English, Ancient Meteorology discusses Greek and Roman approaches and attitudes to this broad discipline, which in classical antiquity included not only 'weather', but occurrences such as earthquakes and comets that today would be regarded as geological, astronomical or seismological.

The range and diversity of this literature highlights the question of scholarly authority in antiquity and illustrates how writers responded to the meteorological information presented by their literary predecessors.

Ancient Meteorology will be a...

In Antiquity, meteorology included the study of the weather as well as the study of geological, seismological and astronomical phenomena, such as earthquakes and comets. This book explores Greek and Roman approaches and attitudes to this broad subject. Given the importance of farming in ancient society, it is not surprising that so much was written about the prediction of the weather and how to respond to it. But meteorology was not just for farmers. Poets, philosophers and physicians were also interested, and used the subject to raise questions about the nature of the world and how we...

The theorem of Pythagoras, Euclid's Elements, Archimedes' method to find the volume of a sphere: all parts of the invaluable legacy of ancient mathematics. Its discoveries and insights continue to amaze and fascinate the modern reader. However, ancient mathematics was also about counting and measuring, surveying land and attributing mystical significance to the number six.

The discoveries and insights of ancient mathematicians continue to inspire, amaze and fascinate the modern reader. From the theorem of Pythagoras to Euclid's "Elements', much of what we know today was built on the legacy of the ancients.
This volume is the first genuinely accessible survey of the discipline in all its brilliance and diversity. It covers the period between the fifth-century BCE to the sixth-century CE and such topics as mathematics and politics in classical Greece, the formation of mathematical traditions, and mathematics and Christianity. Also included are segments on...

An account of astrology from its beginnings in Mesopotamia, focusing on the Greco-Roman world, Ancient Astrology examines the theoretical development and changing social and political role of astrology.

The third edition of this magisterial account of medicine in the Greek and Roman worlds has been updated to incorporate the many new discoveries made in the field over the last decade. Ancient Medicine will remain the definitive textbook on the subject for students and scholars.