Leonid Zhmud The Origin of the History of Science in Classical Antiquity


Download 1.41 Mb.
Pdf ko'rish
bet200/261
Sana08.05.2023
Hajmi1.41 Mb.
#1444838
1   ...   196   197   198   199   200   201   202   203   ...   261
Bog'liq
The Origin of the History of Science in

History of Astronomy still further.
That Eudemus’ astronomy was an idealized construction is hardly surpris-
ing. In a sense, so is any history of science, which is bound to rely on selected
facts and to interpret them from contemporary positions. This does not necess-
arily imply that Eudemus modernized early Greek astronomy, attributing to it
opinions that it
ought to have held from the point of view of his own time.
94
Ad-
mittedly, this cannot be ruled out: Aristotle is known to have indulged in such
interpretations,
95
nor is contemporary history of science immune from them. In
regard to the
History of Astronomy, however, any direct evidence for this is
lacking. From the abundant data of explanations of celestial phenomena by ear-
lier thinkers, Eudemus apparently selected the major discoveries that demon-
93
An Epicurean text of the late fourth century calls one of Eudoxus’ students @stro-
logogewmétrh~ (Philod. De Epicuro II (PHerc. 1289), 6 III). See Sedley, D. Epi-
curus and the mathematicians of Cyzicus,
CErc 6 (1976) 27f.
94
It would be intriguing to speculate on the degree to which Eudemus’ work reflected
astronomers’ views on the
history of their science. What did the names of Anaxi-
mander, Pythagoras, Cleostratus, and Anaxagoras mean to them? Were they aware
of their individual contributions to the development of astronomy? How original, in
other words, was the historical approach to astronomy developed by Eudemus? The
material to answer this question is, unfortunately, lacking.
95
Cherniss.
Aristotle’s criticism, 352ff.


Chapter 7: The history of astronomy
252
strated the progress of mathematical astronomy from its modest origins to its
then contemporary state of ‘perfection’. The facts he reports are not only con-
firmed by other presently available data (or do not, at least, contradict them) –
they form the actual basis of the modern history of early Greek astronomy. That
allows us to characterize Eudemus’ approach to the study of Greek science, al-
beit with reservations, as genuinely
 historical.
Current views on mathematical astronomy differ in many respects from
those of Aristotle and Eudemus. An influential trend in the history of astron-
omy regards mathematical astronomy as a science that, proceeding from accu-
rate, systematic, and preferably dated observations, builds quantitative models
of heavenly bodies’ movements and thus makes possible accurate predictions
of their appearance in the firmament.
96
From this viewpoint, the history of
Greek astronomy really starts not with Thales and Anaximander, but with, at
best, Meton and Euctemon, if not Eudoxus or even, paradoxically, Hippar-
chus.
97
The ‘speculations’ of the Presocratics, who, unlike Babylonian astron-
omers, never conducted, let alone recorded, any systematic long-term observa-
tions, either do not enter this history at all or remain marginal at best.
This trend in the historiography of Greek astronomy is worth a special
study.
98
Suffice it to say here that the history of astronomy as seen by Eudemus
has much more appeal for me, if only because it better represents the views on
the real tasks of science held by both Greek and the early modern astron-
omers.
99
Besides, it better corresponds to the facts.
Maqhmatik3 @strología as conceived by Aristotle and Eudemus should
more properly be called
geometrical astronomy, to distinguish it from the
96
Scientific astronomical theory is “a mathematical description of celestial phenom-
ena capable of yielding numerical predictions that can be tested against observa-
tions” (Aaboe, A. Scientific astronomy in Antiquity,

Download 1.41 Mb.

Do'stlaringiz bilan baham:
1   ...   196   197   198   199   200   201   202   203   ...   261




Ma'lumotlar bazasi mualliflik huquqi bilan himoyalangan ©fayllar.org 2024
ma'muriyatiga murojaat qiling