1.
Constantinople
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Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
2.
Laurentian Library
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The Laurentian Library is a historic library in Florence, Italy, containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. It contains the manuscripts and books belonging to the library of the Medici family. The library is renowned for its architecture, designed by Michelangelo, a Codex Laurentianus identifies any of the book-bound manuscripts in the library. The Laurentian Library was commissioned in 1523 and construction began in 1525, however and it was then continued by Tribolo, Basari, and Ammannati based on plans and verbal instructions from Michelangelo. In this way, the library integrates parts executed by Michelangelo with others built much later in an interpretation of his instructions, the Laurentian Library is one of Michelangelos most important architectural achievements. Even Michelangelos contemporaries realized that the innovations and use of space in the Laurentian Library were revolutionary, the admirable distribution of the windows, the construction of the ceiling, and the fine entrance of the Vestibule can never be sufficiently extolled. The two-story Quattrocento cloister remained unchanged by the addition of the library, because of this, certain features of Michelangelo’s plan, such as length and width, were already determined. Therefore, new walls were built on pre-existing walls and cloisters, because the walls were built on pre-existing walls, recessing the columns into the walls was a structural necessity. This led to a style and pattern that Michelangelo took advantage of. The vestibule, also known as the ricetto, is 19.50 m long,10.50 m wide and it was built above existing monastic quarters on the east range of the cloister, with an entrance from the upper level of the cloisters. Originally, Michelangelo planned for a skylight, but Clement VII believed that it would cause the roof to leak, blank tapering windows––framed in pietra serena, surmounted by either triangular or segmental pediments, and separated by paired columns set into the wall––circumscribe the interior of the vestibule. The plan of the stairs changed dramatically in the design phase, originally in the first design in 1524, two flights of stairs were placed against the side walls and formed a bridge in front of the reading room door. A year later the stairway was moved to the middle of the vestibule, Tribolo attempted to carry out this plan in 1550 but nothing was built. Ammannati took on the challenge of interpreting Michelangelo’s ideas to the best of his abilities using a clay model, scanty material. The staircase leads up to the room and takes up half of the floor of the vestibule. The treads of the flights are convex and vary in width. The three lowest steps of the flight are wider and higher than the others, almost like concentric oval slabs. As the stairway descends, it divides into three flights, the reading room is 46.20 m. long,10.50 m. wide, and 8.4 m. high
3.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
4.
Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
5.
Philosophy
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Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The term was coined by Pythagoras. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument and systematic presentation, classic philosophical questions include, Is it possible to know anything and to prove it. However, philosophers might also pose more practical and concrete questions such as, is it better to be just or unjust. Historically, philosophy encompassed any body of knowledge, from the time of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to the 19th century, natural philosophy encompassed astronomy, medicine and physics. For example, Newtons 1687 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy later became classified as a book of physics, in the 19th century, the growth of modern research universities led academic philosophy and other disciplines to professionalize and specialize. In the modern era, some investigations that were part of philosophy became separate academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology. Other investigations closely related to art, science, politics, or other pursuits remained part of philosophy, for example, is beauty objective or subjective. Are there many scientific methods or just one, is political utopia a hopeful dream or hopeless fantasy. Major sub-fields of academic philosophy include metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, logic, philosophy of science, since the 20th century, professional philosophers contribute to society primarily as professors, researchers and writers. Traditionally, the term referred to any body of knowledge. In this sense, philosophy is related to religion, mathematics, natural science, education. This division is not obsolete but has changed, Natural philosophy has split into the various natural sciences, especially astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and cosmology. Moral philosophy has birthed the social sciences, but still includes value theory, metaphysical philosophy has birthed formal sciences such as logic, mathematics and philosophy of science, but still includes epistemology, cosmology and others. Many philosophical debates that began in ancient times are still debated today, colin McGinn and others claim that no philosophical progress has occurred during that interval. Chalmers and others, by contrast, see progress in philosophy similar to that in science, in one general sense, philosophy is associated with wisdom, intellectual culture and a search for knowledge. In that sense, all cultures and literate societies ask philosophical questions such as how are we to live, a broad and impartial conception of philosophy then, finds a reasoned inquiry into such matters as reality, morality and life in all world civilizations. Socrates was an influential philosopher, who insisted that he possessed no wisdom but was a pursuer of wisdom
6.
Aristotle
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Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of Stagira, Chalkidice, on the northern periphery of Classical Greece. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, at seventeen or eighteen years of age, he joined Platos Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven. Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, teaching Alexander the Great gave Aristotle many opportunities and an abundance of supplies. He established a library in the Lyceum which aided in the production of many of his hundreds of books and he believed all peoples concepts and all of their knowledge was ultimately based on perception. Aristotles views on natural sciences represent the groundwork underlying many of his works, Aristotles views on physical science profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. Their influence extended from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, some of Aristotles zoological observations, such as on the hectocotyl arm of the octopus, were not confirmed or refuted until the 19th century. His works contain the earliest known study of logic, which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern formal logic. Aristotle was well known among medieval Muslim intellectuals and revered as The First Teacher and his ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics. All aspects of Aristotles philosophy continue to be the object of academic study today. Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues – Cicero described his style as a river of gold – it is thought that only around a third of his original output has survived. Aristotle, whose means the best purpose, was born in 384 BC in Stagira, Chalcidice. His father Nicomachus was the physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. Aristotle was orphaned at a young age, although there is little information on Aristotles childhood, he probably spent some time within the Macedonian palace, making his first connections with the Macedonian monarchy. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, Aristotle moved to Athens to continue his education at Platos Academy and he remained there for nearly twenty years before leaving Athens in 348/47 BC. Aristotle then accompanied Xenocrates to the court of his friend Hermias of Atarneus in Asia Minor, there, he traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos, where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island. Aristotle married Pythias, either Hermiass adoptive daughter or niece and she bore him a daughter, whom they also named Pythias. Soon after Hermias death, Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his son Alexander in 343 BC, Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal academy of Macedon. During that time he gave not only to Alexander
7.
