Wrestling with nature : from omens to science

Description

When and where did science begin? Historians have offered different answers to these questions, some pointing to Babylonian observational astronomy, some to the speculations of natural philosophers of ancient Greece. Others have opted for early modern Europe, which saw the triumph of Copernicanism and the birth of experimental science, while yet another view is that the appearance of science was postponed until the nineteenth century. Rather than posit a modern definition of science and search for evidence of it in the past, the contributors to Wrestling with Nature examine how students of nat.  Read more... Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Natural Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia / Francesca Rochberg 2. Natural Knowledge in the Classical World / Daryn Lehoux 3. Natural Knowledge in the Arabic Middle Ages / Jon McGinnis 4. Natural Knowledge in the Latin Middle Ages / Michael H. Shank 5. Natural History / Peter Harrison 6. Mixed Mathematics / Peter Dear 7. Natural Philosophy / John L. Heilbron 8. Science and Medicine / Ronald L. Numbers 9. Science and Technology / Ronald R. Kline 10. Science and Religion / Jon H. Roberts. 11. Science, Pseudoscience, and Science Falsely So-Called / Daniel P. Thurs and Ronald L. Numbers12. Scientific Methods / Daniel P. Thurs 13. Science and the Public / Bernard Lightman 14. Science and Place / David N. Livingstone Contributors Index.