The “Scientific Revolution”

. Before the Scientific Revolution

• Scientists seek to understand HOW things happen– intent is to use science to “prove” God

exists– earliest Scientists are usually priests/monks– earliest Scientists are astronomers

• easy access• spiritually significant

Authority in Medieval ThoughtMedieval students learnt

1. Classical Ideas and

2. the Bible

• Instead of seeking new knowledge through experiments,

• Scholars argued about how to interpret these Ancient Authorities

Authority – Achievements of the AncientsAuthority – Achievements of the Ancients

• The Medieval World admired the Ancient Greeks and Romans

• Vast ruins demonstrated their superior greatness

• Medieval Education focussed on recovering their lost knowledge

• The Medieval World admired the Ancient Greeks and Romans

• Vast ruins demonstrated their superior greatness

• Medieval Education focussed on recovering their lost knowledge

Authority – Revelation from GodThe Bible was considered the Word of God – and so beyond error

Medieval Worldview Limits Science

Medieval World: • “Science” had to operate

within the limits imposed by the Church

• Anatomy: Christian beliefs about resurrection forbade dissection of corpses

• Burke and Hare body snatching (1827-8)

Age of Earth: 6000 YearsCalculation Based on the Bible

• James Ussher’s Annals of the World (1658)

• Dates creation to 4004 BC • Began the night preceding

21 September 4004 BC

• James Ussher (1581-1656): Anglican Archbishop of Armagh

• Gregorian calendar; = 23 October 4004 BC (Julian calendar)

Astrology: Before Astronomy• Astrology - belief in the physical influence of planetary rays on earth -

is one of the most important historical contexts in which astronomy developed.

• Astrology served as a motivation as well as a means of gainful employment for astronomers.

• The Babylonians meticulously compiled tablets of the position of Venus, as it was believed to signify omens for weather, war, famine, diseases, rulers and kingdoms.

• Ptolemy composed the Tetrabiblos, believing that astrology could be placed on a rational footing, despite being a conjectural art like medicine.

• In practice, belief in astrology meant that horoscopes were cast for new-born children, prospective spouses and political enemies, public buildings were opened and marriage and other ceremonies conducted on auspicious days.

• Numerous records of astrological practice can be found from the Roman times.

History of Astrology

• Originated by Babylonians about 1000 BC (mundane astrology, i.e. applies to the world)

• Greeks developed natal (birth) astrology (codified by Ptolemy in Tetrabiblos, 2nd century AD)

Argues that a person's character and destiny can be understood from the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets at the moment of his or her birth.

Horoscope• Natal chart uses

astronomical information and date and location of birth

• Planets, Moon, & Sun in signs of zodiac

• Interpretation step: positions of celestial bodies are used to predict a person’s character and destiny

Medieval Thought

• Based upon the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans, astrology, alchemy, and magic

• This is an example of how they believed astrology affected the body.

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Astrology…

a persistentsuperstition

It’s all nonsense, of course. The motions of the planets are prescribed by natural laws of motion and gravity. How can their motion predict the future?

Does it work?• No evidence that it

does• Lots of evidence that

it doesn’t

Astrology — conclusion

• No predictive power

• No scientific basis

• Broad psychological appeal– Cheap, easy, and entertaining– May help some people (as do many forms of

empathetic counseling)– Useless or damaging in other cases

Astronomy

In the Beginning…

• First recorded astronomy traces back to modern day Congo.

• A bone (known as the Ishango bone) appeared to be a lunar calendar.

• They used the orientation of the “horns” of the crescent moon to predict the weather.

• This worked because the rainy season is through the middle of the year, so that the moon could tell the time of year for them.

History of Astronomy 20

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• IntroductionIntroduction

– People of antiquity most likely began People of antiquity most likely began studying the heavens many thousands of studying the heavens many thousands of years ago.years ago.

– Early astronomical observations certainly Early astronomical observations certainly revealed the obvious:revealed the obvious:• Rising of the Sun in the eastern sky and its Rising of the Sun in the eastern sky and its

setting in the westsetting in the west• Changing appearance of the MoonChanging appearance of the Moon• EclipsesEclipses• Planets as a distinct class of objects different Planets as a distinct class of objects different

from the stars from the stars

History of Astronomy 21

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• Introduction Introduction (continued)(continued)

– Many astronomical phenomena are cyclic on a Many astronomical phenomena are cyclic on a day-to-day and year-to-year basis and day-to-day and year-to-year basis and consequently gave prehistoric people:consequently gave prehistoric people:• Methods for time keepingMethods for time keeping• Ability to predict and plan future eventsAbility to predict and plan future events• Incentive to build monumental structures such as Incentive to build monumental structures such as

StonehengeStonehenge

– Modern civilization no longer relies on direct Modern civilization no longer relies on direct astronomical observations for time keeping astronomical observations for time keeping and planning.and planning.

– Studying the night sky provides link to past.Studying the night sky provides link to past.

History of Astronomy 22

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• The Celestial SphereThe Celestial Sphere

– Vast distances to stars prevents us from Vast distances to stars prevents us from sensing their true 3-D arrangementsensing their true 3-D arrangement

– Naked eye observations treat all stars at the Naked eye observations treat all stars at the same distance, on a giant same distance, on a giant celestial spherecelestial sphere with the Earth at its centerwith the Earth at its center

• Models and ScienceModels and Science– The celestial sphere is a The celestial sphere is a modelmodel, which does , which does

not necessarily match physical realitynot necessarily match physical reality– Models provide a means to enhance our Models provide a means to enhance our

understanding of nature understanding of nature

History of Astronomy 23

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• ConstellationsConstellations

– ConstellationsConstellations are fixed arrangements of are fixed arrangements of stars that resemble animals, objects, and stars that resemble animals, objects, and mythological figuresmythological figures

– Stars in a constellation are not physically Stars in a constellation are not physically relatedrelated

– Positions of stars change very slowly; Positions of stars change very slowly; constellations will look the same for constellations will look the same for thousands of yearsthousands of years

– Origin of the ancient constellations is Origin of the ancient constellations is unknown although they probably served as unknown although they probably served as mnemonic devices for tracking the seasons mnemonic devices for tracking the seasons and navigationand navigation

History of Astronomy 24

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• Motion of the Sun and the StarsMotion of the Sun and the Stars

– Daily or Diurnal MotionDaily or Diurnal Motion• Sun, Moon, planets, and stars rise in the east and Sun, Moon, planets, and stars rise in the east and

set in the westset in the west

• Daily motion can be explained by the rotation of Daily motion can be explained by the rotation of the celestial sphere about the north and south the celestial sphere about the north and south celestial polescelestial poles located directly above the Earth’s located directly above the Earth’s north and south polesnorth and south poles

• The celestial poles can act as navigation aides The celestial poles can act as navigation aides and astronomical reference pointsand astronomical reference points

• The The celestial equatorcelestial equator, which lies directly above , which lies directly above the Earth’s equator, provides another the Earth’s equator, provides another astronomical reference markerastronomical reference marker

History of Astronomy 25

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• Motion of the Sun and the Stars Motion of the Sun and the Stars (continued)(continued)

– Annual MotionAnnual Motion• For a given time (say 10:00 PM), as the months proceed, For a given time (say 10:00 PM), as the months proceed,

constellations do not appear in the same part of the skyconstellations do not appear in the same part of the sky• A given star rises 3 minutes 56 seconds earlier each nightA given star rises 3 minutes 56 seconds earlier each night• This annual motion is caused by the Earth’s motion around This annual motion is caused by the Earth’s motion around

the Sun, the result of projectionthe Sun, the result of projection• The ancients used the periodic annual motion to mark the The ancients used the periodic annual motion to mark the

seasonsseasons

– The EclipticThe Ecliptic• The path of the Sun through the stars on the celestial The path of the Sun through the stars on the celestial

sphere is called the sphere is called the eclipticecliptic

• The ecliptic is a projection of the Earth’s orbit onto the The ecliptic is a projection of the Earth’s orbit onto the celestial sphere and is tipped relative to the celestial celestial sphere and is tipped relative to the celestial equatorequator

History of Astronomy 26

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• The SeasonsThe Seasons

– The Earth is closest to the Sun in January, which is The Earth is closest to the Sun in January, which is winter in the northern hemispherewinter in the northern hemisphere

