History Of Scientific Revolution Exam I

Front 1

What is the importance of Hesiod and Homer for understanding the Greek world-view?

Back 1

From them, readers can see how phenomena in the Greek world were personified, as well as natural forces (earthquakes, storms, the sun and moon, etc.)

Front 2

What was the purpose of Homer and Hesiod's work?

Back 2

to "instruct and entertain", not to be a philosophical and scientific interpretation of the world.

Front 3

How did early Greek philosophy relate to Greek mythology? Did it? How was it reconciled?

Back 3

-Greek philosophy existed side-by-side with mythology. Philosophers sought to understand the very nature of the world-its composition, shape, etc.
-They sought to understand the process of change
-Sought universal explanations for natural phenomena like earthquakes
-The gods played no part in the explanations (see Heraditus and Anaximander)

Front 4

Rather than explain the world as being the offspring of the gods, early philosophers such as Leucippus and Democritus posited what?

Back 4

atoms and a primeval vortex

Front 5

What did Aristotle call the philosophers that were concerned with nature?

Back 5

physiologoi

Front 6

Name four philosophers associated with Miletus.

Back 6

Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Leucippus

Front 7

What were the Milesians, and what did they believe?

Back 7

they were materialists and monists: they believed the world was made of something physical, and it was made of only one substance.

Front 8

Why are the Milesians important? How did they compare to their immediate predecessors?

Back 8

-They asked new kinds of questions-the origin of things, underlying reality, order in the world, etc.
-Answers were devoid of any presence by the gods.
-In addition to stating their theories, Milesians realized that they needed to be supported.

Front 9

What kind of natural phenomena did the Milesians occupy themselves with?

Back 9

those things that illustrated change, diversity, underlying reality

Front 10

How did Leucippus and Democritus differ from their Milesian predecessors?

Back 10

-Leucippus and Democritus were atomists. Each of them believed that the underlying reality of the world lay in the infinite atoms traveling in a void.
-Coming in different shapes and forms, they account for the diversity in the world.
-They also introduced the idea of vortices (flowing atoms) as an explanation for the formation of worlds.

Front 11

What is important about how Leucippus and Democritus viewed the world? How did it portray the world, and how was it different from their predecessors?

Back 11

-Their worldview is extremely mechanistic; only the atoms move according to their nature – there is no outside intervention (divine).

Front 12

How did Immaterialist philosophers like Empedocles and Pythagoras feel about the world view of the atomists?

Back 12

they rejected the cold, mechanical view of the world favored by the atomists

Front 13

How did the Pythagoreans view the world? What was the fundamental nature of the world?

Back 13

-The world was fundamentally numerical/mathematical in nature, not material.
-The nature of things, and their reality, are derived from numbers. For this reason, mathematics was a reliable way to ascertain the underlying reality of the world.

Front 14

What was the fundamental question at the heart of change?

Back 14

-How can the world be both stable and changeable?

Front 15

Heraclitus was the first to address the issue of change. What was his interpretation?

Back 15

Everything in a state of flux.

Front 16

How did Parmenides and Zeno address the problem of change?

Back 16

-Each denied the possibility of change. Parmenides suggested that something cannot move from existence to non-existence, or vice versa. Nothing creates nothing (you cannot create something out of nothing).
-Zeno addressed the question of motion (a particular kind of change).

Front 17

How do the explanations given by Parmenides correspond to experience? What does this say about their attitudes toward experience?

Back 17

-Each of them knew that their ideas flew in the face of experience, but the real question for them was whether experience could be trusted.
-For them, the rational process (logic) prevailed over the evidence of experience. The evidence of experience was an illusion.
-Atomists answered this claim by suggesting that there was fundamental stability in superficial change.

Front 18

What was the Greek's answer to the problem of knowledge?

Back 18

Most early Greek philosophy elevated reason in relation to sense experience. The senses could not get at the fundamental reality of things.

Front 19

Why is Socrates so important in the history of Greek philosophy?

Back 19

-With Socrates, there is a shift in emphasis away from cosmological matters to ethical and political ones.

Front 20

How does Plato argue for the underlying reality of the world?

Back 20

-He uses the example of a carpenter and his tables (equating the carpenter with the Demiurge). The limitations in the materials prevented the idea of the Demiurge to be perfectly realized.
-For this reason, there is the realm of forms/ideas, and the material realm.
-Forms/ideas are eternal and unchanging; while they are incorporeal, they exist in reality.
-Material world is transitory and changing. “Allegory of the Cave.”
-To access the greater reality of forms/ideas, we need to escape the shackles of sense experience.

