Well, there are not many historians on tips, so I'm probably safe speculating about the Greek miracle. Since IQ cannot change dramatically over the course of a few thousand years, I assume the amount of raw brain power available in a given time/place is relatively constant. My guess is that the Greek miracle hinged on(1) wealth. these were slave-owners(2) climate. they were free to mingle and gather and argue for lengthy periods of the year sans hats and mittens in (3) cities. Also, maybe the rise of academies/colleges permits a continuity of thought between generations, as well as collection (oral as well as written), or record, of the intellectual debates of the time. I like to think smart people have argued pretty effectively for thousands of years around campfires, but the arguments need to be preserved and passed on to posterity.
========================== John W. Kulig Professor of Psychology Plymouth State University Plymouth NH 03264 ========================== ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Dougan" <[email protected]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:29:12 PM Subject: Re: [tips] Galileo Was Wrong? I sometimes engage in a speculative exercise with my students - imagining what might have happened had the Dark Ages not intervened between the "Greek Miracle" and the Renaissance (of course, it wouldn't have really been a rebirth). Seriously - where would science and technology be today had progress been more continuous? I am thinking Star Trek.... ;) At 04:25 PM 9/15/2010, you wrote: > > > > >Marc Carter wrote: >> >>Those old guys were *smart*... >> >> > >If ever you hear of a concentration of philosophical, scientific, >and artistic talent like there was in Athens between, say, 450 and >350 bc (a city of about 100,000 back then) move there and start >drinking the water, breathing the air, and eating food grown from >the surrounding ground. Something pretty astonishing was happening >back then. (And when you consider that geniuses like Aristarchus and >Archimedes came a century later during the Hellenistic "decline"... ) > >Chris >-- > >Christopher D. Green >Department of Psychology >York University >Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 >Canada > > > >416-736-2100 ex. 66164 ><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] >http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ > >========================== >>> >>>-----Original Message----- >>>From: Christopher D. Green >>>[<mailto:[email protected]>mailto:[email protected]] >>>Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 2:49 PM >>>To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) >>>Subject: Re: [tips] Galileo Was Wrong? >>> >>>Just for the record, Aristarchus of Samos outlined a >>>heliocentric model of the universe 1700 years before Copernicus. >>> >>>Chris >>>-- >>> >>>Christopher D. Green >>>Department of Psychology >>>York University >>>Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 >>>Canada >>> >>> >>> >>>416-736-2100 ex. 66164 >>><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] >>>http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ >>> >>>========================== >>> >>> >>>========= >>> >>>Marc Carter wrote: >>> >>>> >>>>Good points, John. >>>> >>>>It was really Copernicus who gave us the notion that you >>>> >>> >>>could better explain the motions of the planets; it was >>>Kepler who worked out elliptical orbits (but hated them -- >>>circular motion required no explanation, but ellipses do), >>>and Newton who invented gravity to explain the elliptical orbits. >>> >>>> >>>>Galileo gave observational evidence that there were more >>>> >>> >>>than "seven heavenly bodies" in his observations of the >>>satellites of Jupiter. >>> >>>> >>>>He gets the "blame" because he was the one who provided >>>> >>> >>>evidence for the notion that things weren't as the Ptolemaic >>>system would have it. >>> >>>> >>>>m >>>> >>>>-- >>>>Marc Carter, PhD >>>>Associate Professor and Chair >>>>Department of Psychology >>>>College of Arts & Sciences >>>>Baker University >>>>-- >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>> >>>>>-----Original Message----- >>>>>From: John Kulig >>>>>[<mailto:[email protected]>mailto:[email protected]] >>>>>Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 6:44 PM >>>>>To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) >>>>>Subject: Re: [tips] Galileo Was Wrong? