From Classical Era to the Renaissance

Abstract

During the Hellenistic period (The period that starts after the death of Alexander the Great), natural sciences continued to develop through the work of natural philosophers of Greek education and culture (not necessarily Greeks) mainly in Greek colonies and in Alexander’s empire, as well as in the mainland. More specifically, the great intellectual centers of the time were Great Greece (Southern Italy and Sicily), Egypt, and Syria. It is worth mentioning that during this period some scholars attempted the first tentative experiments in natural philosophy with a double objective: first, to collect results that would allow the formulation of physical laws and second, to verify theories. The most prominent scholars of that era who conducted experiments were (in chronological order) Aristarchus, Archimedes, Eratosthenes and Heron. Aristarchus, who was born in Samos and lived in Alexandria (310–230 BC), measured the distances between the Earth and the Moon and between the Earth and the Sun, and determined the ratio of the radii of the two celestial bodies. Archimedes (287–212 BC) lived in Syracuse and his most important achievement was the explanation of the phenomenon of buoyancy through experimentation (Fig. 3.1). Eratosthenes, who lived in Alexandria (276–196 BC), measured the radius of the Earth. Finally, Heron, who lived in Alexandria during the 1st century AD, discovered the power of steam and invented applied hydraulics (Fig. 3.2).