Front 21

What are the implications of Plato’s ideas for the concerns of pre-Socratic philosophers?

Back 21

-Forms = underlying reality.
-Change and Stability can both occur; stability in the realm of forms, and change in the material world.
-Plato puts observation (sense experience) and true knowledge in opposition. The senses are chains that tie us down. The senses, however, could be useful in a very limited sense.
-To perceive the material world, the senses are useful; however, to pursue an understanding of the realm of ideas/forms, reason unaided by the senses must be used.
-Plato’s concerns foreshadow the discussion of universals and individuals. This is a feature of modern science.

Front 22

Where can the bulk of Plato's cosmological ideas be found? What was the impact of this treatise?

Back 22

-The bulk of Plato’s cosmological and natural ideas are found in his Timaeus.
-The Timaeus formed the core of early medieval natural philosophy, before Aristotle’s thought became more commonplace.
-In the Timaeus, Plato denies the atomists’ claims that the world is fundamentally mechanical in nature. Order for Plato is extrinsic, not intrinsic.

Front 23

Does Plato mean to suggest that the gods of Mount Olympus impose order on the world and interfere in it?

Back 23

-Plato does not go that far; he merely asserts that an outside mind had to be responsible for the world. Enter the Demiurge. The Demiurge is the personification of reason. This is not creation ex nihilo.
-Demiurge also not omnipotent; he is limited by the nature of the material he finds.
-Plato also posits the “five Platonic solids.” He associates them with the four elements, and the dodecahedron with the cosmos as a whole.

Front 24

What is important about how Plato views the world through the geometrical solids?

Back 24

-His ideas prefigure (to some extent) the mathematization of nature. He also fulfills the Pythagorean idea of reducing everything to mathematical first principles.

Front 25

What can you say about the way that Plato viewed the heavens? How did he view them?

Back 25

-The earth was round, moved around the celestial sphere approximately once a year; he also outlined the orbits of the sun, moon, and the other planets.
-Plato conceived of an animistic world, rejecting the idea of a lifeless cosmos (atomists).
-Divinity accounted for the order and rationality of the cosmos.

Front 26

What is the fundamental question regarding the use of mathematics?

Back 26

-Is nature mathematical?

Front 27

Concerning mathematics, what did the Pythagoreans/Plato believe?

Back 27

-For Plato, the fundamental reality of the world was mathematics (geometrical solids).
-Geometrical proportion bound the world together.

Front 28

How did Aristotle feel about the nature of reality and mathematics?

Back 28

-Aristotle believed that the world went beyond what geometry/mathematics could explore.
-He, however, did not overlook the power of mathematics. He argues that physics is different than mathematics.

Front 29

Who was responsible for codifying the Greek mathematical achievement?

Back 29

-In his Elements, Euclid lays out the definitions commonly associated with geometry.
-Definitions of lines, points, surface, angles (right, acute, obtuse), et al.
-He also outlines the rules which govern them.
-five postulates (lines connect any two points, straight lines can be extended, all right angles are equal, a circle can be drawn about any point, etc.
-axioms (self-evident truths) (things equal to same thing are equal to each other, whole greater than the part, etc.)
-With Aristotle, Euclid’s rigorous approach influenced scientific demonstration for centuries.

Front 30

What was Archimedes' achievement to Greek mathematics?

Back 30

-Archimedes built upon the work of Euclid, particularly his idea of “exhaustion.” He also calculated a more accurate value for pi.

Front 31

What was Apollonius' achievement to Greek mathematics?

Back 31

-Apollonius contributed greatly to work on conic sections.

Front 32

What was the primary focus of early Greek astronomy?

Back 32

-observation, mapping the stars, and determining the calendar (as well as solar and lunar motions).
-Metonic cycle (5th c. B.C.)

Front 33

When did Greek astronomy begin to change?

Back 33

-Plato and Eudoxus of Cnidus (4th c. B.C.)
-Shift on 3 fronts:
1.From stellar to planetary concerns.
2.Creation of geometrical model (“two-sphere model” – heaven and earth as concentric spheres, where the celestial sphere rotates around the terrestrial sphere)
-- celestial equator = earth’s equator; planets, et al. move along the ecliptic (which intersects the equator at the equinoxes).
3.Establishment of criteria governing theories designed to account for planetary observations.