– Therefore, the seasons cannot be caused by Sun’s Therefore, the seasons cannot be caused by Sun’s proximity to the Earthproximity to the Earth

– The Earth’s The Earth’s rotation axisrotation axis is tilted 23.5 is tilted 23.5º from a line from a line perpendicular to the Earth’s orbital planeperpendicular to the Earth’s orbital plane

– The rotation axis of the Earth maintains nearly The rotation axis of the Earth maintains nearly exactly the same tilt and direction from year to yearexactly the same tilt and direction from year to year

– The northern and southern hemispheres alternate The northern and southern hemispheres alternate receiving (on a yearly cycle) the majority of direct receiving (on a yearly cycle) the majority of direct light from the Sunlight from the Sun

– This leads to the seasonsThis leads to the seasons

History of Astronomy 27

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• The Seasons The Seasons (continued)(continued)

– The Ecliptic’s TiltThe Ecliptic’s Tilt• The tilt of the Earth’s rotation axis causes the The tilt of the Earth’s rotation axis causes the

ecliptic not to be aligned with the celestial ecliptic not to be aligned with the celestial equatorequator

• Sun is above celestial equator in June when the Sun is above celestial equator in June when the Northern Hemisphere is tipped toward the Sun, Northern Hemisphere is tipped toward the Sun, and is below the equator in December when and is below the equator in December when tipped awaytipped away

• Tilting explains seasonal Tilting explains seasonal altitudealtitude of Sun at of Sun at noon, highest in summer and lowest in winternoon, highest in summer and lowest in winter

History of Astronomy 28

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• The Seasons The Seasons (continued)(continued)

– Solstices and EquinoxesSolstices and Equinoxes• The The solsticessolstices (about June 21 and December 21) (about June 21 and December 21)

are when the Sun rises at the most extreme north are when the Sun rises at the most extreme north and south pointsand south points

• The The equinoxesequinoxes (equal day and night and about (equal day and night and about March 21 and September 23) are when the Sun March 21 and September 23) are when the Sun rises directly eastrises directly east

• Ancients marked position of Sun rising and Ancients marked position of Sun rising and setting to determine the seasons (e.g., setting to determine the seasons (e.g., Stonehenge)Stonehenge)

History of Astronomy 29

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• Planets and the ZodiacPlanets and the Zodiac

– The planets (Greek for “wanderers”) do not follow the same cyclic The planets (Greek for “wanderers”) do not follow the same cyclic behavior of the starsbehavior of the stars

– The planets move relative to the stars in a very narrow band The planets move relative to the stars in a very narrow band centered about the ecliptic and called the centered about the ecliptic and called the zodiaczodiac

– Motion and location of the planets in the sky is a combination of all Motion and location of the planets in the sky is a combination of all the planets’ orbits being nearly in the same plane and their relative the planets’ orbits being nearly in the same plane and their relative speeds about the Sunspeeds about the Sun

– Apparent motion of planets is usually from west to east Apparent motion of planets is usually from west to east relative to relative to the starsthe stars, although on a daily basis, the planets always rise in the , although on a daily basis, the planets always rise in the easteast

– Occasionally, a planet will move from east to west relative to the Occasionally, a planet will move from east to west relative to the stars; this is called stars; this is called retrograde motionretrograde motion

– Explaining retrograde motion was one of the main reasons Explaining retrograde motion was one of the main reasons astronomers ultimately rejected the idea of the Earth being located astronomers ultimately rejected the idea of the Earth being located at the center of the solar systemat the center of the solar system

History of Astronomy 30

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• The MoonThe Moon

– Rises in the east and sets in the westRises in the east and sets in the west– Like the planets and Sun, the Moon moves from Like the planets and Sun, the Moon moves from

west to east relative to the stars (roughly the width west to east relative to the stars (roughly the width of the Moon in one hour)of the Moon in one hour)

– During a period of about 30 days, the Moon goes During a period of about 30 days, the Moon goes through a complete set of through a complete set of phasesphases: new, waxing : new, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous, third quarter, waning crescentgibbous, third quarter, waning crescent

– The phase cycle is the origin of the month (derived The phase cycle is the origin of the month (derived from the word moon) as a time periodfrom the word moon) as a time period

– The phase of the Moon are caused by the relative The phase of the Moon are caused by the relative positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moonpositions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon

– The Moon rises roughly 50 minutes later each dayThe Moon rises roughly 50 minutes later each day

History of Astronomy 31

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• EclipsesEclipses

– An An eclipseeclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are directly in line with each otherare directly in line with each other

– A A solar eclipsesolar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, with the Moon casting between the Sun and Earth, with the Moon casting its shadow on the Earth causing a midday sky to its shadow on the Earth causing a midday sky to become dark as night for a few minutesbecome dark as night for a few minutes

– A A lunar eclipselunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and Moon, with the Earth casting between the Sun and Moon, with the Earth casting its shadow on the Moon giving it to become dull its shadow on the Moon giving it to become dull red color or disappear for over one hourred color or disappear for over one hour

– Eclipses do not occur every 30 days since the Eclipses do not occur every 30 days since the Moon’s orbit is tipped relative to the Earth’s orbitMoon’s orbit is tipped relative to the Earth’s orbit

– The tipped orbit allows the shadow the Earth The tipped orbit allows the shadow the Earth (Moon) to miss the Moon (Earth)(Moon) to miss the Moon (Earth)

History of Astronomy 32

Prehistoric AstronomyPrehistoric Astronomy• In summary, basis of prehistoric In summary, basis of prehistoric

astronomy:astronomy:– Rising and setting of Sun, Moon, and starsRising and setting of Sun, Moon, and stars– ConstellationsConstellations– Annual motion of SunAnnual motion of Sun– Motion of planets through zodiacMotion of planets through zodiac– Phases of the MoonPhases of the Moon– EclipsesEclipses

History of Astronomy

The knowledge of the Ancients

Passage of astronomical knowledgeAncientAncientBabylonBabylon

AncientAncientEgyptEgypt

AncientAncientGreeceGreeceAncient Roman Ancient Roman

EmpireEmpire

Greek Astronomy• About 624 BC to 547 BC• One of the earliest

Greek philosophers.• His areas of interest

included geometry and astronomy.

• There are no books or writings that have survived from Thales.

Thales and Pythagoras

• Thales: The first of the Greek philosophers, c. 629-555 B.C.

• He thought the planets, stars, sun, moon, and earth were all composed of different forms of water.

• He appears to be the first to assert that celestial bodies were not gods, but were made of familiar substance. In those mystical times, this was a radical departure.

• Pythagoras of Samos (c. 580-500 B.C.): Showed that nature could be described by mathematics.

• Described the musical scale in terms of number ratios and thought that the "spheres that carry the planets" must be arranged in ratios that would be musically harmonious. (Hence the phrase "music of the spheres".)

Greek Astronomy• About 569 BC to 475 BC• One of the greatest

mathematicians of all time.• Founded secret society

based on his mathematical discoveries and their religious implications.

• Since the society was extremely secretive, very little is known about his life or personal works.

History of Astronomy 39

Early Ideas of the HeavensEarly Ideas of the Heavens• The Shape of the EarthThe Shape of the Earth

– Pythagoras taught as early as 500 Pythagoras taught as early as 500 B.C.B.C. that that the Earth was round, based on the belief that the Earth was round, based on the belief that the sphere is the perfect shape used by the the sphere is the perfect shape used by the godsgods

– By 300 By 300 B.C.B.C., Aristotle presented naked-eye , Aristotle presented naked-eye observations for the Earth’s spherical shape:observations for the Earth’s spherical shape:• Shape of Earth’s shadow on the Moon during an Shape of Earth’s shadow on the Moon during an

eclipseeclipse• A traveler moving south will see stars previously A traveler moving south will see stars previously

hidden by the southern horizonhidden by the southern horizon

Greek Astronomy• 427 BC to 347 BC• Well known for political and

social philosophy but he also made contributions to astronomy.

• He was most noted for his belief in the perfect and unchanging nature of the heavens.

• Plato was the head of the School of Athens & was Aristotle’s teacher.

