Science in the ancient world

Long ago, people studied the world.

They watched the stars and the moon. They wrote notes on clay tablets.

This helped them track the sun. They learned about math too. In Egypt, they used math to build.

They also studied how to heal. Some people even used early medicine. These old ideas helped us today. Do you like to learn?

Long ago, people began to study the world. They shared what they knew by talking. Later, they used writing to save their ideas.

In Mesopotamia, people used clay tablets. They wrote down numbers to track the stars. This helped them make calendars. They even used math to predict eclipses.

In Egypt, math helped people build and farm. They used geometry to mark land near the Nile. They also studied medicine. Some doctors used a set of steps to treat sick people.

In Nubia, people used an early medicine. They used a type of antibiotic in their beer. This helped them stay healthy.

In Greece, thinkers asked big questions. Thales was a famous thinker. He looked for natural reasons for things like lightning. Pythagoras thought the Earth was a sphere. These early ideas helped start modern science.

Long ago, people began to study the world around them. They started by sharing what they learned through talking. Later, writing helped people save their knowledge for others.

This allowed information to spread more accurately across different lands. These early studies laid the roots for the sciences we use today. Many different cultures helped build this foundation of knowledge.

In Mesopotamia, people were very good at tracking the stars. They used clay tablets to write down numbers about the cosmos.

These scribes recorded how the Moon and planets moved. They used math to predict solar and lunar eclipses. They also calculated how daylight changes throughout the year. These ancient methods helped create the solar year and lunar month used in our calendars today. A mathematician named Kidinnu even created a value for the solar year that we still use.

Ancient Egypt was also a center for many different studies. They used geometry to survey farmland near the Nile River. This helped them keep track of land after the annual floods.

Egyptian doctors used a special way to treat sickness. They used steps like examination and diagnosis to help patients. They also studied the brain in early medical documents. While some of their remedies were not helpful, their way of working was very organized. Their writing, called hieroglyphs, even helped lead to the alphabets we use now.

In Nubia, people showed great skill in medicine and math. Between 350 AD and 550 AD, Nubians used an early type of antibiotic.

They likely got this from bacteria found in jars of grain used for beer. They also understood math through the design of their pyramids. They used geometry to create early versions of sun clocks. This shows they had a very sophisticated way of thinking about numbers and time.

In Greece, thinkers began to ask big questions about nature.

A man named Thales looked for natural reasons for things like lightning. He did not look for supernatural reasons. Another thinker named Pythagoras believed the Earth was a sphere. Later, Plato started a school called the Academy. His student, Aristotle, helped lead a time of great discovery. These thinkers used logic to help understand how the world works.

Science in the ancient world refers to the earliest history of human inquiry. It spans from the protoscience of prehistory through late antiquity. In these early eras, knowledge was primarily shared through oral tradition. The invention of writing changed this by allowing people to preserve and spread information accurately. This development laid the fundamental roots for many modern scientific disciplines.

The first major scientific traditions emerged in the Ancient Near East. This region included Mesopotamia, specifically Ancient Egypt and Babylonia. In Sumer, located in modern-day Iraq, people began recording cosmos observations around 3500 BC. They used extremely thorough numerical data to track the stars. This mathematical approach to the sky was highly successful. Babylonian astronomy provided a refined mathematical description of astronomical phenomena. Historian Asger Aaboe noted that much of subsequent scientific astronomy depends on these Babylonian foundations.

Mesopotamian mathematicians were quite advanced for their time. They used cuneiform writing on clay tablets to record observations. These tablets, such as the Plimpton 322 from the 18th century BC, show evidence of complex math. This tablet generates several Pythagorean triples, which are sets of numbers used in geometry. Scribes used these calculations to track the motions of planets, the Moon, and stars. They developed methods to predict solar and lunar eclipses. They also computed the changing length of daylight. These scientists identified astronomical periods like the solar year and the lunar month. A Chaldean astronomer named Kidinnu provided a value for the solar year that is still used in modern calendars.

Ancient Egypt contributed significantly to geometry, medicine, and writing. Egyptian geometry grew from the need to survey farmland. The Nile River flooded annually, which changed land boundaries. Surveyors used rules like the 3–4–5 right triangle to rebuild these layouts. Their writing system, known as hieroglyphs, eventually influenced the Proto-Sinaitic script. This script led to the Phoenician alphabet and later to Greek, Latin, and Arabic.

Medical practices in Egypt followed a specific empirical method. This method includes examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. The Edwin Smith Papyrus is an early document that analyzes the brain. This work is considered a beginning of modern neuroscience. However, some Egyptian medical practices were ineffective or even harmful. For example, research shows that 72% of prescriptions in the Hearst Papyrus had no curative elements. Some remedies involved applying cow dung to wounds or using lizard blood. Despite these flaws, their organized approach helped develop scientific methodology.

In Nubia, researchers found evidence of surprising medical and mathematical skill. Between 350 AD and 550 AD, Nubians used an early form of the antibiotic tetracycline. They likely obtained this from the bacterium *Streptomyces* found in grain used for beer. While they did not know the science behind it, they likely noticed it helped people.

Nubians also understood harmonic ratios and used geometry to create sun clocks. Their mathematical methods during the Meroitic period were similar to those used by Egyptians.

Classical antiquity in Greece and Rome brought further advancements. Scholars studied anatomy, zoology, botany, and mineralogy. In the 6th century BC, Thales began looking for non-supernatural explanations for natural events. He is often called the "father of science." Pythagoras founded a school that investigated mathematics and proposed the Earth was a sphere.

Later, Plato founded the Academy. His student, Aristotle, helped lead a period of intense scientific inquiry. These thinkers used deductive reasoning to understand the causes of change in the natural world. This era of natural philosophy connected many different fields of study together.