-Eudoxus proposes an answer to the complexity of planetary motion
-he proposes a series of concentric spheres for each planet (the number of which differs according to the complexity of the motion – see Mars vs. the sun/moon (fig. 5.5)
-Eudoxus’s is a purely mathematical/geometrical model; it was not meant to represent the physical reality of the heavens. In addition, they would yield qualitative, but not quantitative results.

Front 34

How did Aristotle view Eudoxus’s system? How did he change it?

Back 34

-He made the spheres proposed physically real.
-While very complicated, Aristotle’s system (and Aristotle himself) poses the question of whether astronomy is a mathematical science, or a physical one.

Front 35

Plato and Eudoxus were not the only philosophers to develop cosmological schemes. How did Heraclides of Pontius contribute?

Back 35

-Proposed that the earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours.

Front 36

Plato and Eudoxus were not the only philosophers to develop cosmological schemes. How did Aristarchus of Samoa contribute?

Back 36

-Proposed a heliocentric system.
-Should not be seen as a precursor to Copernicus (judge by 3rd c. B.C. standards).

Front 37

Why is Hipparchus’s approach to the use of mathematics important for his view of astronomy?

Back 37

-He was a believer in quantitative prediction in astronomy; he developed methods for assigning numerical values to geometrical models.
-Brought about demand for quantitative match between theory and observation.

Front 38

What did Ptolemy bring to Hellenistic Planetary Astronomy?

Back 38

-Unlike his predecessors, who lived centuries before him, Ptolemy had access to the theoretical advances made during the intervening centuries.
-Ptolemy brought mathematical power to astronomy that was previously unimaginable.

Front 39

How did Ptolemy’s method differ from his predecessors?

Back 39

-Ptolemy uses circles rather than spheres to attempt to explain the apparent positions of the planets (and the nonuniform motion of them).

Front 40

Describe Ptolemy's Eccentric Model.

Back 40

1.If planet P is observed from C, the center, it will not only move uniformly, it will also appear to do so.
2.If planet P is observed from E, the position of the earth, it will appear to slow at A, and it will speed up at D.
3.Simple way to explain nonuniform motions.

Front 41

Describe Ptolemy's Epicycle on Deferent Model.

Back 41

1.The motion of planet P moves along an epicycle, whose center moves uniformly around the deferent.
2.When the planet P is on the outside of the epicycle, it will be at its maximum speed.
3.When the planet P is on the near side of the epicycle, it will slow and begin a period of retrograde motion (if motion of P is greater than the earth).

Front 42

Describe Ptolemy's Equant Model.

Back 42

1.Built on eccentric model. Instead of E, a point Q (the equant) is placed as the vantage point for observing planetary motion.
2.Over a given arc, the planet P carves out a right angle. Not all arcs are the same distance, so the speed of the planet P increases.
3.Uniform motion does not occur around the center C, but through Q. Viewing the motion from E, the variable motion seems more variable.

Front 43

How did Ptolemy use his models to describe the planetary motions?

Back 43

Each of these models was used in unison to describe the breadth of planetary motions.

Front 44

Why would astronomers like Ptolemy maintain the idea of uniform circular motion, despite the growing complication of their astronomical models?

Back 44

-Tradition (other astronomers stuck with it).
-Uniform circular motion is the simplest motion.
-For quantitative predictability, uniform circular motion was necessary on geometrical grounds.
-Special character of the heavens demanded the most perfect of motions.

Front 45

The mathematical way was the only way to achieve any measure of certainty in astronomy. Ptolemy, however, does address physical concerns in his work

Back 45

The mathematical way was the only way to achieve any measure of certainty in astronomy. Ptolemy, however, does address physical concerns in his work

Front 46

What were the central concerns of optics?

Back 46

-Light and vision.

Front 47

Describe the atomist's view on optics.

Back 47

Eye receives a thin film of atoms (simulacrum) from visible objects.

Front 48

Describe Plato's view on optics.

Back 48

Fire issues from the observer’s eye and coalesces with sunlight to form a medium; “motions” originating in the visible object are passed to the eye and ultimately to the soul.

Front 49

Describe Aristotle's view on optics.

Back 49

Potentially transparent medium becomes actually transparent when illuminated by luminous body (e.g. sun); light = state of the medium.

Front 50

Describe Euclid's view on optics.

