X了先

In prehistoric times, advice and knowledge was passed from generation to generation in an oral tradition. For example, the domestication of maize for agriculture has been dated to about 9,000 years ago in southern Mexico, before the development of writing systems.Similarly, archaeological evidence indicates the development of astronomical knowledge in preliterate societies.
The development of writing enabled knowledge to be stored and communicated across generations with much greater fidelity. Combined with the development of agriculture, which allowed for a surplus of food, it became possible for early civilizations to develop, because more time could be devoted to tasks other than survival.
Many ancient civilizations collected astronomical information in a systematic manner through simple observation. Though they had no knowledge of the real physical structure of the planets and stars, many theoretical explanations were proposed. Basic facts about human physiology were known in some places, and alchemy was practiced in several civilizations.Considerable observation of macrobiotic flora and fauna was also performed.
在史前时代，知识早就以口头传统的方式代代相传。例如早在9000年前，当时文字还没出现，墨西哥南部就已经有农业种植玉米了。同样，考古学证明天文学知识在没有文字的时代就已经存在。
文字的发展使知识能得以更忠实的传承下来。到人类踏入农业耕作的时代，剩余的食物使人类有更多的时间发展文明，而不是单纯的考虑生存。最基本、最古老的科学知识，首推天文学。
古时许多文明国家，通过简单的观察收集天文信息，并以较为系统的方式纪录。虽然他们并不知道这些天体的真实结构，许多关于行星和星系的自然现象，都开始有了理论上的阐释。一些人体结构的研究开始显现，并且开始有人观察动物群落和植物群落的特质；同时一些炼金术的理论，也在几个主要文明出现。

Science in the Ancient Near East
From their beginnings in Sumer (now Iraq) around 3500 BC, the Mesopotamian peoples began to attempt to record someobservations of the world with numerical data. But their observations and measurements were seemingly taken for purposes other than for scientific laws. A concrete instance of Pythagoras' law was recorded, as early as the 18th century BC: the Mesopotamian cuneiform tablet Plimpton 322 records a number of Pythagorean triplets (3,4,5) (5,12,13). ..., dated 1900 BC, possibly millennia before Pythagoras,but an abstract formulation of the Pythagorean theorem was not.
In Babylonian astronomy, records of the motions of the stars, planets, and the moon are left on thousands of clay tablets created byscribes. Even today, astronomical periods identified by Mesopotamian scientists are still widely used in Western calendars such as thesolar year and the lunar month. Using these data they developed arithmetical methods to compute the changing length of daylight in the course of the year and to predict the appearances and disappearances of the Moon and planets and eclipses of the Sun and Moon. Only a few astronomers' names are known, such as that of Kidinnu, a Chaldean astronomer and mathematician. Kiddinu's value for the solar year is in use for today's calendars. Babylonian astronomy was "the first and highly successful attempt at giving a refined mathematical description of astronomical phenomena." According to the historian A. Aaboe, "all subsequent varieties of scientific astronomy, in the Hellenistic world, in India, in Islam, and in the West—if not indeed all subsequent endeavour in the exact sciences—depend upon Babylonian astronomy in decisive and fundamental ways."

新月大地上的科技
早在公元3500年前，中东的幼发拉底河一带（即今伊拉克）的人，已开始发展出一套以数学概念，纪录自然现象的方式。但是这些观察都只是有其他目的，而非纯粹自然科学研究。举例当时已有类似毕氏定理的数字研究纪录，包含了一系列的数组——(3,4,5)、(5,12,13)。但这始终都未能证明这些是毕氏定律的研究。
巴比伦在的天文学上，当时的抄录员在上千个石碑上记录了恒星、行星及月球的运行。时至今日，由美索不达米亚科学家确定的天文时间在西方记历中仍被广泛使用，诸如太阳纪年以及月球纪月，当地的科学家使用较成熟的数学理论的数据，来计算每年日长的变化，并预测诸如日月食等现象的发生。只有少数天文学家的姓名流传了下来，如西丹努斯，秘术天文学家及数学家，西丹努斯关于岁差的理论沿用至今。巴比伦的天文学是人类最早也是利用数学理论来解释描述天文现象较为成功的科学尝试。历史学家Asger Hartvig Aaboe认为，天文科学之后在希腊世界，印度，伊斯兰，以及西欧等地区衍生的各类科技，即便不完全是必然演化，也基本多是建立在巴比伦天文学这决定性及坚实的基础之上的。

