This page is a subset of texts derived from the three major online Sourcebooks listed below. For more contextual information, for instance about the Islamic world, check
out these web sites.
2ND Thomas S. Kuhn: Structure of Scientific Revolutions,
1962 [At Emory]
Summary of theories of an important modern theorist of the idea of scientific
revolution.
The Memphite
Theology [At Internet Archive, from Creighton]
Ptah as creator god. This text has been presented as the source of Greek science. This is
unlikely!
Aristotle (384-323 BCE): : On Generation and Corruption.[At
MIT]
The first five parts of Book
II in particular discuss elements, and the system of four elements that predates
Aristotle.
WEB Archimedes (c.287-c.212 BCE)[Website]
The site has extensive source text quotations and illustrations. See for instance this one
on Archimedean
Solids.
The Periplus [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
Written by a Greek resident of Alexandria in Egypt during the first century BCE, this text
is one of the oldest surviving accounts of the countries on Africa's east coast. A map
gives some idea of the size and scope of Africa and of the author's journey.
Latin Authors
Pliny the Elder (23/4-79 CE): Natural
History in Latin [At Lacus Curtius][Full Text]
Ibn Rushd (Averroës) (1126-1198 CE): Religion & Philosophy,
c. 1190. The text is On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy, or in Arabic Kitab
fasl al-maqal, with its appendix (Damina). Appended is an extract from Kitab
al-kashf`an manahij al-adilla.
Famous Muslim Scientist Lists
The lists below seem to be part of a certain genre of list creation, usually to
make the claim (which is true) that Islam had a glorious role in the history of science.
None of them seem to address what happened after c. 1500 (the Western Intrusion was not
until c. 1800, so it will not do as an "excuse".)
Nicholas Oresme (1323-1382): Basic
Information [At St. Andrews]
An important late medieval scientist. Not all was dark before Copernicus. Oresme, Catholic
Bishop of Lisieux, wrote on the nature of light, and invented coordinate geometry long
before Descartes.
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727): Principia:
Book Two. Lemma II. [At Trinity College Dublin]
Newton describes what is essentially the Product Rule for differentiation, applying it to
calculate the `moments' of quantities that are expressed as products of powers of other
quantities whose moments are known.
Andreas Vesalius (1514-64): De humani
corporis fabrica, 1543, frontispiece of 1555 edition, [At Internet Archive, from UAB], and see
Detailed Images [At Medicina Antiqua]
See also Brief Bio [At
Plymouth], or here [At Virginia], or here [At Vanderbilt]
Vesalius Image Archive [At
Vesalium.com]
Archive of medical and anatomical images. Not for the squeamish.
The "Scientific Revolution" - understood as the time when a "paradigm
shift" took place, ended with Newton's achievements. From the late 17th century until
the late 19th century that vision of the cosmos was developed and filled in by what we now
call "classical science". The achievements of this period have not been negated
by the discoveries and theories of the late 19th and 20th centuries, but are now seen as
accurate only with certain boundaries.
St. George Jackson Mivart (1827-1900): On the Genesis of the Species,
1871
Mivart was a Catholic convert who wrote a noted reply to the Darwinian thesis, which
he did not dismiss out of hand, in 1871. In 1876, Pope Pius IX conferred on him the degree
of doctor of philosophy.
Social Implications of Evolution
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903): Progess: Its Law and Causes,
1857, excerpts [At this Site]
Social Darwinism by its founder. Note the date!
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903): First Principles,
1862 [At McMaster][Full Text]
Walter Bagehot: The Use of
Conflict, 1872 [At this Site]
An application of evolutionary thought to military conflict.
Julian Simon: Address [At
Internet Archive, from OpusDei]
Comments by a leading "cornucopeian" who claims that there is no need to worry
about population growth, global warming, etc.
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