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>Yeah, I agree! (sort of, but ...) My understanding >>>>> >>> >>>(haven't read the >>> >>>>> >>>>>original) is that Copernicus (Latinized from the Polish name >>>>>Kopernik) was theoretically embedded in the medieval way >>>>> >>> >>>of thinking >>> >>>>> >>>>>which was to try to fit the available data into pre-existing >>>>>medieval-style thinking. I believe he showed that either a geo or >>>>>helio-centered universe could be made consistent with >>>>> >>> >>>existing data. >>> >>>>> >>>>>Galileo deserves a tremendous amount of credit for pushing science >>>>>forward, but look to Kepler's three laws of planetary motion >>>>>(1609/1619) for a real data-driven science (Tycho Brahe's data >>>>>though), moving from the perfect circles of medieval thinking to >>>>>elliptical orbits. But in empirically derived laws, he saw a >>>>>different sort of perfection, mathematically, such as the >>>>>relationship between distance from the sun and time to >>>>> >>> >>>orbit (3rd law >>> >>>>> >>>>>I believe) ... >>>>> >>>>>========================== >>>>>John W. Kulig >>>>>Professor of Psychology >>>>>Plymouth State University >>>>>Plymouth NH 03264 >>>>> >>>>> >>> >>>==================================================================== >>> >>>>> >>>>>GALILEO GALILEI: >>>>>I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who >>>>> >>> >>>has endowed >>> >>>>> >>>>>us with sense, reasons, and intellect has intended us to >>>>> >>> >>>forgo their >>> >>>>> >>>>>use. >>>>> >>>>> >>> >>>==================================================================== >>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>>The information contained in this e-mail and any >>>> >>> >>>attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University >>>("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of >>>only the individual or entity named above. The information >>>may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures >>>acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is >>>not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, >>>dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is >>>strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in >>>error please immediately notify Baker University by email >>>reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail >>>message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. >>> >>>> >>>>--- >>>>You are currently subscribed to tips as: >>>><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]. >>>>To unsubscribe click here: >>>> >>>> >>> >>><http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd0>http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd0 >>> >>>> >>>>da&n=T&l=tips&o=4826 or send a blank email to >>>> >>>> >>> >>><mailto:leave-4826-13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd...@fsulist.frostburg.ed>leave-4826-13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd...@fsulist.frostburg.ed >>> >>>> >>>>u >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>>--- >>>You are currently subscribed to tips as: >>><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]. >>>To unsubscribe click here: >>><http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13029.76c7c563b32ad9d8d09c72>http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13029.76c7c563b32ad9d8d09c72 >>>a2d17c90e1&n=T&l=tips&o=4860 >>>or send a blank email to >>><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] >>>tburg.edu >>> >>> >> >> >>The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments >>thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is >>intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual >>or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal >>and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the >>reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are >>notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of >>this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this >>e-mail in error please immediately notify Baker University by email >>reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message >>and any attachments thereto. Thank you. >> >>--- >>You are currently subscribed to tips as: >><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]. >>To unsubscribe click here: >><http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd0da&n=T&l=tips&o=4862>http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd0da&n=T&l=tips&o=4862 >>or send a blank email to >><mailto:leave-4862-13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd...@fsulist.frostburg.edu>leave-4862-13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd...@fsulist.frostburg.edu >> >> > > > >--- > >You are currently subscribed to tips as: ><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]. > >To unsubscribe click here: ><http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13263.f23077b60542b92033df4d2e208706de&n=T&l=tips&o=4865>http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13263.f23077b60542b92033df4d2e208706de&n=T&l=tips&o=4865 > >(It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > >or send a blank email to ><mailto:leave-4865-13263.f23077b60542b92033df4d2e20870...@fsulist.frostburg.edu>leave-4865-13263.f23077b60542b92033df4d2e20870...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13338.f659d005276678c0696b7f6beda66454&n=T&l=tips&o=4891 or send a blank email to leave-4891-13338.f659d005276678c0696b7f6beda66...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=4894 or send a blank email to leave-4894-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