科学史在我们这选修课

Ancient Egypt made significant advances in astronomy, mathematics and medicine. Their development of geometrywas a necessary outgrowth of surveying to preserve the layout and ownership of farmland, which was flooded annually by the Nile river. The 3-4-5 right triangle and other rules of thumb were used to build rectilinear structures, and the post and lintel architecture of Egypt. Egypt was also a center of alchemy research for much of the Mediterranean.
The Edwin Smith papyrus is one of the first medical documents still extant, and perhaps the earliest document that attempts to describe and analyse the brain: it might be seen as the very beginnings of modern neuroscience. However, while Egyptian medicine had some effective practices, it was not without its ineffective and sometimes harmful practices. Medical historians believe that ancient Egyptian pharmacology, for example, was largely ineffective. Nevertheless, it applies the following components to the treatment of disease: examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, which display strong parallels to the basic empirical method of science and according to G. E. R. Lloyd played a significant role in the development of this methodology. The Ebers papyrus (c. 1550 BC) also contains evidence of traditional empiricism.
同时在古埃及，天文学、数学和医药研究都开始有了雏型。几何学被普遍应用于土地测量，如“3、4、5”直角三角形等资料纪录，代表着古时的埃及已发展出一个实质的几何体系。而古埃及也是地中海流域的炼金术研究中心。
《艾德温·史密斯纸草文稿》是人类史上第一部医学著作，由莎草纸写成，是史上第一次文中指称“脑”这个器官的文件，并提及脑膜、脊髓及脑脊液等等部位,可谓最早的神经外科医学文献。然而，尽管古埃及有一些有效的医学实践，但另外也有无效的甚至是伤害性的实践。例如，医学历史学家认为，古埃及的药理学大部分是无效的。然而，他们使用检查、诊断、治疗、预测等治疗疾病的方法，在劳埃德的关于经验主义的研究发展，在他的《魔法，理性与经验：希腊科学起源及发展》一书中，将这认为是科学的经验主义开始，同时对于经验主义的发展有深远的意义。

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Science in the Greek world
In Classical Antiquity, the inquiry into the workings of the universe took place both in investigations aimed at such practical goals as establishing a reliable calendar or determining how to cure a variety of illnesses and in those abstract investigations known as natural philosophy. The ancient people who are considered the firstscientists may have thought of themselves as natural philosophers, as practitioners of a skilled profession (for example, physicians), or as followers of a religious tradition (for example, temple healers).
The earliest Greek philosophers, known as the pre-Socratics,provided competing answers to the question found in the myths of their neighbors: "How did the ordered cosmos in which we live come to be?"The pre-Socratic philosopher Thales (640-546 BC), dubbed the "father of science", was the first to postulate non-supernatural explanations for natural phenomena, for example, that land floats on water and that earthquakes are caused by the agitation of the water upon which the land floats, rather than the god Poseidon.Thales' student Pythagoras of Samos founded the Pythagorean school, which investigated mathematics for its own sake, and was the first to postulate that the Earth is spherical in shape.Leucippus(5th century BC) introduced atomism, the theory that all matter is made of indivisible, imperishable units calledatoms. This was greatly expanded by his pupil Democritus.
希腊科学
在古典时期，面对着一些实际性问题的解决，包括编制历法和疾病治疗，纯粹的自然科学研究慢慢开始兴起。当时从事科学研究的人，通常不被称作“科学家”，而被视为科学上的哲学家。
最早期的科学哲学家起源于古希腊，一般称他们为前苏格拉底哲学家。他们对于神话中问题：“宇宙是从何而来？”提供了完整的回答。哲学家泰勒斯(前640-546年)，又被称为“科学之父”，是第一个尝试用理性思维来解释自然现象，如陆地浮在水上及地震是由水面搅动引起的（而不是海神引起的）。他的学生毕达哥拉斯创立了毕达哥拉斯主义,他对数学的原理进行了研究，并且是第一个提出大地是球体。留基伯率先提出了原子论，认为每一种事物都是由原子所组成的,其后由他的学生德谟克利特发扬光大。

