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Book, Software, and Web Site Reviews |
Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X5 Canada
Maria Michela Sassi wrote this remarkable book as an attempt to describe the origins of science and philosophy in ancient Greece. It is clear that the author carefully studied hundreds of texts written by Giants like Aristotle, Plato, Aristophanes, Euripides, Hesiod, Hippocrates, Xenophon, and others and extracted material that could be put together as a logical unit, her book. But, what does this book address? Guided by the title, I expected something different, at least at the beginning. However, here "science" is used as a broad term, covering anything from philosophy to cultural behavior.
The Greeks had an interest in studying differences among individuals, such as gender, age, social class, and ethnic group, as well as studying biologic phenomena, e.g., menstruation, conception, embryology, zoology, and so forth. Using primitive observational tools, they then tried to explain such phenomena. Needless to say, most of their theories related to these phenomena are now known to be completely false and do not agree with current scientific knowledge. What is fascinating, however, is the realization that they asked the questions first and then established the scientific method of approaching the problem by using imagination, systematic classification, and detailed description. Their work forms the basis of creating organized knowledge, documenting it in writing and using it for teaching. This is the basis of what we know today as "academics", a process of creating knowledge, putting it to practice and then modifying it continuously until it settles to something solid. They, with Aristotle as the leading scientist, started what we practice today in our academic institutions (research and teaching).
On many occasions, Sassi provides authentic pieces of ancient writings and all of them are fascinating to read. A single piece excerpted below, from a Hippocratic writing that addresses medical prognostication, may still form the basis of an excellent preface of any modern medical textbook:
Expertise in making prognoses (pronoia) seems to me the highest skill to which a doctor may aspire. Indeed, by foreknowing and foretelling (proginõskõ, prolegõ), by the patient’s bedside, both how things stand at present and how they stood in the past and will stand in the future, and by recounting in detail what the patient omits to say, the doctor will arouse greater trust in his knowledge of the condition of the sick, so that men will risk entrusting themselves to his care. And the best way for him to carry out a cure would be by foreseeing (prooraõ) future events on the basis of the present situation. It is impossible to cure all the sick, though this would be more important than foreknowing the development of the illness. Yet since people do die, sometimes from the violence of the disease and before the doctor can be called, or else by the time they call him in - some lasting out a day and others little more - before the doctor can combat by his art each disease, then it is necessary to understand the nature of such affections and the degree to which they prevail over the body’s resistance and to know whether illness has anything divine about it and to make predictions. This indeed would be the way to rouse the admiration of others and become a good doctor. For if a doctor is capable of anticipating every possible development (probouleuomai), all patients fit to survive may be the better cured. Moreover, by foreknowing and foretelling (proginõskõn te kai prolegõn) who is destined to die and who to be saved, he will be released of all responsibility.
Who should read this book? When young, we are pressured to learn our chosen specialties and try to contribute new knowledge. As time goes by, many of us feel the desire to link our current knowledge to the past and understand how our ancient colleagues investigated similar problems by using the tools of imagination and careful observation. This book is clearly a nice and quick, yet authoritative and interpretative summary of the works of numerous Greek scientists and philosophers. I have no doubt that the reader of this collection will appreciate the fundamental contribution of these giants in modern philosophy and science and in creating what we know today as "academics". Put in the context of time, their imagination will be admired and their "wrong conclusions" will be forgiven.
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