Available at History and Civilization Faghrie Mitchell BCB 703: Scientific Methodology.

Available at http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl

History and Civilization

Faghrie MitchellBCB 703:Scientific Methodology

What is History?

What is Science?

What is Philosophy?

What is History?

What is Science?

What is Philosophy?

What is Curiosity? Almost in the beginning was curiosity.

Asimov’s New Guide to Science (Asimov 1987)

Early Man: Curiosity Science

CURIOSITY

EXPLORATION

DISCOVERY

SCIENCE

H

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Ancient Egypt: Curiosity Science

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Ancient Egypt: Curiosity to Science

Ancient Egypt: Evolution of the Pyramids

Djoser2630-2611 BC

Step Pyramid Saqqara, Egypt

Djoser2630-2611 BC

Snefru2575-2551 BC

Cheops/Khufu2551-2528 BC

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Snefru2575-2551 BC

Intermediate PyramidMaidum, Egypt

Djoser2630-2611 BC

Snefru2575-2551 BC


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Smooth PyramidsGiza, Egypt

Djoser2630-2611 BC

Snefru2575-2551 BC


Why show the Evolution of the Pyramids?

Ref: Shaw (2003)

DjoserStep

2630-2611 BC

SnefruIntermediate2575-2551 BC

Cheops/KhufuSmooth

2551-2528 BC

Did the ancient Egyptians have science To build a pyramid you need to have knowledge and skills about

stone and rock

E.g. how much stone, how many men to cut and move the stone, etc (quantity surveying)

E.g. how do I find good quality stone, how do I move the stone (geology and engineering (mathematics))

Evolution of pyramids is an example of the evolution of ancient Egyptian science


Images: www.touregypt.net

DjoserStep

2630-2611 BC


Cheops/KhufuSmooth

2551-2528 BC

Did the ancient Egyptians have evolving science Ancient Egyptians had to improve their building techniques going

from Step to Intermediate to Smooth pyramid (increasing difficulty and challenge of building a smooth pyramid)

The Intermediate pyramid at Maidum could be seen as a prototype pyramid

The Maidum pyramid is speculated to have been either abandoned, or to have collapsed because of the slope of the pyramid

The lessons learnt from this pyramid and previous pyramids were: (1) to build on rock instead of sand and (2) to tilt the stone blocks inward to stabilise the pyramid (see next slide)


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Cheops/KhufuSmooth

2551-2528 BC


Ref:

Did the ancient Egyptians have science

Did the ancient Egyptians have evolving science

Did the ancient Egyptians have philosophy of science ???

So you do not need to have PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE to have SCIENCE? YES and NO


Ref:

So you do not need to have PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE to have SCIENCE? YES and NO

SCIENCEPHILOSOPHY can

MYTHOLOGYRELIGIONDOGMA

can SCIENCEPHILOSOPHY can


SCIENCEcan


Ref:

Conversely, you also have three similar paths, leading to NONSCIENCE, instead of SCIENCE

NONSCIENCEPHILOSOPHY can


can NONSCIENCEPHILOSOPHY can


NONSCIENCEcan

Ancient Egyptian Medicine

Ref:

The Evolution of pyramids serve to show that the ancient Egyptians had SCIENCE. I will now show a clearer example, to show ancient Egyptian SCIENCE and NONSCIENCE


SCIENCE

can

NONSCIENCEcan

Example: Ancient Egyptian Medicine


Ref: Wikipedia, www.nyu.edu, Crystalinks

Example: Ancient Egyptian Medicine

Some of the oldest scientific artifacts

Edwin Smith papyrus (c 1600BC), 22 pages which deals mainly with the treatment of wounds

Ebers papyrus (c1550BC), 110 pages which contains 700 magical formulas and remedies

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Ref:Wikipedia

Out of the Edwin Smith and the Ebers Papyruses, one can draw examples of SCIENCE and NONSCIENCE (of which I will list only a few)

SCIENCE

NONSCIENCE

Use of ox liver, to treat night blindness(www.es.flinders.edu.au)

Use of honey as antibiotic on open wounds(www.nature.com)

Half an onion and the froth of beer as a remedy against death

Use of lettuce or castor oil for alopecia

Impression of Ancient Egyptians

Ref:Robinson

So, they got some right, some wrong. Pretty impressive though to have a structure (Giza pyramid) still standing after more than 4,000 years (c2500BC-2000AD)

Coming back to the earlier point:There is no evidence available to say that the ancient Egyptians had a philosophy of science.

So how could they establish themselves one of the great ancient civilisations?

A civilisation, like the ancient Egytians, endures and maintains itself because it:(1) solves practical problems (feeding and defending its people) and (2) puts in place a form of government able to preserve it.

So, science and governance, not philosophy, are needed to have a developed culture or civilisation.

Impression of Ancient Egyptians

Ref:epnet

A more important point relates to:“So, they got some right, some wrong.”

How do we maximize right and minimize wrong?

Or rather, How do we maximize SCIENCE and minimize NONSCIENCE?

Summary of section on ancient Egyptians

Ref:

The two points made in the preceding slides, effectively summarise this section

I have covered the first path so far (striked out). I will combine the second and third paths, and discuss them as if they are one

SCIENCEPHILOSOPHY can


can SCIENCEPHILOSOPHY can


SCIENCEcan

Chapter 1 Review of Human Evolution

Chapter 2 History and Civilization

Chapter 3 Philosophy of Science

Chapter 4 To be announced






I hope that you found chapter 2 informative, and that you enjoy chapter 3.

Next

Chapter 1 Review of Human Evolution

Chapter 2 History and Civilization

Chapter 3 Philosophy of Science







I hope that you found chapter 1 informative, and that you enjoy chapter 2.

Next

Available at History and Civilization Faghrie Mitchell BCB 703: Scientific Methodology.

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Transcript of Available at History and Civilization Faghrie Mitchell BCB 703: Scientific Methodology.