Greek Astronomy• 384 BC to 322 BC• Founded his own school

called the Lyceum in Athens

• Made contributions to all areas of philosophy but math was his weakness

• He did not believe that empirical evidence was necessary to prove ideas.

Greek Astronomy• Aristotle is one the first to

attempt to create a scientific model of the universe.

• This model has now become known as the “Geocentric Model” which places the “imperfect” Earth at the center and all of the “perfect” celestial objects go around us in perfect circular motion

Aristotle 384-322 BC• Aristotle was a pupil in Plato's Academy, • Became the tutor of Alexander the Great (when your

father is the most powerful king in the world, you can get the best).

• Although Greek scientists generally wrote about their ideas, Aristotle was particularly influential because he wrote extensive summaries.

• His writings were sort of an opinionated encyclopedia of Greek physics and astronomy.

• However, he was a truly great biological scientist, and his writings on that area contained much fundamental science.

Aristotle’s Universe

Motion: Rest is natural.

Heaven & Earth: The heavens are different stuff from Earth – light, airy, and perfect

Matter: Earth, Air, Fire, Water

Method: Deduction (proceed from a few basic premises, use logic to find the truth)

Aristotle• By Aristotle's time, Empedocles' view that there are four

basic elements - earth, air, fire and water - had been generally accepted.

• Aristotle, however, in addition to this, postulated a fifth element called aether, which he believed to be the main constituent of the celestial bodies.

• This divine element, he believed, is uncompounded, ungenerated, eternal, unalterable, and neither heavy nor light.

• It can be found in its purest form in the celestial regions, but becomes adulterated in the area below the moon. (De Caelo, Book I, chapter 2)

• Aristotle's view of the universe was hierarchical, and he made a sharp distinction between the sublunar world of change, and the eternal and immutable heavens.

Aristotle• Using only philosophical speculation (he did no scientific

observations), Aristotle believed that the universe is spherical, finite, and centered around the Earth.

• Aristotle, like many others of his time, believed that the circle was the "perfect" shape, so the universe must be spherical, and all the orbits in it must also be circular.

• He also believed that celestial bodies were composed of ether (in addition to the four other basic elements believed to exist at that time, earth, air, fire, water).

• Aristotle's ideas were adopted by the Church and were not tested for over a thousand years, until Galileo's experiments demonstrated errors in Aristotle's writings

Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas• Aristotle's hierarchical model of the universe had a

profound influence on medieval scholars, who modified it to correspond with Christian theology.

• Saint Thomas Aquinas, for example, re-interpreted the prime movers as angels.

• Backed up by religious authority, Aristotle's model lasted for centuries.

• Unfortunately, this had the effect of restraining the progress of science, as few people dared to challenge the authority of the church.

• Nevertheless, we can say of Aristotle that he made a contribution to astronomy simply by starting to ask certain questions about the universe, thereby stimulating other minds to do the same.

angels

Greek Astronomy

• About 325 BC to 265 BC• Great mathematician but so

little is known about him that people question whether he was an actual person or a group of mathematicians.

Greek Astronomy• The book “Elements” is

possible the most famous and long lasting math text books in history.

Greek Astronomy

• About 310 BC to 230 BC• We have no writings that

have survived but Aristarchus is referred to in the writings of other philosophers

Greek Astronomy

• Most noted for proposing the idea of a heliocentric universe with the earth as one of the planets moving around the Sun.

• Aristarchus is the first to attempt to measure the relative distance between the Earth-Moon and the Earth-Sun without the aid of trigonometry.

• Actual angle = 89° 50” not 87°

Aristarchus: Aristarchus of Sámos (310?BC-250?BC)

• was an ancient Greek astronomer who was the first person to propose a heliocentric model of the Solar System.

• Aristarchus realized that the Earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the Sun.

• He estimated how far the Sun and the moon are from the Earth and how big the Moon and the Sun are.

• Archimedes and Plutarch wrote of Aristarchus' works. He also calculated a relatively precise value for the length of the solar year.

• Aristarchus invented a bowl-shaped sundial whose pointer cast shadows in the middle of the bowl.

• A lunar crater was named for Aristarchus (pictured above); it is located on the NW edge of the Oceanus Procellarum.

• This huge, circular crater is 25 miles (40 km) in diameter and 2.2 miles (3.6 km) deep (from rim to floor).

Aristarchus• Aristarchus figured out how to measure the distances to and sizes

of the Sun and the Moon. Because he deduced that the Sun was so much bigger than the moon, he concluded that the Earth must therefore revolve around the Sun.

• Aristarchus' measurement was probably off because first, it is hard to determine the exact centers of the Sun and the Moon and second, it is hard to know exactly when the Moon is half full.

• On the other hand, his estimate showed that the Sun is much further away from us than the Moon is.

• Aristarchus also figured out how to measure the size of the Moon. • During a lunar eclipse, he measured the duration of time between

the moment when the edge of the Moon first entered the umbra and the moment when the Moon was first totally obscured. He also measured the duration of totality.

• Because he found the two times to be the same, he concluded that the width of the Earth's shadow at the distance where the Moon crosses it must be twice the diameter of the Moon.

History of Astronomy 58

Early Ideas of the HeavensEarly Ideas of the Heavens• The Size of the EarthThe Size of the Earth

– Eratosthenes Eratosthenes (276-195 (276-195 B.C.B.C.) made the first ) made the first measurement of the Earth’s sizemeasurement of the Earth’s size

– He obtained a value of 25,000 miles for the He obtained a value of 25,000 miles for the circumference, a value very close to today’s valuecircumference, a value very close to today’s value

– His method entailed measuring the shadow length of His method entailed measuring the shadow length of a stick set vertically in the ground in the town of a stick set vertically in the ground in the town of Alexandria on the summer solstice at noon, Alexandria on the summer solstice at noon, converting the shadow length to an angle of solar converting the shadow length to an angle of solar light incidence, and using the distance to Syene, a light incidence, and using the distance to Syene, a town where no shadow is cast at noon on the town where no shadow is cast at noon on the summer solsticesummer solstice

Greek Astronomy

• 276 BC to 194 BC• Librarian at the Great Library of

Alexandria in Egypt.• Developed a calendar with a leap

year.• Measured the circumference of the

Earth in 325 BC !!• Achieved an accuracy of about

90% of the actual number.

Greek Astronomy• 190 BC to 120 BC• Hipparchus is consider the first great astronomer

and scientist• Hipparchus is one of the first of the ancient

philosophers to realize that ideas must be proven with empirical evidence.

• He realized that more data meant more certainty in the idea or model

Greek Astronomy

• Created highly accurate star atlases in an attempt to measure the length of the year more accurately.

• He measured the length of the year to within 6.5 minutes of the actual time.

• He discovered precession by examining ancient star position data (mostly Mesopotamian) and comparing them to his own measurements.

Greek Astronomy

• Based on measurements during an eclipse, he is able to place a range on the distance to the moon.

• He estimated it to be between 59 and 67 Earth diameters. The actual number is 60.

• He marks the first truly scientific astronomical mind and his influence is still felt today.

Hipparchus 194 – 120 BC• The first great observational astronomer compiled a

catalog of positions and brightness of 1080 stars as well as the sun, moon, and planets that remained un-paralled until the late 1500s.

• He discovered the effect of precession by comparing to older star charts.

• With his data on planet positions, he realized that simple motion around a sphere was completely inadequate to explain the loopy motion of the planets among the stars and invented the "epicycle", a smaller sphere centered on the main sphere, on which the planet moved so that it was periodically carried backwards with respect to its usual direction.

Aristotle and Ptolemy

• Aristotle– dominates how

world is thought to work

• world at rest, motion caused by angels

• Ptolemy– astronomy based

on Aristotle

Greek Astronomy• About 85 AD to 165 AD• Ptolemy is the most influential

astronomer in his day and his models of the universe will prevail for the next 1400 years

• He is a great admirer of Hipparchus and his rigorous method of verifying ideas with empirical data.

• Ptolemy is also accused of stealing ideas without crediting his source.

Greek Astronomy• Ptolemy is a great proponent of the geocentric model.

• He saw that there were problems with Aristotle’s simplistic idea of a geocentric model.

• Ptolemy employed an old idea of epicycles to explain help explain the discrepancies in the evidence for geocentrism.

• Although he was able to make more accurate predictions than previous astronomers, his model still failed to be completely accurate.