Subsequently, Plato and Aristotle produced the first systematic discussions of natural philosophy, which did much to shape later investigations of nature. Their development of deductive reasoning was of particular importance and usefulness to later scientific inquiry. Plato founded the Platonic Academy in 387 BC, whose motto was "Let none unversed in geometry enter here", and turned out many notable philosophers. Plato's student Aristotle introduced empiricism and the notion that universal truths can be arrived at via observation and induction, thereby laying the foundations of the scientific method. Aristotle also produced many biological writings that were empirical in nature, focusing on biological causation and the diversity of life. He made countless observations of nature, especially the habits and attributes of plants and animals in the world around him, classified more than 540 animal species, and dissected at least 50. Aristotle's writings profoundly influenced subsequent Islamic and European scholarship, though they were eventually superseded in the Scientific Revolution.
其后以柏拉图和亚里士多德等为首的后起者，相继出版了首批的自然哲学著作。他们发展的演绎推理对后来的科学研究起重要作用。柏拉图于前387年建立了柏拉图学院，许多古希腊哲学名士曾受教于此。他的学生亚里士多德提出的经验主义认为，一起宇宙真理都可以通过观察和归纳得到，这就是科学方法的基础。亚里士多德的理论及著作对伊斯兰世界及欧洲有深远的影响，虽然有一些理论在科学革命中推翻，但却为后世的科学探索，奠下重要基础。
The important legacy of this period included substantial advances in factual knowledge, especially in anatomy, zoology, botany, mineralogy, geography,mathematics and astronomy; an awareness of the importance of certain scientific problems, especially those related to the problem of change and its causes; and a recognition of the methodological importance of applying mathematics to natural phenomena and of undertaking empirical research.
在这段期间，不同形式和类型的科学，都开始有个雏型。这包括了动物学、植物学、天文学等等；而一些像物理和数学的简单理论，也开始出现。最典型的例子，首推毕达哥拉斯发表的毕氏定理；阿基米德发现了“杠杆原理”和“力矩”的观念。