Back 50

Rectilinear rays emerge from the observer’s eye in the form of a cone. One sees only that on which the rays fall. His theory is entirely geometrical (not satisfactory for philosophers such as Aristotle.

Front 51

Describe Ptolemy's view on optics.

Back 51

Combined Euclid’s geometrical approach with the physical and psychological effects of vision. He presented an analysis of the radiation issuing from the eye and its interaction with visible objects.
-He discusses reflection, building on the work of Euclid and others.
-His ideas concerning refraction differed. Analyzed refraction both mathematically and experimentally.

Front 52

Was there a language barrier that the Romans had to face when confronted with Greek literature et al.? Why?

Back 52

-The career of Cicero illustrates the connection that Romans had with Greek learning (in a similar way to Galen)
-Latin was only implemented in scholarly discourse when the audience’s linguistic ability was limited.

Front 53

How did the Roman patrons engage Greek works of literature and philosophy? Were patrons interested in all of the subtleties of Aristotelian thought and the like? If not, what were they interested in?

Back 53

-Romans knew little of serious scientific/philosophical treatises such as those by Hipparchus and Eudoxus. They preferred the more popularized versions of such knowledge.
-This is of little surprise given that learning was seen as a more or less leisurely pursuit.

Front 54

What did Posidorius do for Roman and early Medieval science?

Back 54

-Produced a great deal in Greek, covering a wide range of subjects from geography and history to natural philosophy. He wrote commentaries on Plato’s Timaeus and Aristotle’s Meteorology.
-His work was used a great deal by Lucretius in On the Nature of Things.
-His calculation of the Earth’s circumference was adopted by Ptolemy in his Geography and was later used by Christopher Columbus.

Front 55

What did Varro contribute to Roman and early Medieval science?

Back 55

-In his Nine Books of Disciplines, Varro provides a list of nine liberal arts important for Roman gentlemen to be familiar with. They were grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, musical theory, medicine, architecture. These nine would eventually become the seven liberal arts of the medieval universities.

Front 56

Cicero (d. 8 B.C.)

Back 56

-Influenced by the skepticism in the Platonic school (probability was the most that could be achieved in philosophical matters). To achieve greater certainty, one must look back at past opinion (this would be used a great deal in the Middle Ages).
-In so doing, he managed to carry on the popularization of earlier works, particularly works concerning metaphysics (the fundamental nature of reality), the order of the universe, et al.
-His philosophy influenced by the Platonic and Stoic traditions, and he became a major source for the Middle Ages. His microcosm/macrocosm analogy was important in the medieval period and into the Renaissance.

Front 57

Lucretius (d. 55 B.C.)

Back 57

-His poem On the Nature of Things served to popularize a number of scientific questions, including the infinity of worlds, the creation and destruction of worlds, phases of the moon, the mortality of the soul, sense perception, et al.

Front 58

Pliny the Elder (23/24-79 A.D.)

Back 58

-wrote the Natural History – What was Pliny’s purpose in writing it?
-He wished to survey the universe and the natural objects in it. The contents range from the marvelous to the commonplace, including astronomy and cosmology.
-He did not seek to provide specialized knowledge of astronomy, cosmology, mathematics, and the like.

Front 59

When did the commentary tradition really begin to start among the Romans?

Back 59

-It began considerably later than the works described above.
-Macrobius (Commentary on the Dream of Scipio) and Martianus Capella (The Marriage of Philology and Mercury) were two of the earliest to do so.

Front 60

How does Martianus Capella present his information on the seven liberal arts in The Marriage of Philology and Mercury?

Back 60

-Bridesmaids representing the mathematical arts present information on their subject to a wedding audience.
-Geometry: highlights of Euclid’s Elements and a discussion of 5 Platonic solids
-Arithmetic: virtues and associations of first ten numbers, classifies the numbers, et al.
-Astronomy: Ptolemy, Hipparchus, Eratosthenes; celestial spheres, the zodiac, the major constellations; his discussion of the motion of Mercury and Venus is particularly interesting.

Front 61

Boethius (480-524)

Back 61

-Boethius set out to translate as much Plato and Aristotle as he could find (and to reconcile their thought with Christianity), in addition to Euclid’s Elements.

Front 62

What was the attitude of Christian writers toward Greek sources (Plato? Aristotle?)?