Aristotelian/Ptolemaic Cosmos

• Round earth• Earth = Center of

universe as then understood

• Heavens supposed to be perfect, free of any defects

• Circular orbits reflect perfection of heavens.

Ptolemy’s Geocentric System

Ptolemy

– astronomy with perfect circles for planetary motion

• cycles and epicycles

– crystalline spheres fix each planet’s movement

– earth at center & sun orbits earth

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HELL

HEAVEN

Ptolemaic Universe• Earth at center of everything• 10 Concentric circles• First 8 spheres contained the sun, moon, stars and the 5

known planets (out to Jupiter)—• 9th gave motion to the first 8 and the tenth gave motion

to them all.• Beyond the 10th sphere was the Empyrean Heaven—

the location of God and all the saved souls.• Earth was imperfect and ever changing, while the

spheres were made of crystalline, transparent, perfect and incorruptible substance.

• The heavenly bodies were pure orbs of light • Universe was fixed and finite.

Geo-centric Theory vs. Helio-Centric Theory

• Geo-centric: Earth is at the center of the universe and the sun and other celestial objects orbit around it

• Created by Aristotle and Ptolemy

• Theory needed complicated math to prove and explain exceptions

• Popular with Christiantheologians

• Theorized that perfectionwas in the heavens & earthwas the place of decay

Ptolemy’s Universe

Geo-Centric Explanation : Ptolemy

• Ptolemy's astronomy was also connected to the classical philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, who had both theorized that perfection existed in the heavens while the earth was the locale of degradation and decay to which all natural things are subject.

• (This theory was also popular with Christian theologians.)

• As time went on, however, and more astronomical data were collected, Ptolemy's system was increasingly hard pressed to explain the erratic movements of planets and moons.

• In 1543 Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) suggested replacing the earth with the sun as the center of the universe; the math was instantly much easier and the predictions more accurate.

Ancient RomeAncient RomeThe Romans most important contributionto the field of astronomy is the enforcement of a systematic calendarthat would account for fact that the yearis about ¼ of a day more 365 days. Theastronomers of Julius Caesarconvinced him to create theJulian Calendar which adds one day to the calendar every4 years to account for the timewe had skipped. This is known as a “leap year”.

Universities• Growth of European universities influenced by Islamic scholarship• Blending of European, Islamic cultures led to translation of Aristotle, other

Greek scholars, from Arabic into Latin• European scholars exposed to new ideas• Universities taught mainly religious courses first, but later broadened scope

to include medicine, law

• One of most influential medieval scholars, Thomas Aquinas

• Keenly interested in works of ancient philosophers, especially Aristotle

• He tried to use Aristotle’s methods of logic to prove existence of God

Thomas Aquinas• Aquinas’ use of intellect and logic

to bring together opposing ideas became known as Scholasticism

• Teachings helped expand former ways of thinking, understanding

• New methods helped Europeans place themselves in wider world

Teachings

Scholasticism• Theological scholars are influenced by Aristotle’s writings, transcribed and commented upon by Arabic scholars•Scholars reconcile Aristotle’s rationalistic approach to knowledge with the Christianreliance on faith• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) writes Summa Theolgica, a work which asks and answers 631 questions

Scholasticism continued•Aristotle’s logical explanation of the Unmoved Mover helps Aquinas prove God’s existence•Aquinas elevates the use of reason to discover God’s world, yet still relies on revelation to fathom God’s mysteries•Aquinas’s theology exhibits a hierarchical view of the world with man being the closest of earthly creatures to God

Middle Ages: Thomas Aquinas• Thomas Aquinas, a prominent 13th century

theologian and philosopher blended the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic systems into Christianity -- an earth-centered universe meshed well with the concept of man as God's ultimate creation.

• Once astronomy had been merged into the doctrines of the Church in this way, astronomical progress became even more difficult because it affected larger questions.

Scriptures are Replete with Astronomical References ---Literal and Metaphorical Meanings

Some are apparent

•Gen 1: 16 Creation•Gen 37: 9 Connection of stars with tribes of Israel•Job 9: 7, 9 Creator of the universe•Job 38: 31-33 Creator of universe; laws of physics•Psa 8: 3 Wondrous works•Psa 19 Gospel in the stars•Psa 147: 4 Names the stars•Amos 5: 8 Creator of the universe

Scriptures are Replete with Astronomical References---Literal and Metaphorical Meanings

Some are not so apparent

•Num 2 Encampment of tribes by their standardswith their ensigns•Psa 74: 13,14 Breakest the heads of dragons (HSN 8577);of leviathan (HSN 3882): serpent; constellation of the dragon (Draco)•Acts 17: 28 Paul’s disicourse on Aerogapus Phaenomena work of Aratus, Cilician poet•Acts 27: 20 Celestial navigation•Acts 28: 11 Alexandrian ship under Castor and Pollux

Geocentric Evidence

• Everything appears to revolve around the Earth each day (diurnal motion).

• There is no observable parallax of the stars, planets, Moon, or Sun.

• The motions of the stars and heavens are perfect circles.

• The heavens were unchanging but the Earth was not.

Problems With the Geocentric Model

• The planets appear to change brightness, implying a change of distance.

• The planets undergo retrograde motion (they move backwards compared to the direction the Sun moves).

• The Sun, Moon, and Planets do not move at the same speed all the time.

• Mercury and Venus are never seen at opposition (they always appear close to the Sun.

So Which is Right?• The ancients favored the geocentric model

because it seemed impossible to believe that the Earth was moving.

• During ancients times, the mathematical and scientific tools were not available to answer the question without dispute.

Anatomy and Medicine

History of Medicine• Prehistoric:

– Used medicinal herbs for simple cures– Set broken limbs– Based on superstition - medicine men and spirits

• Ancient Egypt (3000 - 1400 BC)– Large settled population led to public health problems– Greater knowledge of the human body by removal of heart,

lungs, and liver for mummification– Written language recorded treatments and started

accumulating knowledge in papyrus– Religious beliefs: prayers, spells, and charms

The Greeks

Source 1: A Greek painted vase from 400 BC shows a patient visiting a doctor.

What does this source tell you about treatment at the time?

Source 1: suggested answer

• This vase comes from about 400 BC when the Hippocratic doctors were practising

• We see the doctor in the centre about to bleed a patient – treatments reflecting the use of the Four Humour Theory.

• It shows natural methods of treatment• The idea was to keep the humours in balance so the

patient would be well• The patient would be bled and the bowl would be used

to catch the blood• The source is limited as we don’t know details of the

illness or outcome of the treatment.

History of Medicine

• Ancient Greek Medicine (400 -200 BC)– Traveled the Mediterranean learned from other cultures

like Egyptians– Rich society that had a few people with “spare time” to

think and study, devoting life to science or religion– Looked for natural explanations, not just blamed gods

and spirits– Practiced clinical observation - observed the whole

patient, record symptoms, – Asklepions - healing centers and temple for Asklepios

who would visit patients and heal them with his staff that is entwined with a snake

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• Greek Medicine

• Greek gods and goddesses of healing,

• • Asclepius

• • Apollo

• • Hygieia

Physicians had to know the proper prayers and charms wherewith to approach "Apollo the Healer," who would tell them what kind of herb poultice to put on a wound.

Many “doctors” practiced by trial and error. If they made a lot of errors, people quit going to them.

Socles, a physician, treated a hunchback by piling three solid stones, each four feet square, on his spine. He was crushed and died, but he became straighter.

Source 3: Carved on a stone tablet found at an Asklepion. What does this source tell us about Greek attitudes to healing?

Aegestratos was unable to sleep because of headaches. As soon as he came to the temple he fell asleep and had a dream. He thought that the god cured him of his headache and, making him stand up, taught him wrestling. The next day he departed cured, and after a short time he competed at the Nemean games, and was victor in the wrestling.

What to ask yourself• What do you recognise in the

text?• What is going on in the

source?• What is the message of the

source?• What does it tell me about

medicine at the time?• Is it a typical source for this

time? Where does it come from? Can we trust it?

• What else do I know that helps me to make sense of the evidence?

