If we mean a collection of quantitative observations and theoretical/mathematical models that can order these observations and give accurate predictions, then the astronomy of Hipparchus and Ptolemy is science. If by “science” we mean research based on systematic experimental activities, then it began more or less with Galileo. In the excerpt below, Rovelli, whom astute readers will remember from last year's There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important than Kindness, illustrates how even the works of intellectual titans like Einstein and Heisenberg can and inevitably are found lacking in their explanation of natural phenomena - in just the same way that those works themselves decimated the collective understanding of cosmological law under 19th century Newtonian physics.īy subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy. In in, Rovelli celebrates Animaxander, not necessarily for his scientific acumen but for his radical scientific thinking - specifically his talent for shrugging off conventional notion to glimpse at the physical underpinnings of the natural world. While Animaxander isn't often mentioned alongside the later greats of Greek philosophy, his influence on the scientific method cannot be denied, argues NYT bestselling author, Carlo Rovelli, in his latest book, Animaxander and the Birth of Science, out now from Riverhead Books. His other revolutionary notions include, 'hey, maybe animals evolved from other, earlier animals?' and 'the gods aren't angry, that's just thunder.' Among its earliest adherents - even before pioneering efforts of Aristotle - was Animaxander, the Greek philosopher credited with first arguing that the Earth exists within a void, not atop a giant turtle shell.

Science is the reason you aren't reading this by firelight nestled cozily under a rock somewhere however, its practice significantly predates its formalization by Galileo in the 16th century.

Anaximander by carlo rovelli