Gifts from the Greeks

1. Philosophy: The ancient Greeks were the first to try to explain the world around them without resorting to things like magic myth or religion. Philosophy starts with the great Greek thinkers such as , and it is something that shapes our world to this day.

2. Astronomy: Some of the most important discoveries of in the field of astrology can be summarized in: the naming of the different planets, planet deriving from Greek word that means wonderer; the idea that the Earth rotates around its axis; the idea that the Earth is part of a heliocentric system, which means that the Earth, along with all the other planets revolve around a static Sun; the first 3D model of the movement of the planets; the categorization of the stars, organizing them into constellations; and a highly accurate assumption about the circumference of the Earth based on the angle of shadows in different parts of the World.

3. Mathematics: Geometry and its rules were invented by Euclid. Euclidian geometry is the first we come in contact as we go to school. Almost all the basic knowledge that we have about mathematics is a result of the discoveries of Ancient Greece.

4. Botany: Aristotle was one of the first botanists in the world. He collected information about most of the plants that were known in the world at that time. One of his students, Theophrastus, who is also considered one of the inventors of this new field, categorized, and named all these plants.

5. Biology: This vast topic was studied by some of the greatest minds of Ancient Greece, including Aristotle, Hypocrites or Dioscorides. One main topic of debate was natural selection.

6. Zoology: Zoology is the study of animals, involves studying the different species of animals, the environment in which they live, and their organs. Aristotle was very persistent with his studies of the zoological sciences and made many contributions to how we study zoology today. He made observations on the anatomy of octopi, cuttlefish, crustaceans, and many other marine invertebrates that were remarkably accurate. These discoveries on anatomy could only have been made by dissecting the animals. Through dissection, Greek zoologists studied the structures and functions of anatomies of various animals. Some structures that were studied were bones and membranes.

The legacy of the discoveries of Ancient Greece can be seen everywhere around us. Our modern society and our modern way of living couldn’t be possible without the great developments, in culture, politics, science and technology, made by the ancient Greeks. Democracy was also a Greek invention, and what it has flourished into in our times is a product of ancient Greek culture. Most of the greatest questions posed by some of the first philosophers of the world, like Aristotle, are still without answer today. Many western civilizations are a product of the way of life, the culture, and the ideas of Ancient Greece. The discoveries of Ancient Greece should be regarded as some of the most important achievements in human history. http://www.mysticmadness.com/discoveries-of-ancient-greece.html

There were many ways to bring water into the city for people to use. Many great thinkers such as Archimedes, Hero, and Eupalinus discovered extraordinary ways to draw water more economically to the cities of Greece. Of all the many different inventions, there were three major inventions that made important contributions to the water supply of Greece.

The three inventions are:

Archimedes’ screw - Archimedes, one of the greatest thinkers of ancient Greece, developed this invention. It was used to lift water from a lower elevation to a higher elevation by means of a tube that is internally threaded. The threads on the inside collect water and as the tube rotates, the water is brought up and put into a storage tank. This massive device was run by human power. The person running the screw, usually a slave, held onto a rail at the top and used his own muscle power to propel the water upward.

Aqueducts and bridging - The Greeks also used techniques such as aqueducts and bridging valleys. They used these devices because the Greeks thought that the water could only be moved if it was moving downward or on a straight path. So in order to keep the water flowing, they built aqueducts through mountains and built bridges over valleys. In the sixth century a Greek engineer by the name of Eupalinus of Megara built the aqueduct of Samos.

Siphon Principle - Hero, a Greek who lived after 150 B.C. was the first hydraulic engineer. He modernized the obtaining of water through a method known as the siphon principle. The siphon principle allows the pipes that carry the water to follow the terrain of the land, and then the aqueduct and bridging techniques were no longer used as often. http://www.crystalinks.com/greekscience.html

Aristotle – established the science of botany. Botany is the study of plant life. Thales of is regarded by many as the father of science, discovered the solstice and equinox.

Theophrastus - classified and named plants. Theophrastus is often called the father of botany.

Eratosthenes, a scientist of ancient Greece, made the first accurate measurement of the Earth's diameter.

Hippodamus of Miletus – invented the system of planning public works. Public works were one of the greatest influences in Ancient Greece, helped boost the economy, and led to a more sanitary life style.

Hippocrates - "the father of medicine," discovered there were scientific reasons for ailments.

Pythagoras - A leading figure among the early Greek mathematicians is . The followers of Pythagoras are also able to prove that whatever the shape of a triangle, its three angles always add up to the sum of two right angles (180 degrees).

Aristarchus - believes that the earth is in orbit round the sun (quite contrary to what is plain for anyone to see).

Hipparchus - He lists about 850 stars, placing each in terms of its celestial latitude and longitude and recording its relative brightness on a scale of six, equinox (when day and night are of equal length). Ptolemy – was one of the greatest astronomers and geographers of ancient times. He was also known as Claudius Ptolemaeu. His system of astronomy was accepted until 1543. In this system, he placed the Earth at the center of the universe, and the stars on a rotating sphere. Between the Earth and stars, he placed the sun and planets which moved around a point close to the Earth.

Some Websites to check out ~ http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Ssolsys.htm - Discovery of the Solar System http://airandspace.si.edu/etp/discovery/disc_ancient.html - Solar System, “Ancient Times” http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Inventions.htm - Ancient Greek Inventions http://greece.mrdonn.org/achievements.html - Achievements Gifts from the Greeks http://kids.librarypoint.org/node/2280/ - Early Astronomers http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Login?ed=wb&subacct=N8721 -- World Book Web

http://online.infobaselearning.com/direct.aspx?pid=WE00&aid=103999 – Facts on File Science and Human Body http://auth.grolier.com/login/go_login_page.html?bffs=N -- Grolier Online Encyclopedias

Some of Grolier's suggestions for good Greece sites: http://www.ancient-greece.org/ http://greece.mrdonn.org/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/ http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/ http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/greece/gr0000e.shtml http://www.artic.edu/cleo/index.html http://www.digonsite.com/drdig/greece/index.html http://www.livius.org/greece.html http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/index.html http://www.mythweb.com/index.html http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/en/ http://www.mrdowling.com/701greece.html http://odysseus.culture.gr/index_en.html http://www.penn.museum/sites/Greek_World/index.html http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/ca/books/bkf3/imaps/AC_12_389_citystates/AC_12_ 389_citystates.html http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/siteindex/f2_html.html http://www.penn.museum/sites/olympics/olympicintro.shtml