Back 62

-Tertullian (ca. 155-230) did not see philosophy as necessary or helpful for Christianity. It should be avoided at all costs.
-St. Augustine (354-430) believed that natural philosophy should be cultivated as the “handmaiden” of religion (this idea is not restricted to just this period).

Front 63

Where was Roman education generally conducted?

Back 63

-elementary education (provided by parent or tutor)
-grammarian (approx. 12 years of age)
-rhetorician (approx. 15 years of age)
-philosopher (only for those of great means; conducted entirely in Greek)

Front 64

How did the coming of the Germanic tribes to Rome affect education? Did the change occur overnight?

Back 64

-Germanic tribes cared little for formal education
-The support of the affluent who could afford to patronize education began to deteriorate, and the educational structure likewise began to deteriorate.
-Roman learning deteriorated more quickly in the farther provinces, but it continued on in Rome itself, as well as in southern Gaul, Spain, and North Africa.

Front 65

Where does Christianity fit into this picture? Why did the Church fathers do what they did?

Back 65

-While it would seem logical to suppose that the Church fathers would seize the opportunity to install a more Christian educational system, supplanting the older pagan one, they thought instead of appropriating it and building upon it (reconciling its content with Christianity).
-This would serve as the official position throughout the Middle Ages.
-This is not to say that the Church was extremely dependent on the Roman schools. They would not go out of their way to save them, if they were threatened.

Front 66

St. Benedict (d. ca. 550)

Back 66

-Established a monastery at Monte Cassino in the sixth century and drew up a rule to govern the lives of the monks there (and eventually elsewhere)
-First among these rules is that the monks should be literate, because they were to copy texts required by the monastic community, and worship including reading the Bible and devotional literature
-For this reason (and others), there seems to have been very little contact with classical literature in monasteries (since it was not emphasized in the educational program)

Front 67

What was the largest contribution to the history of science during the early Middle Ages?

Back 67

-preservation and transmission of earlier knowledge

Front 68

Isidore of Seville (ca. 560-636)

Back 68

-wrote two book of particular interest in the history of science, On the Nature of Things and Etymologies.
-On the Nature of Things: a superficial account of Greek natural philosophy.
-Etymologies: encyclopedic accounts of things by way of their names (etymologies of them).
-He provides a basic account of astronomy, including planetary motions, the seasons, et al.

Front 69

Venerable Bede (d. 735)

Back 69

-Wrote on the range of monastic concerns, including natural philosophy, calendrics/timekeeping, but also history.
-Like Isidore of Seville, Bede did not provide tremendous depth in his discussions of different subjects, but he does manage to preserve and transmit knowledge in a usable form.

Front 70

How did the experience of Byzantine education differ from that in Rome? Why?

Back 70

-Byzantine education did not experience the same kind of decline, because many of the factors present in Rome were not important in Byzantium.
-Religious leaders seemed to have the same priorities as those in Rome, so it was more a question of desire to discuss pagan sources rather than lacking the opportunity to do so.
-Authors focused on writing commentaries of classical works, particularly of Aristotle and Plato and also attempting to address their work critically.

Front 71

Neoplatonists and Aristotle

Back 71

-One of the most consistent interests for Neoplatonists in this period was writing commentaries on various works of Aristotle, particularly On the Soul, Physics, On the Heavens, On Generation and Corruption, et al.

Front 72

Simplicius (d. aft. 533)

Back 72

-determined to reconcile Aristotelianism and Platonism

Front 73

John Philoponus (d. ca. 570)

Back 73

-attempted to show the errors in Aristotle’s thought, including his argument for the fall of bodies and for the eternity of the universe.

Front 74

Both Simplicius and John Philoponus marked the course that Aristotle would take during the Middle Ages, particularly the areas of criticism against Aristotle and the need to reconcile his thought with Christianity.

Back 74

Both Simplicius and John Philoponus marked the course that Aristotle would take during the Middle Ages, particularly the areas of criticism against Aristotle and the need to reconcile his thought with Christianity.

Front 75

Which religious group was most responsible for transmitting Greek knowledge to the East? How?

Back 75

-The Nestorians (Christians) who were expelled in 431 eventually set up a school in Nisibis (focused on theology and Biblical studies, but also on Aristotelian logic and other aspects of Greek philosophy).
-They were patronized by Persian kings, giving them greater influence in the court. Khusraw I also seems to have had Greek works translated into Syriac for his use.

Front 76

How were Greek works translated into Arabic?