Source 3: suggested answer

• It shows a belief in the power of religion/supernatural beliefs especially in Asklepios the god of healing

• Strength in the belief in that the patient went on to win feats of strength

• Attitude to physical health – important to be well and strong

• The message for people is you too can be healed at an Asklepion

• Typical of the time – asklepions all over Greece and would have carvings on them

• We can trust their belief in the treatment there and their opinions but not that the treatment worked

• Also know that there was a dual approach to medicine in that people might consider natural as well as supernatural treatments.

History of Medicine - Greek• Hippocrates - Lays groundwork for medical practice

– Four Humours - Illness was caused by natural factors inside the patient. Yellow bile, black bile, blood, and phlegm

– Clinical Observation - observed the whole patient, record symptoms, diagnose illness, then treat it.

– Code of Behaviour - Doctors had to treat their patients with respect, not take advantage of them. To this day, doctors take the "Hippocratic Oath" to behave properly.

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• Early Greek physician

• Believed that illness had a physical cause

• Rejected superstitions

• Based medical treatments on observations

Hippocrates (460 to 379 BC)

Source 2: From Hippocratic writings

Vomiting should be encouraged during the winter months as this is the time when phlegm dominates and diseases are to be found in the head and chest. The emetic should consist of ground hyssop in six pints of water drunk after adding vinegar and salt. During the summer enemas should be used as this is the hot season when the body is more bilious.

Use this source and your knowledge to explain what theory was being used and how the treatment would help the patient

Source 2: Suggested answers• Theory of the four humours used• This shows the link between the humour and a particular

season• Suggests phlegm more out of balance in the winter when

they observed more would be produced.• Treatment is based on an emetic to make the patient

sick and therefore balance the humour again• Links bilious nature of yellow bile to the hot summer

months and advises that the way to cure this would be enemas in the summer when this humour would be out of balance.

• Shows that Hippocratic doctors were using symptoms and observation but misunderstanding symptoms for the cause of the illness.

Early GreeksGreeks explained illness in terms of the

4 body humors (fluids).

• Thought the humors were governed by air, water, fire, and earth

• Healthy person had all four humors in balance.

The Four HumorsBased on a diagram from Isidore of Seville,

Liber de responsione mundi (Augsburg, 1472). Original in the Huntington Library.

One of the 4 bodily humors: •Yellow Bile •Black Bile •Phlegm •Blood Four humors matched the four seasons: •Autumn: black bile •Spring: blood •Winter: phlegm •Summer: yellow bile.

Greek & Roman Development

of the Four Humors • The idea of the four temperaments, or humors, was established

around 400 BCE by Hippocrates at the medical school on the island of Kos.

• Greek medicine was based on these four humors, a system which was also used to describe the human temperament, psyche and psychology.

• This system has found its way into our language and we still use the words phlegmatic, sanguine and melancholy to describe someone’s  ‘temperament’. We also describe a person as being ‘in their element’ or ‘in good humor’.

• Romans thought that humors were formed in the body, and that foods had varying potential to produce different humors

• . Hot foods produced yellow bile; cold ones produced phlegm. Seasons, a person’s age, sleep patterns, geographic living area, and occupation also had an influence on humors.

• The imbalance of humors was the direct cause of all disease, so good health required a balance of humors.

Source 4 & 5: conflicting sources.Read the two sources below and answer: Source 5 shows that

supernatural approaches were used a century after natural approaches. Does this mean the Theory of the humours had limited

impact on medicine in the ‘ancient World?

Source 4From a book written by

Hippocrates in the 5th century BC

Man’s body has blood, phlegm, yellow bile an black bile. These make up his parts and through them he feels illness or enjoys health.

Source 5From a carving at the temple of Asklepios at

Epidarus in the 4th century BC

Ambrosia of Athens became blind in one eye. She had laughed when she heard of cures for the lame and blind. But that night she dreamt that Asklepios was standing beside her saying he would cure her if she would dedicate a silver pig as an offering of thanks. Asklepios seemed to cut into her diseased eyeball and when she awoke in the morning she was cured.

Sources 4 &5 suggested answer

• The fact that source 5 (supernatural cure) comes from a later time than source 4 does not mean the theory had limited impact

• The sources reflect people still turned to the asklepions for physical problems even after Greek doctors starting observation and treatment based on the 4 humours

• The 4 humours co –existed with traditional temple medicine

• Both supernatural and 4 humour theory were incorrect and nothing was known about the germ theory till the 1860s

• The impact of the 4 humours remained strong for about 1500 years due to Galen and his approach and importance in the Roman Empire

• However even in Rome Asklepion medicine continued (started after epidemic of plague)

•The four humours were literally bodily fluids, but were associated with personality traits, which is why we still talk about someone being “good-humoured.” •Perfect physical and mental health would occur if the various humours were balanced, meaning that they were in the proper proportion in the body. •However, no one was ever thought to be perfectly balanced. •Minor imbalances were associated with personality traits, whereas severe imbalances led to bodily illnesses and personality disorders. •An excess of a humour could be treated by decreasing the amount of that humour in the system, for example by bleeding, diuretics, laxatives, or enemas.

Humour Body substance produced by Element Qualities Complexion

and Body type Personality

Sanguine blood liver air hot and moist red-cheeked, corpulent

amorous, happy,

generous, optimistic,

irresponsible

Choleric yellow bile spleen fire hot and dry red-haired, thin

violent, vengeful,

short-tempered, ambitious

Phlegmatic phlegm lungs water cold and moist corpulentSluggish,

pallid, cowardly

Melancholic black bile gall bladder earth cold and dry sallow, thinIntrospective, sentimental, gluttonous

The Four Humours in Reniassance and Elizabethan timeBy this time the humours had become standardised as follows

Note: "lazy" is sometimes attributed to Phlegmatics [ref The Four Humours] and sometimes to Melancholics [ref The Four Humors]

Humour Blood Phlegm or Pituita Yellow Bile Black Bile

Character Type Sanguine Phlegmatic Choleric Melancholic

Element Air Water Fire Earth

Planet (or luminary)

Jupiter Moon Mars Saturn

Astrological Signs

Gemini, Libra, Aquarius

Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Aries, Leo, SagittariusTaurus, Virgo,

Capricorn

Wind/Direction South East West North

Temperature/Moisture

Hot and Moist Cold and Moist Hot and Dry Cold and Dry

Season Spring Winter Summer Autumn

Phase of Life AdolescenceChildhood (also

senility)Adulthood Old Age

AppearanceLarge-framed, with a

pink or red complexion

Fleshy and fair Slim, wiry, red-hairedSlim, fair, not

muscular

Appearance if out of balance

Fat, with a florid complexion

Fat and paleThin, color rises when

angryThin, pale

Character TraitsOptimistic, cheerful, fun-loving, generous,

amorous

Emotional, mild, passive, sensitive,

intuitive

Ambitious, energetic, direct

Thoughtful, introspective,

reflective

Character Traits if out of balance

Irresponsible, gluttonous, inebriate,

lusty

Lazy, vulnerable, cowardly, excessively

emotional

Violent, hot-tempered, unscrupulous,

vengeful

Depressive, narcissistic, self-

loathing

Cornelius Celsus: First Century AD

• Believed blood caused disease

• So he introduced the policy of Bleeding people to make them better

• Believed you could get rid of Humours by causing blisters, making yourself throw up, or making a poo

• Bloodletting was a way of getting rid of excess humors.

Claudius Galen (120 to 200)

• Roman physician, “team doctor” for the gladiators.

• Kept them alive so they could fight again.

• Galen (A.D. 131-201)

• • From Pergamon

• • Became physician to Emperor Marcus Aurelius

• • Prepared medicines made from animal and vegetables extracts

• • Grew plants for remedies in his own garden

• • Catalogued quantity of each ingredient in his remedies

Galen’s TeachingsTaught importance of maintainingbalance between the four bodilyfluids, or "humors“•Blood•Phlegm•Black bile, and•Yellow bile•Taught that it was the physician’sjob to restore harmony in thosefour humors by the use of•Emetics•Cathartics•Purgatives, and•By bloodletting (pictured here)

Issue of Dissection

• In China, India, Greece, and Rome, human dissections were banned for religious reasons.

• At medical schools, assistants did rare dissections.

• Young doctors were not encouraged to look for themselves

• This meant that Galen had to make do with apes, dogs, pigs, and elephants.

