ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
This post is a short tribute to Heron of Alexandria, one of the pioneers of Technology in Hellenistic times. Continue reading “Heron of Alexandria (c. 10–85 AD); an experimental scientist and inventor of steam turbines, wind powered machines & automatic vending machines”
Eratosthenes was a Greek born in Cyrene in modern-day Libya. As a mathematician, poet, athlete, geographer, astronomer, and music theorist, his vast knowledge made him an ideal fit for the post of librarian at the Museum (Library) of Alexandria. Continue reading “The ancients knew the Earth is round; the case of Eratosthenes and the first documented measurement of the Earth’s circumference”
Years of painstaking work by scientists to expose a manuscript hidden for nearly a thousand years have shed new light on the genius of Archimedes, antiquity’s greatest mathematician. Continue reading “The Archimedes Palimpsest; Mathematics way ahead of their time”
Here we present selected parts of the very interesting paper “Alcmaeon of Croton – Father of Neuroscience? Brain, Mind and Senses in the Alcmaeon’s Study” (JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE, 2017), by Adam M Zemelka. Continue reading “Alcmaeon of Croton – Father of Neuroscience?”
4.4 Sextus Empiricus
Sextus’ (ca. 160–210 CE) epithet, Empiricus, indicates that he—at least at some point in his life—belonged to the empiricists, a medical school (on the relationship between medicine and skeptical therapeutic argument, cf. Voelke 1990; cf. Svavarson 2014 for a brief conspectus of Sextus’ philosophy). The empiricist medical school argued against rationalistic tendencies in medicine (Frede 1990; Allen 2010). Rationalism in medicine aims to give causal explanations as a basis for therapies. Continue reading “Ancient Skepticism (Part 5 – End)”
4. Pyrrhonian Skepticism
4.1 Early Figures: Pyrrho and Timon
When comparing Pyrrhonian and Academic skepticism, two topics stand out: Pyrrhonism aims at tranquility; and it assigns pride of place to appearances. Anecdotes about Pyrrho’s life (365/60–275/70 BC) convey how unaffected he was (DL 9.61–69). Continue reading “Ancient Skepticism (Part 4)”
Novo Scriptorium 