Logic and the Scientific Method
In the classical period in Greece, Pythagoras was interested in proving that things were true all the time, rather than just observing that they were true most of the time. Socrates began to develop a way of thinking and speaking which would let you prove that a certain statement was or was not true, which we call logic. Socrates' student Plato continued this idea, and Plato's student Aristotle began the process of applying this logic to the natural world.
In the Hellenistic period, many Greek philosopher-scientists like Euclid and Aristarchus used Aristotle's logical system to investigate mathematics, biology, physics, astronomy, and medicine. These studies took place all over Alexander's empire, but especially in the great Library at Alexandria in Egypt.
When the Romans took over Greece and Egypt, they became great admirers of the Greek scientific process. The Library at Alexandria remained open. But really not as many great advances in understanding the natural world were made during the Roman Empire. The Romans were more interested in practical engineering, and more people studied that. With the conversion to Christianity in the 300's AD, there got to be a lot of hostility to the Library, which was seen as a stronghold of paganism, and eventually, around 600 AD, the Library was shut down.
After the Islamic Empire was established in the late 600's AD, scientific research took off again. In physics, Ibn Sina figured out the basic natural laws governing motion and momentum in the 900's AD. In the 1100's AD, Maimonides realized that people got sick from bad water and air (though he didn't know about germs), rather than from magic spells or curses.
During this time in Europe, under the rule of the Merovingians in France and the Lombards in Northern Italy, and the Romans in Greece and Turkey, little or no scientific progress was being made. People in Europe could barely read or write. But by the 1100's AD, Europe was for the first time becoming a center for scientific thought. Monks, in the role of professors, were teaching Socratic logic to students in the monastic schools and cathedral schools (the beginnings of modern universities) at Paris and Cambridge and Oxford. Men like Peter Abelard tried to use logic to prove the existence of God, and to define His nature. At the ducal court of Aquitaine, Eleanor of Aquitaine and her court used the same logical principles to discuss the nature of love.
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Logic and the Scientific Method
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