Galen: 130 – 201AD• Roman doctor• Started career at a

gladiator school where he studied wounds

• Tried to heal wounds with pigeon blood

• Was doctor to several emperors

• His work was the basis for medicine for 1500 years

• Believed in :• Humours• Blood is made in liver

and gets mixed with invisible life-giving gas in the lungs

• Also believed the blood is consumed by the body

Early anatomical

drawing based on

misinformation.

GALEN:

Dissecting a pig

• Did not dissect humans, but did extensive work on pigs and monkeys.

• His mistake was to assume that humans and animals were identical internally.

• His writings were taken as “law” for hundred of years.

• Galen’s View of the Human Body

GALEN:• Most of the knowledge of anatomy at the beginning of the

Scientific Revolution came from Galen, an ancient Greek• Since Roman Law forbade the dissection of humans, Galen

dissected dogs and apes– However he stressed the importance of human dissection– Studied the muscles, spinal cord, heart, urinary system,etc.

• He made numerous discoveries including the discovery that blood flows through veins

• However, he was wrong in thinking that the liver digested food and processed it into blood

• Came up with the idea of a “pneuma” or air inside the veins, that was like a human spirit

• believed that disease resulted from an imbalance of the four humors

• His discoveries stood for one thousand years

The Middle Ages

Source 6 A 12th century text written by a French priest and teacher, Peter Abelard

The infirmary of your convent must be equipped with everything necessary for looking after the sick. Medicine must be provided, and this is best done if the sister in charge has some knowledge of medicine. One of the sisters should know about blood letting, otherwise it will be necessary for a man to come in to the convent for this purpose.

Question: How does this source show that religion supported the four humour theory?

Suggested answer for source 6

• The Roman Catholic Church set up hospitals and medical schools

• It supported the Hippocratic ideas and the work of Galen who promoted them this is because Galen believed in one god and the Church saw his ideas as fitting in with theirs

• Nuns and priests provided care in convents and hospitals – usually ‘hospitality’ but some treatments were given

• In this case the nun should know how to bleed the patient to balance his humours

• It is known that monks were regularly bled – up to six or seven times a year so the Church supported this practice

The Medieval Church and MedicineThe Church (of Rome in Western Europe)played a key role in medical practicebecause:•Religious men and women could read andwrite•Medical texts were preserved in monasticcommunities•The religious were charged with spiritualand physical well-being of their charges

The Benedictine RuleSt. Benedict (480-547) – wrote theBenedictine Rule, which states:"Before others and above all, special care must be taken of the ill so they may be looked after, as Christ . . . The sick must remember they are being taken care of forthe honor of God."

Monastic Medicine•Responsibility of monks to provide medicaltreatment to:–Fellow monks–Servants and other laity–Guests•Responsibility of monks to prepareremedies•Responsibility of abbot to be near the sickto offer spiritual care

Medicine ca. 1000School of medicine in Salerno, Italy in the 7th centuryTrotula – (woman!) professor of medicine;Passionibus Mulierum Curandorum (TheDiseases of Women), also known asTrotula Major ; remedies are herbs,spices, oils and of animal origin

History of Medicine• Medieval (500 - 1500)

– This was a time of little change in medicine.– Knowledge of public health was lost after the Roman

Empire fell. – People forgot about the importance of clean water.– There was instability and war.– Learning was lost as libraries and universities collapsed.– Communications were poor so it was hard for doctors to

learn or discuss ideas.– The Roman Catholic Church controlled all learning,

which slowed down progress. As dissections were not allowed, knowledge of anatomy was poor.

Medical Schools at UniversitiesMore study of medicine as universities wereestablished:1110 Paris1158 Bologna1167 Oxford1181 Montpellier

Medieval interpretations

• By medieval times, scientists felt that the bodily humors gave off vapors which ascended to the brain and influenced a person’s state of mind or character.

Chaucer, Canterbury Tales

14th century

A Doctor too emerged as we proceeded.

No one alive could talk as well as he did

On points of medicine and of surgery

For, being grounded in astronomy

He watched his patient's favourable star

And, by his Natural Magic, knew what are

The lucky hours and planetary degrees

For making charms and effigies.

The cause of every malady you'd got

He knew, and whether dry, cold, moist or hot;

He knew their seat, their humour and condition.

He was a perfect practicing physician.

Elizabethan use of

the Four Humors• Renaissance thinkers viewed a human being as a

microcosm (literally, a "little world") that reflected the structure of the world as a whole, the macrocosm;

• just as the world was composed of four "elements" (earth, water, air, fire), so too was the human body composed of four substances called "humours," with characteristics corresponding to the four elements.

• "Correspondences" existed everywhere, on many levels. • Thus the hierarchical organization of the mental faculties

was also thought of as reflecting the hierarchical order within the family, the state, and the forces of nature.

• When things were properly ordered, reason ruled the emotions, just as a king ruled his subjects, the parent ruled the child, and the sun governed the planets.

Shakespeare’s Use of the Four Humors

Hamlet is not the only play in which Shakespeare exploits his audience’s understanding of the Four Humors:

• Lady Macbeth’s reference to blood implies Duncan’s sanguine personality of being kind and joyful. “Yet who would have thought / the old man to have had so much blood in him” (V.1.44-45)

• In Shakespeare's King Lear, the simultaneous disorder in family relationships and in the state (child ruling parent, subject ruling king) is reflected in the disorder of Lear's mind (the loss of reason) as well as in the disorder of nature (the raging storm). Lear even equates his loss of reason to "a tempest in my mind."

• Antony offers a eulogy to Julius Caesar using the Greek notion of balanced humors. “His life was gentle, and the elements So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, "This was a man!“ (V.5.74 – 76)

The Four Humors

Humor Ancient Disposition

Element Season Bodily organ involved

Qualities Personality characteristics

Black bile Melancholic Earth Autumn Spleen Cold & dry Thoughtful, creative, seeks perfection, despondent, irritable, unsatisfied with self, preoccupied, introspective, sentimental, gluttonous, depressed

Blood Sanguine Air Spring Liver Warm & moist Light-hearted, courageous, confident, arrogant, impulsive, dreamy, off-task, spontaneous, hopeful, amorous, optimistic, irresponsible, generous, manic, kind

Phlegm Phlegmatic Water Winter Brain/lungs Cold & moist Calm, observant, rational, kind, shy, consistent, unemotional, dependable, resistant to change, lazy, cowardly

Yellow bile Choleric Fire Summer Gall bladder Warm & dry A doer & leader, easily angered, bad tempered, ambitious, passionate, energetic, violent, vengeful

A blood letting man It was believed that the volume of

blood, one of the primary humours, needed to be kept in check, either by natural bleeding or by the human intervention of "bloodletting."

This was done by the application of leeches and, far more commonly, by phlebotomy or venesection, that is, a small incision in a vein.

As physicians delegated this procedure to surgeons and barbers, who were less knowledgeable about anatomy, it became increasingly important to have "maps" of the veins to be incised for specific purposes.

Peter the Venerable’s letter

• Postponed bloodletting catarrh

• Postponed it again

• After 4 months, 2 bloodlettings in 3 weeks, but:

• Catarrh remains– Voice is weak– Chest is heavy– Lots of phlegm

Peter the Venerable’s letter

• Local physicians: – Bloodletting has loss of heat– “cold and sluggish phlegm is diffused

throughout the veins and vital channels”– Rec: heating and moistening

foods/medications

Peter the Venerable’s letter

• Peter objects: – Cold, moist disease ought to be treated with

hot, dry remedies (galenic law of contraries)– Also worried about omitting his regular

bloodletting

• Local docs reply: – Throat and trachea should be soothed with

moist things, not irritated with dry things

Disease in the Middle Ages

• Peter has medical knowledge and argues with his doctors

• Disease: complexion theory– Galen

• Theory is applied flexibly by physicians

Complexion

• Df: the balance of hot, wet, cold and dry among the elements of the body– From Galen who got it from Hippocratic

writings

• Each individual’s complexion is unique– Varies by sex and age and climate– Each organ has a complexional quality

• Well-balanced complexion is an achievement

Medieval doctors still believed in the theory of the Four Humours. Did they use it in the same way as doctors in the

ancient world?

