For OUP's series, Very Short Introductions, ‘for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way into a new subject’, T.'s volume achieves its goal. The only disappointment: it does not cover the ‘technology’ that accompanied science. To be fair, T. recuses herself of that task in the first chapter, when she states that her work ‘concentrates on attempts to understand the natural world, rather than strategies to control it. Hence it is primarily concerned with science rather than technology’ (p. 1). The book, and each in the series, is tiny at only 7 inches tall and 4.5 inches wide, light to hold and bendable at the spine. It is a diminutive treat to tuck away in a bag for easy access on a train or in a café, where one might have time for an ‘accessible’ overview of a dense subject.
T.'s chronological approach simplifies a complicated and broad topic. In Chapter 1 she begins by stressing that the ancient Greeks and Romans looked to nature, natura in Latin and physis in ancient Greek, to understand phenomena. Very simply, science started out as a desire to understand the world and the things in it through an inquiry process. Also discussed are the many reasons for studying science and advocating for its study amongst the educated.
In the particularly delightful Chapter 2 T. talks about the scientific knowledge found in plain sight in ancient poetry, details not every modern reader may notice without a careful commentary nearby. Before philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle penned their scientific queries, poets such as Hesiod and Homer infused their stories with scientific titbits about the stars, the weather and the cosmos, signifying the common knowledge of basic science that ancient readers must have known.
The foundations of science began with philosophy where the world's big questions were considered. Chapter 3 discusses the many physiologoi who pondered the scientific workings of the world, experimented with, discussed and wrote about them, the most notable being those from Miletus: Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes. Not all these writings survive, however; they are mainly known through the philosophical writings of others. Chapter 4 turns to writings that ridicule these physiologoi (such as the ancient comedies of Aristophanes) and subsequently give firm evidence of their importance in the ancient Greek knowledge landscape. Also mentioned are the writings of Herodotus, mainly considered a historian, but whose deft explanations of natural phenomena win him a place here.
Chapter 5 covers the Pythagoreans and Plato and stresses the importance of mathematics for understanding the specifics of harmonics and astronomy. Although no mention was made of this fact, T. might have spent time explaining that the field of geometry was developed for a practical reason: to measure and profit from the acquisition of land. It would have been nice to read further about this more practical side of maths.
T. dedicates the entirety of Chapter 6 to an overview of the numerous scientific theories and writings of Aristotle, a sign of his influence on the field. His three kinds of rational knowledge and his pioneering opinion that science should include other animals besides humans are explained in simple-to-understand language.
Chapter 7 ties together numerous philosophers who were known for their founding of schools dedicated to their particular philosophical specialty: Posidonius of Rhodes and Epicurus. Both the Stoa and the Garden, respectively associated with these philosophers, gave rise to scientific thought associated with the divine.
Chapter 8 turns to the Romans. Seneca the Younger is noted for the moral tone of his meteorological writings, and Pliny the Elder for his encyclopaedic work, much of which was dedicated to scientific explanations of natural phenomena. T. rounds out this chapter with a short section on the Romans’ use of sundials and astrology, both employing complicated mathematics to impress.
In Chapter 9 T. explores how important measurement theories were for ancient scientists who sought to understand the size of the world including the height of mountains, the depth of seas and the distance of the earth to other planets. The famed Antikythera Mechanism is mentioned in a sidebar, and it is at this point that the necessity for a chapter (or book) dedicated to ancient Greek and Roman technology is most evident. Do measurement devices fall under T.'s category of ‘controlling nature’? Is measurement done only to control, or is it simply to gain more knowledge of a particular scientific concept?
Chapter 10 focuses on the works of Ptolemy and Galen, two scientists whose contributions were hugely influential for a millennium afterwards. Both widely acknowledged the previous experts and added significantly to their respective fields of astronomy and medicine.
Chapter 11 is concerned with late antiquity and the attempts of its authors to add to existing scientific knowledge by the use of commentaries. ‘Commentators played an important role in shaping the way the works of their predecessors were read and regarded, and some texts survive only in the language into which they were translated by them’ (p. 115).
In ‘Beyond Antiquity’, Chapter 12, T. wraps up with the legacy of ancient science on medieval and early modern thinkers, such as Nobel Prize-winning scientists Max Born and Albert Einstein, who both referenced ancient scientific concepts in their writing. She asks, ‘Today, we are still searching for answers to some of the same questions as the ancients: how did the world begin? What is the world made of? Are there other worlds? How do humans relate to other parts of the universe, including other living beings? How do we know what we think we know?’ (p. 128).
Although the book is a helpful overview of the topic, the decision to exclude the technology of science seems to create a gaping hole. Surely, the limited format of books in this series added to that decision. Surprising (and possibly related to this decision) is T.'s mere mentions of Vitruvius (mainly in reference to his explanations of sundials), the Roman architect and engineer whose work had a profound influence on Renaissance artists and writers. Although his De architectura was largely a compilation of knowledge about building and engineering, he is the go-to author for many seeking to gain a basic understanding of those areas of the Roman world. Hopefully, T. will write a companion piece focusing on the technology and tools used to measure science and assist its users. Her status as the director and curator of Cambridge University's Whipple Museum of the History of Science would certainly assist in making such a volume valuable. This book showcases her ability to make complicated philosophical concepts understandable and interesting to lay readers.
