Mod 1 Notes Flashcards
What’s the point of the history of science?
It helps you understand how science should and shouldn’t be practiced.
When are the oldest science records we have today from?
Around 3,000 BC.
Where did medical care start?
Ancient Egypt.
What method did the Egyptian doctors begin with?
Trial and error.
Who was Imhotep?
He was a physician around 2650 BC.
What was special about Imhotep?
He was well known for his dependability and people came from hundreds of miles away hoping he had a cure for them.
What did Egyptian doctors use moldy bread for?
Treating open wounds.
Why did the moldy bread method work?
Some bread molds make penicillin.
What did Egyptian doctors use poppy seeds for?
Pain relief.
What is in poppy seeds that helps with pain relief so well that it’s still used today?
Morphine and codeine.
When did the Egyptians create papyrus?
As far back as 5,000 years ago.
How did the Egyptians make papyrus?
They took the bendy stems of the plant, cut them in thin strips, laid the them crossing over each other, and wet them.
When the papyrus dried, what happened?
It made a sort of paper scroll, which they called papyrus after the plant.
What was made in Mesopotamia at the same time as papyrus was in Egypt?
The potter’s wheel, and with it, pottery.
What was in existence the same time as the potter’s wheel and papyrus?
The horse-drawn chariot.
What did the Chinese make around 1,000 BC?
The compass.
Why do most historians not think of Egyptians as scientists?
Because they didn’t formulate general laws.
Who was Thales?
He was an ancient Greek astronomer around the 640s-540s BC.
What was special about Thales?
He correctly predicted a solar eclipse, or as he called it, a “short-term disappearance of the sun.”
Who was Anaximenes?
He was an ancient “chemist” around 546 BC.
What was special about Anaximenes?
He was probably an associate of Anaximander. He believed air was the most basic material and that everything was made of air.
Who was Anaximander?
He was a “biologist” around 500 BC.
What was special about Anaximander?
He was likely one of Thales’s students. He came up with the theory of evolution from fish (before Charles Darwin.)
Who was Leucippus?
He was a Greek scientist who proposed that all matter is composed of little units called atoms around the early 400s BC.
Who was Democritus?
He was a scientist and student of Leucippus around 460-370 BC.
What was special about Democritus?
He came up with the sand:atom analogy. Some materials are more tightly packed together than others. That’s what makes them behave differently from each other.
Who were the first true scientists?
The ancient Greeks.
What’s the best way to write a hypothesis?
With an if/then statement.
What is plagiarism?
Copying someone else’s words; be sure to write in your own words.
When was Aristotle around?
384-322 BC
What is Aristotle called?
The father of life science.
What did Aristotle do?
He was the first to come up with a system to classify animals and plants, placing them into groups based on their similarities.
When was Archimedes around?
287-212 BC
What did Archimedes do?
He applied mathematical formulas to explain why certain things happened the way they did.
What is the Fields Medal?
A medal with the image of Archimedes and words that translate to “rise above oneself and grasp the world;” it’s awarded every 4 years to recognize outstanding mathematical achievement.
When was Ptolemy around?
AD 100-170
What did Ptolemy assume?
Earth was the center of the universe, a hypothesis known as the geometric or Ptolemaic system. It was believed until around the 1600s.
When and what were the Dark Ages?
After the first few centuries AD, scientific progress drastically slowed, as there was little desire for explaining and real experimental science was discouraged.
What was the main goal of alchemists?
To find a way to transform lead/inexpensive materials into gold/precious substances.
What does scientific progress depend on?
Scientists, government, and culture.
How does science progress?
By building on the work of previous scientists.
