Prequel: Aristotle’s Doctrines: 600–300 BC

“Science leads to knowledge, but opinion breeds ignorance,” said Hippocrates. It may seem irrelevant to start an account of modern science with the philosophy of the ancient Greeks, but so many of their ideas were the driving force as science began to develop in Western Europe. The Sun revolves around the Earth. Everything in the world is made of air, water, earth and fire. Living organisms can arise by spontaneous generation when they obtain a “vital spark” from the air. These ideas came to us from Aristotle. Preceded by Socrates and Plato, Aristotle was the last of the great trio of ancient Greek philosophers. With interests ranging from astronomy to biology, and from linguistics to politics, Aristotle’s doctrines dominated Western thinking for the next thousand years, to the point at which he was simply called “The Philosopher.” After studying at Plato’s academy, he left Athens, and later became tutor to the future Alexander the Great. He returned to Athens for the last decade of his life, and started the Lyceum school. Most of his writings date from this period, but only a small part has survived. His legacy is immense.