Marc's+2nd+Week+Assignment

__Early Greek Science: Thales to Plato__: Michael Fowler

This article provides a great overall view of the major advances in science in Pre-Classical times. Reading carefully and in some cases between the lines, however, will also provide knowledge about the beginning of the scientific community, the scientific process and other things regarding science itself. In the very first section regarding the three scientists from the Anatolian peninsula, the author reveals that they formed the beginnings of the modern scientific community: "An essential part of the Milesians’ success in developing a picture of nature was that they engaged in open, rational, critical debate about each others ideas. It was tacitly assumed that all the theories and explanations were directly competitive with one another, and all should be open to public scrutiny, so that they could be debated and judged" ("The Milesians"). As early as the 550's B.C.(E. to be politically correct), people were already theorizing about the nature of their own being and the world about them and debating these views, defending what they believe to be true in hopes that it will be commonly accepted.

As Halwes stated in his articles, scientists have proposed many theories over the centuries; some are plausible, others outlandish, but they must all be compared with one another so that the best "truth", the best knowledge may be attained. Some theories are more believable than others and some theories are believed to be true until another theory comes along that seems more "truthful." Halwes admits there is no shame in being proven wrong, for science is progress and advances must be made using previous work. Fowler holds the same view: "Each contribution, even that of an Einstein, depends heavily on what has gone before" ("The Milesians"). This statement holds true in all cases. This is one scientific truth that cannot be denied: science builds on previous advances to make further progress. In some cases, as Fowler shows us with the Pythagorean cult, a scientist may disprove one of his newer theories with an older one he himself formulated!

Thus, while Ancient academics made many advancements in understanding human nature, the nature of the world around them, astrology and many other fields, which Fowler chronicles in this article, they also formed the early scientific community and engaged in debate and teaching as the scientific community does to this day. They were pioneers in the field of science in more ways then they knew.