• Explain how medieval doctors followed ideas of Galen and Hippocrates but then go on to describe differences:

• People had blood removed when perfectly healthy as a way of keeping humours balanced – did not wait to be ill

• Carried out by barber surgeons – body maps like the previous image were produced and used

• Used laxatives but linked these ideas of purging and bleeding with astrology. Guided by planets which was a new idea. Books like the vademecum were used.

Medieval Medicine and Astrology

• Diagnosis was also influenced by astrology. Medical charts informed physicians what not to do for people born under a certain start sign.

– Aries - Avoid incisions in the head and face and cut no vein in the head.– Taurus - Avoid incisions in the neck and throat and cut no veins there– Gemini - Avoid incisions in the shoulders, arms or hands and cut no vein. – Cancer -Avoid incisions in the breasts, sides, stomach and lungs and cut no vein that

goes to the spleen.– Leo - Avoid incisions of the nerves, lesions of the sides and bones, and do not cut the

back either by opening and bleeding.– Virgo - Avoid opening a wound in the belly and in the internal parts– Libra - Avoid opening wounds in the umbellicus and parts of the belly and do not open

a vein in the back or do cupping.– Scorpio - Avoid cutting the testicles and anus.– Sagittarius - Avoid incisions in the thighs and fingers and do not cut blemishes and

growths.– Capricorn - Avoid cutting the knees or the veins and sinews in these places.– Aquarius -Avoid cutting the knees or the veins and veins in these places.– Pisces - Avoid cutting the feet.

AST16. Woodcut from Gregor Reisch, Margarita philosophica, Freiburg, 1503.

AST12. Title page wooodcut from Proclus Sphaera, Paris, 1547.

AST20. Title page woodcut from a German astrological manual from Leipzig, 1512.

History of Medicine

• Bubonic Plague (1348-1350)– Killed 1/3 of the population of Europe– At the time, people did not know what caused

it– In 1894-1898, the plague was found to be

caused by a bacteria that lives in black rats and is spread to humans by fleas

History of Medicine

• Renaissance (1400 - 1800)– The invention of the printing press - ideas could be spread

quickly and cheaply.– The revival of classical learning - scholars went back to the

original Greek and Roman texts. These reminded scientists to observe nature closely and make theories that explained the world.

– The Church was criticized for the first time - people challenged old ideas and established authorities. In the Reformation the Catholic Church lost its hold over many countries, as well as universities and education. People became less willing to accept the Church's rulings about issues such as dissection.

– Voyages of exploration - people traveled more and had greater contact with other societies. New ideas and attitudes were brought into Europe. New drugs were introduced, such as quinine, which could be used against malaria.

Magical Thought• Belief in magic was

widespread• While most educated people

professed not to believe, many still held charms, like Queen Elizabeth’s magic ring to ward off the plague

• Magic was viewed as being either good (tied to the church) or bad– alternative was natural

magic• astrology• alchemy.

EMB37. Woodcut of witches by Hans Baldung Grien, Strassburg, 1514.

EMB20. Woodcut of two witches from Ulrich Molitor, 1508.

Magic

Alchemy: iron to gold? the elixir of life? A medieval chemical philosophy having as its asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of the panacea, and the preparation of the elixir of longevity.

Astrology: the stars affect the lower nature

Witches: demons in the air

Seeking

• a) Philosopher’s Stone (a stone that is no stone but contains within it the seeds to transform cheap metals into gold)

• b) Elixor of Life (cure disease)

• c) Fountain of Youth (extend life)

Alchemy: Before Chemistry

• Developed in ancient Greece, India, and China

• Historians believe that the Chinese invented alchemy with the aim to find a special kind of gold that you could drink and make you live forever.

• Alchemy then spread between Greece and India by traders.

• Alchemy aimed to turn cheap metals like lead into gold.

• It was spurred by greed.

Arabic Scientists• When Feudalism reduced the demand for science in Europe, scholars fled to Arabic-Islamic lands• Mathematics, Astronomy, Health and Medicine, Optics, and Chemistry flourished there during Europe’s Dark Ages

Famous Arabic-Islamic Scientists

• Ibn al-Shatir• Abu Ibn-Sina (Avicenna)• Ibn al-Haytham• Abu Al-Razi

Alchemist Subtypes:

• Four types of alchemist:a) mystical or religiousb)  philosophicalc) mercenaryd) scientific

Chemistry and Alchemy

• Chemistry was not seen as a separate science, but was an important part of other industries and crafts

• Islamic scientists developed new experimental techniques and methods such as distillation

• Alchemy was important as a science of the cosmos and the soul

Contributions

• a) lab techniques

• b) medicines

• c) lab tools and supplies

Laboratory Techniques

• a) distillationb) filtrationc) crystallizationd) coagulatione) evaporationf) extraction

Mineral Acids

   H2SO4 (aq)   Sulfuric Acid HCl  (aq)      Hydrochloric AcidHNO3 (aq)    Nitric Acid

Minerals to make these acids are present in large quantities, are easily transported, and properties do not change on shelf

Alchemy to chemistry

• Democritus: first idea of atom

• Geber: stereotypical alchemist

• Paracelsus: last alchemist/first chemist

• Robert Boyle: definition of atom

• Georg Stahl:  phlogiston theory

Figures of some Alchemical Processes in Arabic Manuscript

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/images/gab16.jpg

Alchemy

• Alchemists spent much of their time heating and mixing metals in search of magical combination that would make gold.

• While they were experimenting, they made loads of interesting discoveries.

• Arab alchemist Jabir (721-815) found out how to boil vinegar to make a strong acid called acetic acid.

• He also figured out how to make ammonia, by boiling urine.

• Alchemists also knew how to dry chemicals until they formed crystals-distillation.

The Emerald Stone• Hermes Trismegistus –Legendary Founder of Alchemy

Alchemy

• The alchemist, Maria the Jewess, who lived in Alexandria in 1AD invented equipment used by later chemists.

• She designed the boiler to heat chemicals slowly and a vessel for distilling.

• However, some alchemists began to cheat and were criminals.

• For example, Barbara, the Former Empress of the Holy Roman Empire in 1437AD turned to alchemy. She learned how to make fake gold and silver.

• The gold is made by mixing iron with saffron and with copper and other chemicals.

• The fake silver included poisons like mercury and

arsenic.

               

                                     

ALCH 05. The alchemical tree, standing

New Ideas • Religious writers of Middle

Ages spread new ideas throughout Europe

• New ideas gave rise to new ways of thinking and learning

Constrictions • Experiments constricted by

reliance on authority of Greek writers

• Also by teaching of the Catholic Church

Alchemy • People in Middle Ages curious

about how world worked

• Began to conduct scientific experiments in alchemy, early form of chemistry

Great Secrets• Alchemists convinced they

could find way to turn base metals into gold, but could not

• Work in alchemy influenced later growth of science

Thinking and Learning

ParacelsusParacelsusParacelsus (11 November or 17

December 1493 in Einsiedeln, Switzerland - 24 September 1541) was an alchemist, physician, astrologer, and general occultist.

Born Phillip von Hohenheim, he later took up the name Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, and still later took the title Paracelsus, meaning "equal to or greater than Celsus", a Roman physician from the first century BC.

“Bier is a really divine medicine”. Paracelsus (1493 – 1541).

Paracelcus

ParacelsusParacelsus: Genius with bad press agent

• Attended Universities of Heidelberg, Freiburg, Ingolstadt, Cologne, Tübingen, Vienna, Erfurt and Ferrara, left without degree, drank to excess, and wandered over most of known world, took part in the Peasants War (1525)

• Practiced medicine in Spain, Portugal, England, Denmark, Poland, Prussia, Hungary, Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, probably other places as well, frequently aggravating established practitioners.

• Investigated the use of opium, coined the term laudanum for tincture of opium, an opium extract containing 40-80% ethanol.

• Pioneered use of chemicals, elements in medicine (Zn, Hg, Au)• Introduced draining to replace amputation or cauterization• Introduced dose-response concept• Recognized the first industrial disease in miners

ParacelsusParacelsus: a few weird facts• “Paracelsus” a 1943 film by Georg Wilhelm Pabst,

essentially a Nazi propaganda film.• Professor Bulwer in 1922 Murnau film 'Nosferatu' is a

follower of Paracelsus• “Paracelsus” (lengthy dramatic poem by Robert

Browning)• Paracelsus is mentioned as an inspiration to Victor

Frankenstein, the main character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

• Paracelsus is one of the people featured on a Chocolate Frog card in Harry Potter.

