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 * __Early Greek Science: Thales to Plato__ **

I found it very intriguing to discover some surprising observations several of the early Greek thinkers made. In Michael Fowler’s article, he brings up the topic of abstract phenomena in nature. First of all, he points out that back around 585 B.C. Thales conveyed his view on the earth’s crust saying it was, “   floating on a vast ocean, and disturbances in that ocean occasionally cause the earth to shake or even crack, just as they would a large boat .” Statements like these were the baby steps into a transition between making sound observations of nature instead of delegating it to some act of gods. Another great thinker of the time period was Democritus. He concocted what would become one of the first atomic theories. He concluded that, “ the physical world consisted of atoms in constant motion in a void, rebounding or cohering as they collide with each other. Change of all sorts is thus accounted for on a basic level by the atoms separating and recombining to form different materials .” His observations were revolutionary but would be acknowledged as only observations without substantial evidence.

An interesting point with all of these early theories of how the world functions is that these Greek thinkers were just that, thinkers. They had no mathematical backbone to what they were saying. Poor Democritus’ atomic theory was, “totally rejected by Aristotle and others ,” because it had, “no experimental backing for an atomic theory .” What fascinates me is the fact that although these thinkers had no concrete evidence and almost no support for their ideas, they weren’t that far from the truth. In fact, it took nearly two-thousand years before concrete proof started to show up, confirming parts of the late thinkers’ observations.

I particularly liked how the author did not bash the early Greek philosophers for incorrect ideas about nature, but condoned their acute perception of it. Although some theories may not have had concrete proof, they were “on the right track” as Fowler insisted.