Early history
Main article: Science in the ancient world
The Plimpton 322 tablet by
the Babylonians records Pythagorean triples, written c. 1800 BCE
Science has no single origin. Rather, scientific thinking emerged gradually over the course of tens of
thousands of years,[36][37] taking different forms around the world, and few details are known about the
very earliest developments. Women likely played a central role in prehistoric science,[38] as did religious
rituals.[39] Some scholars use the term "protoscience" to label activities in the past that resemble modern
science in some but not all features;[40][41][42] however, this label has also been criticised as denigrating,
[43]
or too suggestive of presentism, thinking about those activities only in relation to modern categories.
[44]
Direct evidence for scientific processes becomes clearer with the advent of writing systems in the Bronze
Age civilisations of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia (c. 3000–1200 BCE), creating the earliest written
records in the history of science.[13]: 12–15 [14] Although the words and concepts of "science" and "nature"
were not part of the conceptual landscape at the time, the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians made
contributions that would later find a place in Greek and medieval science: mathematics, astronomy, and
medicine.[45][13]: 12 From the 3rd millennium BCE, the ancient Egyptians developed a non-
positional decimal numbering system,[46] solved practical problems using geometry,[47] and developed
a calendar.[48] Their healing therapies involved drug treatments and the supernatural, such as
prayers, incantations, and rituals.[13]: 9
The ancient Mesopotamians used knowledge about the properties of various natural chemicals for
manufacturing pottery, faience, glass, soap, metals, lime plaster, and waterproofing.[49] They
studied animal physiology, anatomy, behaviour, and astrology for divinatory purposes.[50] The
Mesopotamians had an intense interest in medicine and the earliest medical prescriptions appeared
in Sumerian during the Third Dynasty of Ur.[49][51] They seem to have studied scientific subjects which had
practical or religious applications and had little interest in satisfying curiosity.[49]
Classical antiquity
Main article: Science in classical antiquity
Plato's Academy mosaic, made between 100 BCE and 79 CE,
shows many Greek philosophers and scholars
In classical antiquity, there is no real ancient analogue of a modern scientist. Instead, well-educated,
usually upper-class, and almost universally male individuals performed various investigations into nature
whenever they could afford the time.[52] Before the invention or discovery of the concept of phusis or
nature by the pre-Socratic philosophers, the same words tend to be used to describe the natural "way"
in which a plant grows,[53] and the "way" in which, for example, one tribe worships a particular god. For
this reason, it is claimed that these men were the first philosophers in the strict sense and the first to
clearly distinguish "nature" and "convention".[54]
The early Greek philosophers of the Milesian school, which was founded by Thales of Miletus and later
continued by his successors Anaximander and Anaximenes, were the first to attempt to explain natural
phenomena without relying on the supernatural.[55] The Pythagoreans developed a complex number
philosophy[56]: 467–468 and contributed significantly to the development of mathematical science.[56]:
465
The theory of atoms was developed by the Greek philosopher Leucippus and his student Democritus.
[57][58]
Later, Epicurus would develop a full natural cosmology based on atomism, and would adopt a
"canon" (ruler, standard) which established physical criteria or standards of scientific truth.[59] The Greek
doctor Hippocrates established the tradition of systematic medical science[60][61] and is known as "The
Father of Medicine".[62]
A turning point in the history of early philosophical science was Socrates' example of applying philosophy
to the study of human matters, including human nature, the nature of political communities, and human
knowledge itself. The Socratic method as documented by Plato's dialogues is a dialectic method of
hypothesis elimination: better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and eliminating those that
lead to contradictions. The Socratic method searches for general commonly held truths that shape
beliefs and scrutinises them for consistency.[63] Socrates criticised the older type of study of physics as
too purely speculative and lacking in self-criticism.[64]
In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle created a systematic programme of teleological philosophy.[65] In the 3rd
century BCE, Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos was the first to propose a heliocentric model of the
universe, with the Sun at the centre and all the planets orbiting it.[66] Aristarchus's model was widely
rejected because it was believed to violate the laws of physics,[66] while Ptolemy's Almagest, which
contains a geocentric description of the Solar System, was accepted through the early Renaissance
instead.[67][68] The inventor and mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse made major contributions to the
beginnings of calculus.[69] Pliny the Elder was a Roman writer and polymath, who wrote the seminal
encyclopaedia Natural History.[70][71][72]
Positional notation for representing numbers likely emerged between the 3rd and 5th centuries CE along
Indian trade routes. This numeral system made efficient arithmetic operations more accessible and
would eventually become standard for mathematics worldwide.[73]