Back 76

-Many times, works would be translated from Greek to Syriac to Arabic (or in various combinations thereof).

Front 77

When did patronage for translations of Greek works into Arabic begin? To flourish?

Back 77

-Under al-Mansur (754-775); under his son, Harun ar-Rashid, translation flourished, peaking under Al-Ma’mun.

Front 78

Hunayn ibn Ishaq (808-73)

Back 78

-Early in his life, he went to Byzantium in search of manuscripts, and he would spend the greater part of his life translating them.

Front 79

How would you describe Hunayn ibn Ishaq’s translation methods? Why is this important? Which authors did he translate most?

Back 79

-He collaborated with his son and nephew, but he also checked more than one version of a given manuscript to weed out errors.
-Hunayn tended to focus his attention of Hippocrates and Galen (mostly Galen), being that he himself was a physician, but he also translated Plato’s Timaeus and various works by Aristotle.
-His son, Ishaq, translated more Aristotle, but also Euclid and Ptolemy.

Front 80

“By the year 1000, almost the entire corpus of Greek medicine, natural philosophy, and mathematical science had been rendered into usable Arabic versions”(170).

Back 80

“By the year 1000, almost the entire corpus of Greek medicine, natural philosophy, and mathematical science had been rendered into usable Arabic versions”(170).

Front 81

What purpose did Greek learning serve in the Islamic world, given the Islamic view of knowledge and knowledge acquisition?

Back 81

-Knowledge, regardless of its origin, needed to demonstrate a degree of utility.
-Medicine (immediately useful), but the utility of astronomy, astrology, mathematics could also be demonstrated to a degree.
-Translation of mathematical, astronomical, and astrological works (and philosophical and logical works that would aid in understanding them) was patronized to a degree (at least on an individual level).

Front 82

What factors affected the broad dissemination of Greek learning in the Islamic world? Are scholars agreed on the measure of Islamic acceptance of Greek learning? If so, how? If not, how not?

Back 82

-The question of utility remains fundamental, but it is easier for knowledge to be useful to a single patron than it would be for a culture at large.
-Division of knowledge (traditional: oral, based on the Koran; foreign: written, based on Greek learning)
-As in the medieval west, there seemed to have been a tension between traditional and foreign knowledge. For this reason, foreign knowledge, particularly if its methodology penetrated traditional knowledge, would be viewed as dangerous.
-Marginality Thesis: Greek learning and its use in the Islamic world remained on the fringes due to pressure from the orthodoxy of Islam. Science in Islam was a marginal pursuit.
-Appropriation Thesis: Greek learning was welcomed in Islam to some degree, as it was some was taught (on occasion in the madrasahs), but it never reached to point where it became a force in the Islamic world. Greek learning served as a “handmaiden” to Islamic traditional knowledge (as with logic).
-As in everything, a more satisfying conclusion lies somewhere in the middle. Greek learning was never as marginal as the “Marginality Thesis” would contend, but it never enjoyed the level of acceptance that the “Appropriation Thesis” maintains.

Front 83

What effect did this have on the pursuit of Greek learning in the Islamic world?

Back 83

-There was greater freedom to pursue whatever knowledge scholars wanted to pursue. Islamic institutions were generally ambivalent to Greek learning. This could have contributed to the deterioration of Islamic learning in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Front 84

How would you characterize the Islamic scientific achievement? Is Pierre Duhem right?

Back 84

-Reflecting on the purpose of Islamic science (compiling, studying, and building on the Greek achievement), it is clear that Islamic scientists made a significant contribution to science.
-In astronomy, Islamic scientists studied and endeavored to improve on the Ptolemaic system (improving the calculations possible in the system). Al-Battani, Al-Farghani, and Thibat ibn Qurra were among the scientists who dedicated themselves to this venture.
-In optics, it was the work of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) who contributed the most. He developed an intromission theory of vision which carried on through the Middle Ages and into the early modern period (until Kepler).

Front 85

What two factors may have contributed to the decline of Islamic science?

Back 85

-Conservative orthodox Islamic element which distrusted and failed to see the utility of the foreign sciences (science remained a primarily marginal enterprise in Islam).
-Continuous wars both in the west (the Reconquista in Spain) and in the east (Mongols sacking Baghdad in 1258) did not allow for great stability in the educational enterprise.
-The apathy of educational institutions toward foreign learning (Greek) on hastened its demise in the Islamic world.