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Science in the early Middle Ages

This version was saved 15 years, 6 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by liz mastroianni
on September 24, 2008 at 12:53:37 pm
 

Summary

 

The myth that science ceased to exist from the period of the Greeks until the scientific revolution seems to be a widely held thought.  However, This was not the case.  The Romans, a more practical minded people not so much interested in philosophy for philosophy's sake, still admired the Greek philosophers and found their work worthy of be read, copied, and translated. In fact, the Roman writer, Horace, noted that while Rome captured Greece militarily and politically, the artistic and intellectual conquest belonged to the Greeks. As Rome became more and more secure, its leisured class took a great interest in Greek literature, philosophy, politics, and art. Any Roman wishing to pursue these topics was better off finding them through imitation of the Greek method, and any Roman scholar who wished to proceed at the highest level would do so in Greek. Any program of creative research was paired with other programs directed toward preservation, commentary, education, popularization, and transmission. This idea of research still exists today in schools, universities, and mass media. When it came to Greek science, the Roman public usually valued what had practical and intristic appeal. They were also interested in cataloging knowledge; In fact, the encyclopedia is a product of the Roman Empire.  As the Empire was stretched more and more thinly, and facing adversity within and without, the copying of books simply became less important.  The Christian church was also seen as being against science when that was really not the case.  Christianity spread throughout the Mediterranean region slowly over about 600 years.  This gradual diffusion allowed for it to mix with pagan ideas, including natural philosophy from such philosophers as Plato.

 

 

 


 

 

Primary Sources

 

 If we compare the early church with a modern research university or the National Science Foundation, the church will prove to have failed abysmally as a supporter of science and natural philosophy.  But such a comparison is obviously unfair.  If, instead, we compare the support given to the study of nature by the early church with support available from any other contemporary social institution, it will become apparent that the church was the major paton of scientific learning.  Its patronage may have been limited and selective, but limited and selective patronage is a far cry from opposition. (Lindberg 150)

 

Lindberg points out a common flaw in modern thinking: the early Christian Church hindered scientific learning.  But this misconception is based on a skewed, presentist viewpoint of what "supporting science" is.

 

 


 

Key Terms and Definitions

 

encyclopedia - a compiling of all human knowledge, introduced by Roman Pliny the Elder as his Natural History


 

Relevant Links

 A great interactive on the Roman Empire.  Check out the timeline and maps.

 www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/microsites/Rome/index_microsite.php

 

Pliny the Elder's Natural History online.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/home.html

 

Some more on Varro's life and works.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Varro/de_Re_Rustica/Introduction*.html

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