Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science--from the Baby*A New York Times Notable Book* Boldly challenging conventional wisdom, acclaimed science writer and Omni magazine cofounder Dick Teresi traces the origins of contemporary science back to their ancient roots in this eye-opening and landmark work. This innovative history proves once and for all that the roots of modern science were established centuries, and in some instances millennia, before the births of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. In this enlightening, entertaining, and important book, Teresi describes many discoveries from all over the non-Western world—Sumeria, Babylon, Egypt, India, China, Africa, Arab nations, the Americas, and the Pacific islands—that equaled and often surpassed Greek and European learning in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, cosmology, physics, geology, chemistry, and technology. The first extensive and authoritative multicultural history of science written for a popular audience, Lost Discoveries fills a critical void in our scientific, cultural, and intellectual history and is destined to become a classic in its field. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 21 | |
Sky Watchers and More | 89 |
That OldTime Religion | 157 |
Particles Voids and Fields | 193 |
Stories of Earth Itself | 231 |
Alchemy and Beyond | 279 |
Machines as a Measure of Man | 325 |
Other editions - View all
Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science--from the Babylonians ... Dick Teresi No preview available - 2003 |
Common terms and phrases
According Africa al-Biruni Al-Khwarizmi alchemists Alchemy algebra Alhazen Ancient Astronomers Arabic Assyrian astronomers atoms Aveni Avicenna Aztecs Babylonians ball big bang calendar called celestial century B.C. chemical chemistry Chinese concept Copernicus cosmology creation Dantzig developed dynasty early earth Egypt Egyptians Europe European fire Geological George Saliba gold Greek Harappan History of Science Ibid ideas Incas Indian invented iron Islamic Islamic Astronomy Joseph Joseph Needham Kaplan later letter to author light math mathematician mathematics matter Maya Mayan Medicine medieval mercury Mesoamerica Mesopotamia metals minerals modern Mohists moon motion mountains Muslim myth Needham object observatory Olmecs Otto Neugebauer particles physicist physics plants Popul Vuh Press records rocks root says scholars Science and Civilization scientists solar space sphere square stars stone Sulbasutras Sumerian Technology temple texts theorem theory thousand tion tradition translated universe West Western writes wrote York zero
Popular passages
Page 17 - To this day, the theorem of Pythagoras remains the most important single theorem in the whole of mathematics. That seems a bold and extraordinary thing to say, yet it is not extravagant; because what Pythagoras established is a fundamental characterization of the space in which we move, and it is the first time that it is translated into numbers. And the exact fit of the numbers describes the exact laws that bind the universe.