• A bust of Paracelsus is in the castle at Hogwarts, near Gryffindor, between the entrance to the Gryffindor common room and the Owlry, as mentioned in Order of the Phoenix

The Alchemist

- Jan Van der Straet

•Scholars in the west first learnt about alchemy as they copied and translated into Latin certain Arabic texts with alchemical content in about the 12th /13th centuries. •As the quote from the Harry Potter book states, alchemy was a branch of natural philosophy whose goal was to find wealth, longevity and immortality. •Alchemists thus tried to find a substance called the Philosopher’s Stone which, when heated and combined with ‘base’ or non-precious metals, would turn them into gold. •It was also thought gold could be made into an elixir of immortality. •Alchemy was based on older Aristotelian principles where it was thought that elements could be changed or transmuted by impressing new substances onto them. •To some extent the alchemists laid the foundations of modern chemistry, although the science has been increasingly discredited since the 18th century because of its associations with mystical occult and irrational practices.

• Alchemy in the Middle Ages

• Distillation was described as increasing the “viture” of the distillate.

• This was best described for the universal panacea; wine. The third distillate produced “aqua vitae” (brandy) the tenth distillate produce “aqua ardente” (also called “burning water”).

• Of course any complaint would be silenced by a few doses of aqua ardente. “Grandpas medicine”, many tonics and elixirs even into the 20th century contained large amounts of alcohol.

Alchemists used a wide range of exotic-sounding chemicals including :ocinnabar (mercuric sulphide), ospiritus fumans (stannic chloride), osaccharum saturni (sugar of Saturn or lead acetate), osal ammoniac (ammonium chloride), ooil of vitriol (sulphuric acid), oaqua regia (nitric acid and hydrochloric acid) oand aqua fortis (nitric acid). They tried to keep their work secret and therefore they used many esoteric practices. For example, they frequently used a system of symbols to denote the substances and processes used in their experiments.

A list of the symbols used to denote alchemical substances and processes, from a printed edition of The Last Will and Testament of Basil Valentine (1671), a typical alchemical work.

EMB27. Engraving from Ichnographia Emblematica, Augsberg, 1779.

• The mathematics of alchemy

•A well known medieval alchemist was the Frenchman Nicholas Flamel (1330-1418); a tradition beginning in the seventeenth century claims that he wrote alchemical texts and was able to prepare the much-coveted Philosopher’s Stone. •Thus, the character mentioned in the Harry Potter extract above was a real live historical figure who was indeed married to a women called Perenelle. •An excellent website on alchemy can be found at www.alchemywebsite.com/symelem.html •©

                          

                                         

ALCH 06. Engraving of the famous hieroglyphic figuresof Nicholas Flamel, supposedly carved on the arch of a churchin Paris - 17th century.           

ALCH 04. The alchemist in his study and laboratory from Thomas Norton's Ordinall of alchemy - 17th century English engraving

Model of an alchemical laboratory, c.1540, by Tom McRae •This reconstruction is built to a scale of 1/12th. The solid looking walls and flagstones are actually just painted card. •The model is illuminated by candles and the light from the flickering athenor (furnace). •Dried snakes hang from the left hand side of the front beam while at the left hand wall the remains of a spillage can be seen beside the bench. •A rat lies poisoned in the spillage, reminding us of the toxic conditions in which those pioneers worked.

•A great press can be seen at the left of the back wall and the athenor is built at the centre with the bellows to its right. Vessels stand on shelves around the athenor for heating at different temperature gradients. •To the left of the front shelf can be seen The Pelican with its tubes for spirit production. •On the floor in front of the bellows stands a cauldron of decomposing organic material. •A large pentacle (five-pointed shape used as a magic symbol) has been drawn in the centre of the floor with candles at each point. •Within the circle a mortar- like altar is used to hold mixtures which "Other Powers" are invoked to charge with occult powers. A ritual sword leans on the altar and was used to close the circle when the alchemist started working.

B. How relevant was alchemy to Robert Boyle’s work? •Robert Boyle had a great interest in alchemy for he thought it would give him information on the structure of matter. •This was a view he shared with his contemporary, Isaac Newton, who was similarly interested in alchemy.• As he was deeply religious, he also thought that finding the philosopher’s stone would allow him to communicate with angels and other spirituals beings. •However, the overtones of mystical revelation involved in this aspect of the science caused him concern, since he worried that the shortcuts that it appeared to offer to an understanding of nature might represent temptations from the Devil.

•Historians know about Boyle’s interest in alchemy because he wrote a text entitled Dialogue on the Transmutation and Melioration of Metals which, as one historian (Lawrence M. Principe) has recently shown, showed Boyle to believe in the possibility of metallic transmutation just like the alchemists before him. •He was also interested in meeting people who had seen base metals transformed into gold and some of his papers contain descriptions of meetings with people who claimed to have seen such events. •Boyle had read the writings (published in the seventeenth century) attributed to Nicholas Flamel referred to above, and he was also eager to make contact with other alchemists who had carried out experiments•. For example, in 1678, a French man wrote to Boyle inviting him to join a secret society of alchemists; he was promised that upon joining he would receive the alchemical secrets of the transmutation of metals. In order to join, Boyle was told to send expensive gifts to the leader of the group in Turkey. Boyle did do this, and sent his expensive gifts … but he never did receive his alchemical secrets. Had he been duped?

Like the alchemists, who often tried to keep their art secret by the use of esoteric symbols and ciphers, Boyle also deployed these techniques of secrecy and he too used ciphers and alchemical symbols in his writings. In fact, such was Boyle’s interest in alchemy that he supported the repeal (reverse) of the medieval laws that punished people who tried to manufacture gold from base metals through alchemy. ©

Source one: Workdiary 18 – How to separate gold from silver and from copper. In this manuscript, Boyle uses the symbols used by alchemists

Source Two In this extract, Boyle tells his friend Gilbert Burnet about a time when he saw a man supposedly change lead into gold before his very eyes. ‘The man had a crucible in which was contained some lead. He put in a bright power and put the crucible on the fire to heat. He removed it and when it was cold I was surprised to find not lead but gold, which, after testing, turned out to be true gold’. (Adapted from M. Hunter, Boyle by Himself and His Friends (London, 1994), pp. 29-30)

C. How have historians interpreted Boyle’s alchemical interests? •Historians of the 18th century and later have tended to ignore and discredit Boyle’s alchemical interests.• This was because their ideas were shaped by a new intellectual movement called The Enlightenment, in which rational observation was thought to be better than irrational, ‘mystical’ ideas. •These ‘enlightened’ historians felt that alchemical knowledge was ‘old fashioned’, misguided and superstitious. •It was thus thought to be no longer relevant to the development of modern science which was based on empirical study (ie rational observation and experiment). •For example, in the 1950s and 1960s, Marie Boas wrote a number of books on Boyle. In them she claimed that in his work Boyle avoided alchemy and that in particular in his book The Sceptical Chymist (1661) he blasted alchemy and did not like using ‘secret’ practices like the alchemists did.

•As you have seen from the texts above, Boyle was clearly working within the alchemical tradition.• However, as you will have learnt from previous lessons on Boyle, Boyle also pioneered other more ‘modern’ empirical scientific methods based on observation and experiment – methods which scientists still use today.• Thus, post-Enlightenment historians wanted only to emphasize the ‘modern’ rational elements of Boyle’s work rather than those based on irrational, and therefore redundant, practices. •Much more recently, a few twentieth-century historians have rediscovered and re-interpreted Boyle’s alchemical interests and have described them in a much more positive light. •As a result of this, they have shown that Boyle was a figure working in a time of transition, who used both older alchemical and more ‘modern’ scientific practices throughout his life.• This is apparent in the work of Lawrence M. Principe, writing in the 1990s. In the preface to his recent book he stated ‘[the fact] that Isaac Newton or Robert Boyle or any other seventeenth-century natural philosopher should have believed in ... alchemy should no longer horrify [historians] ... and the sheer extent of alchemical material in Boyle’s manuscripts ... [is] astonishing’. (The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and his Alchemical Quest (1998), pp. 4-5).