During the time of the great Greek Philosophers, Plato was expounding on the idea that our world was but a shadowy reflection of a more pure and perfect reality - the Platonic Ideal. Because our world was an imperfect representation of "truth", experimentation in this world did not lead to truth. As a result, science at the time was really a branch of philosophy. Thinking about the world allowed you to understand it more than "tinkering" ever could.
This approach led to some great failures as well as a few correct scientific ideas.
As an example of a failure, it was believed that the world was comprised of different combinations of the four basic elements: fire, water, earth and air. For instance, it was believed that trees were made of water, earth and fire, because in order to burn wood you had to dry it (removing the water), then when you burned it (releasing the fire) you were left with ashes (earth).
As an example of a correct idea, we can look to Democritus.
Here is a version of the thought process he may have had: If you had a piece of cheese and cut it in half, then cut one of the halves in half, and so on, and so on, there would come a point where the piece of cheese was so small that the knife blade could no longer cut it. No matter how sharp a blade you imagine, there will come a point where the piece of cheese is as small, or smaller, than the edge of the knife. At that point, you can not make the piece of cheese any smaller. It is, simply, un-cuttable.
Democritus proposed that this was the state of all matter - that the world was made up of tiny un-cuttable things which he called atomos (the Greek word for indivisible). This is, of course, the origin of our word "atom."
Given that Aristotle's name is a household word and very few people (outside of chemistry classes) know of Democritus, we know who won the "fight." Of course, Democritus got the last laugh in--he was right. It just took us almost 2500 years to figure it out.
This approach led to some great failures as well as a few correct scientific ideas.
As an example of a failure, it was believed that the world was comprised of different combinations of the four basic elements: fire, water, earth and air. For instance, it was believed that trees were made of water, earth and fire, because in order to burn wood you had to dry it (removing the water), then when you burned it (releasing the fire) you were left with ashes (earth).
As an example of a correct idea, we can look to Democritus.
Democritus
Original Oil Painting by Antoine Coypel II
Somewhere around 450 B.C.E., a philosopher named Democritus was thinking about the matter (or stuff) that made up the world. He applied a version of Xeno's paradox to the problem.Here is a version of the thought process he may have had: If you had a piece of cheese and cut it in half, then cut one of the halves in half, and so on, and so on, there would come a point where the piece of cheese was so small that the knife blade could no longer cut it. No matter how sharp a blade you imagine, there will come a point where the piece of cheese is as small, or smaller, than the edge of the knife. At that point, you can not make the piece of cheese any smaller. It is, simply, un-cuttable.
Democritus proposed that this was the state of all matter - that the world was made up of tiny un-cuttable things which he called atomos (the Greek word for indivisible). This is, of course, the origin of our word "atom."
Democritus v. Aristotle
Unfortunately for Democritus, Aristotle was also pondering matter at the time, and he had a very different take. Aristotle believed that matter was "continuous." In other words, there was no smallest piece. Things could be infinitely divided. Imagine having perfectly smooth peanut butter. Aristotle imagined that you could spread it thinner and thinner and that there would be, in fact, no limit to how thinly it could be spread.Given that Aristotle's name is a household word and very few people (outside of chemistry classes) know of Democritus, we know who won the "fight." Of course, Democritus got the last laugh in--he was right. It just took us almost 2500 years to figure it out.
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