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Research and Experiment in Early Greek Thought by Tyler Mayo A Research and Experiment in Early Greek Thought by Tyler Mayo A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Classical Studies) in the University of Michigan 2019 Doctoral Committee: Professor Francesca Schironi, Chair Professor Sara Ahbel-Rappe Professor Richard Janko Associate Professor Ian Moyer Tyler Edward Mayo [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2442-7127 To my mother and father ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, ad consuetudinem maiorum, I would like to begin by acknowledging and expressing my gratitude to the members of my committee: Professors Richard Janko, Ian Moyer, and Sara Abhel-Rappe. Their suggestions and criticisms helped me to rethink some, and alter other, points within this dissertation to its improvement, and saved me from numerous errors within the text, many of which surely still lurk within these pages and are my responsibility alone. However, I owe a special debt to my chair, Francesca Schironi, whose support not only made this dissertation possible, but who acted as a mentor throughout my entire time at Michigan. Her honesty and counsel were always welcome, and her careful philology can be seen within these pages, although I fear only as an imperfect reflection. Outside Angell Hall, others made my studies in Ann Arbor possible. The Posch family— John, Dyanna, Isabel, and most recently, Jude—acted as a family away from home, not least for their generous hospitality in boarding me. I shall always remember and cherish their ξενία. My wife Liz is certainly owed a place of honor in the beginning of this dissertation. Her support was essential in its creation as in all other things. Finally, I would like gratefully to dedicate this dissertation to my mother and father as the result of the passion for learning that they, in their own ways, both instilled into me. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION............................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1. The Historiography of (Greek) Science: Teleology and Relativism ................................... 3 1.2. Science and the Scientific Method ....................................................................................... 8 1.2.1. Observation ................................................................................................................. 12 1.2.2. Measurement ............................................................................................................... 14 1.2.3. Testing......................................................................................................................... 16 1.2.4. Experimentation .......................................................................................................... 17 1.2.5. Thought Experiments .................................................................................................. 20 1.2.6. Analogy ....................................................................................................................... 23 1.2.7. From the Scientific Method to Scientific Methods ..................................................... 25 1.3. Greek Categories for Natural Science ................................................................................ 26 1.3.1. Inquiry into Nature (ἱστορία περὶ φύσεως) ............................................................... 27 1.3.2. Natural Philosophy (φιλοσοφία φυσική or ἡ φυσική) ............................................... 31 1.4. Inquiry, Science, and Experimentation .............................................................................. 33 CHAPTER TWO: REASON AND THE SENSES IN EARLY NATURAL PHILOSOPHY ....................................................................................................................................................... 35 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 35 2.2 The Debate over Knowledge and the Use of the Senses .................................................... 36 2.3. Empirical Practice in Natural Philosophy .......................................................................... 47 2.3.1. The Milesians .............................................................................................................. 48 2.3.2. Empirical Practice and Philosophical Poets ................................................................ 53 2.3.3. Thought Experimentation among the Presocratics ..................................................... 61 iv 2.4. A Presocratic Model of Investigation ................................................................................ 67 CHAPTER THREE: EMPIRICAL ENGAGEMENT IN ON GENERATION/ON THE NATURE OF THE CHILD/DISEASES IV .............................................................................. 69 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 69 3.2. Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Corpus ........................................................................... 70 3.3. The Treatises On Generation/On the Nature of the Child and Diseases IV: Date and Author ....................................................................................................................................... 75 3.4. The Method of Genit./Nat. Pueri/Morb. IV: Analogy and Observation ........................... 78 3.5. Empirical Evidence in On Generation/On the Nature of the Child/On Diseases IV ......... 81 3.6.Two ἱστόρια on Human Growth ........................................................................................ 90 3.6.1. The “Six-Day Seed” .................................................................................................... 91 3.6.2. The Egg Experiment ................................................................................................... 98 3.7. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER FOUR: EARLY HARMONIC RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATION .. 103 4.1. Early Harmonic Theory: Theoreticians and Empiricists ................................................. 104 4.2. Pythagoras and Harmonic Theory ................................................................................... 109 4.2.1. Our Evidence on Pythagoras and the Pythagorean Tradition ................................... 110 4.2.2. Pythagorean Harmonic Theory vs. Modern Harmonics ........................................... 112 4.2.3. The Harmonic Experiments of Pythagoras ............................................................... 114 4.3. Hippasus, Glaucus, and the Discs .................................................................................... 121 4.4. Lasus of Hermione ........................................................................................................... 132 4.5. The Early Pythagoreans and Harmonic Tests .................................................................. 140 CHAPTER FIVE: HISTORY AND HISTORIA IN HERODOTUS .................................... 141 5.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 141 5.2. Herodotus and his Histories ............................................................................................. 142 5.3. ὄψις, ἀκοή, γνώμη, and ἱστορία: Herodotus’ empirical methodology ......................... 147 5.4. Experimentation and Psammetichus, the scientist-king ................................................... 153 5.4.1. Measuring the Depth of the Nile ............................................................................... 156 5.4.2. Psammetichus’ Linguistic Experiment ..................................................................... 160 5.5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 172 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 174 v 6.1. Early Greek Empiricism: Theory and Practice ................................................................ 176 6.2. Future Directions ............................................................................................................. 181 6.2.1. The Pre-Scientific and Pre-Greek Background ......................................................... 181 6.2.2. Greek Experiments Rediscovered ............................................................................. 182 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 188 vi vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Measuring the pyramids ..............................................................................................49 Figure 2.2: Empedocles’ model of respiration ...............................................................................55
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