Science in India
Mathematics: The earliest traces of mathematical knowledge in the Indian subcontinent appear with the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 4th millennium BC ~ c. 3rd millennium BC). The people of this civilization made bricks whose dimensions were in the proportion 4:2:1, considered favorable for the stability of a brick structure.They also tried to standardize measurement of length to a high degree of accuracy. They designed a ruler—the Mohenjo-daro ruler—whose unit of length (approximately 1.32 inches or 3.4 centimetres) was divided into ten equal parts. Bricks manufactured in ancient Mohenjo-daro often had dimensions that were integral multiples of this unit of length.
印度的科学
数学:印度次大陆的数学知识最早出现在印度河流域文明(公元前4000年～前3000年). 这个文明中的人考虑到砖体结构的稳定性，以4:2:1的比例制造砖。他们也尝试以高精度标准化长度测量。 他们设计了一种分成10等份的尺“摩亨佐-达罗尺”(长度大约3.4cm).古代摩亨佐-达罗的砖的规格一般是这种单位的整数倍。
Indian astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata (476-550), in hisAryabhatiya (499) introduced a number of trigonometric functions(including sine, versine, cosine and inverse sine), trigonometric tables, and techniques and algorithms of algebra. In 628 AD, Brahmaguptasuggested that gravity was a force of attraction.He also lucidly explained the use of zero as both a placeholder and a decimal digit, along with the Hindu-Arabic numeral system now used universally throughout the world. Arabic translations of the two astronomers' texts were soon available in the Islamic world, introducing what would becomeArabic numerals to the Islamic World by the 9th century. During the 14th–16th centuries, the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematicsmade significant advances in astronomy and especially mathematics, including fields such as trigonometry and analysis. In particular, Madhava of Sangamagrama is considered the "founder of mathematical analysis".
印度天文学家、数学家阿耶波多(476-550)在他的《阿耶波多历书》中使用了一些三角函数（如正弦, 正矢和余弦），三角表和技术，以及代数的运算法则. 628年, 婆罗摩笈多提出地球引力是一种引力。他还普及了数学中一个非常重要的概念：0,同时0也作为十进制的字符，并跟随印度-阿拉伯数字系统沿用到现在.这两本天文学书籍的阿拉伯语翻译版很快就传到伊斯兰世界,随后在9世纪在伊斯兰世界演变成阿拉伯数字 .14到16世纪，印度的天文学及数学上有明显的进步，如三角学与数学分析。特别是Madhava of Sangamagrama被认为是“数学分析的创始人”.

英文看不懂

Astronomy: The first textual mention of astronomical concepts comes from the Vedas, religious literature of India.One finds in the Rigveda intelligent speculations about the genesis of the universe from nonexistence, the configuration of the universe, the spherical self-supporting earth, and the year of 360 days divided into 12 equal parts of 30 days each with a periodical intercalary month.Nilakantha Somayaji's astronomical treatise the Tantrasangraha similar in nature to the Tychonic system proposed by Tycho Brahe had been the most accurate astronomical model until the time of Johannes Kepler in the 17th century.
天文学:印度的宗教典籍吠陀经是第一部记载天文学概念的书，古印度人把一年分成12个月，一个月为30日，所余差额则用闰月来弥补.Nilakantha Somayaji的天文学论著Tantrasangraha与第谷·布拉赫的第谷系统相似，直到17世纪的开普勒时代前是最精确的天文模型.
Medicine: Findings from Neolithic graveyards in what is now Pakistan show evidence of proto-dentistry among an early farming culture.Ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine that originated in ancient India before 2500 BC,and is now practiced as a form of alternative medicine in other parts of the world. Its most famous text is the Suśrutasamhitā of Suśruta, which is notable for describing procedures on various forms of surgery, including rhinoplasty, the repair of torn ear lobes, perineal lithotomy, cataract surgery, and several other excisions and other surgical procedures.
医学:从新石器时代的遗迹中（现在的巴基斯坦）发现一些早期的农业文化。阿育吠陀是起源于公元前2500年古印度的传统医学,而现代则以替代医学的一种形式在世界上使用. 古代印度人已经有比较丰富的药材知识，并且把药品制成各种药剂服用。最著名的文本是 Suśrutasamhitā of Suśruta，其中涉及了多类手术过程描述，包括鼻整形术，修复耳垂撕裂，会阴切除，白内障手术等

Metallurgy: The wootz, crucible and stainless steels were discovered in India, and were widely exported in Classic Mediterranean world. It was known from Pliny the Elder as ferrum indicum. Indian Wootz steel was held in high regard in Roman Empire, was often considered to be the best. After in Middle Age it was imported in Syria to produce with special techniques the "Damascus steel" by the year 1000.
冶金学: 古印度发明了伍兹钢, 坩埚钢与不锈钢并广泛传入地中海地区。老普林尼称之为ferrum indicum（印度铁）。罗马帝国一直很重视印度伍兹钢，并认为这是最好的。到中世纪传入叙利亚，并用作生产特殊工艺的大马士革钢.