Platonic Academy
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The Academy was founded by Plato in ca.387 BC in Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years before founding his own school, the Academy persisted throughout the Hellenistic period as a skeptical school, until coming to an end after the death of Philo of Larissa in 83 BC. Among the religious observances that took place at the Akademeia was a night race from altars within the city to Prometheus altar in the Akademeia. Funeral games also took place in the area as well as a Dionysiac procession from Athens to the Hekademeia, the road to Akademeia was lined with the gravestones of Athenians. The site of the Academy is located near Colonus, approximately,1.5 km north of Athens Dipylon gates, the site was rediscovered in the 20th century, in modern Akadimia Platonos neighbourhood, considerable excavation has been accomplished and visiting the site is free. Visitors today can visit the site of the Academy located on either side of the Cratylus street in the area of Colonos and Platos Academy. According to Debra Nails, Speusippus joined the group in about 390 BC and she claims, It is not until Eudoxus of Cnidos arrives in the mid-380s BC that Eudemus recognizes a formal Academy. Originally, the location of the meetings was on Platos property as often as it was the nearby Academy gymnasium, though the Academic club was exclusive, not open to the public, it did not, during at least Platos time, charge fees for membership. Therefore, there was not at that time a school in the sense of a clear distinction between teachers and students, or even a formal curriculum. There was, however, a distinction between senior and junior members, Two women are known to have studied with Plato at the Academy, Axiothea of Phlius and Lasthenia of Mantinea. In at least Platos time, the school did not have any doctrine to teach, rather. There is evidence of lectures given, most notably Platos lecture On the Good, according to an unverifiable story, dated of some 700 years after the founding of the school, above the entrance to the Academy was inscribed the phrase Let None But Geometers Enter Here. Many have imagined that the Academic curriculum would have resembled the one canvassed in Platos Republic. Others, however, have argued such a picture ignores the obvious peculiar arrangements of the ideal society envisioned in that dialogue. The subjects of study almost certainly included mathematics as well as the topics with which the Platonic dialogues deal. Platos Academy is often said to have been a school for politicians in the ancient world. Diogenes Laërtius divided the history of the Academy into three, the Old, the Middle, and the New, at the head of the Old he put Plato, at the head of the Middle Academy, Arcesilaus, and of the New, Lacydes. Sextus Empiricus enumerated five divisions of the followers of Plato and he made Plato founder of the first Academy, Arcesilaus of the second, Carneades of the third, Philo and Charmadas of the fourth, Antiochus of the fifth
8.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
9.
Zoology
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The term is derived from Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion, i. e. animal and λόγος, logos, i. e. knowledge, study. The history of zoology traces the study of the kingdom from ancient to modern times. This ancient work was developed in the Middle Ages by Muslim physicians. During the Renaissance and early period, zoological thought was revolutionized in Europe by a renewed interest in empiricism. Microscopy revealed the unknown world of microorganisms, laying the groundwork for cell theory. The growing importance of natural theology, partly a response to the rise of mechanical philosophy, over the 18th and 19th centuries, zoology became an increasingly professional scientific discipline. Naturalists began to reject essentialism and consider the importance of extinction, cell theory provided a new perspective on the fundamental basis of life. These developments, as well as the results from embryology and paleontology, were synthesized in Charles Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection. In 1859, Darwin placed the theory of evolution on a new footing, by his discovery of a process by which organic evolution can occur. Darwin gave new direction to morphology and physiology, by uniting them in a biological theory. The end of the 19th century saw the fall of spontaneous generation, cell biology studies the structural and physiological properties of cells, including their behavior, interactions, and environment. This is done on both the microscopic and molecular levels, for single-celled organisms such as bacteria as well as the cells in multicellular organisms such as humans. Understanding the structure and function of cells is fundamental to all of the biological sciences, the similarities and differences between cell types are particularly relevant to molecular biology. Anatomy considers the forms of macroscopic structures such as organs and organ systems and it focuses on how organs and organ systems work together in the bodies of humans and animals, in addition to how they work independently. Anatomy and cell biology are two studies that are related, and can be categorized under structural studies. Physiology studies the mechanical, physical, and biochemical processes of living organisms by attempting to understand how all of the function as a whole. The theme of structure to function is central to biology, for example, what is learned about the physiology of yeast cells can also apply to human cells. The field of animal physiology extends the tools and methods of physiology to non-human species
10.
Nature
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Nature, in the broadest sense, is the natural, physical, or material world or universe. Nature can refer to the phenomena of the world. The study of nature is a part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or essential qualities, innate disposition, and in ancient times, literally meant birth. Natura is a Latin translation of the Greek word physis, which related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals. This usage continued during the advent of scientific method in the last several centuries. Within the various uses of the word today, nature often refers to geology, for example, manufactured objects and human interaction generally are not considered part of nature, unless qualified as, for example, human nature or the whole of nature. Depending on the context, the term natural might also be distinguished from the unnatural or the supernatural. Earth is the planet known to support life, and its natural features are the subject of many fields of scientific research. Within the solar system, it is third closest to the sun, it is the largest terrestrial planet and its most prominent climatic features are its two large polar regions, two relatively narrow temperate zones, and a wide equatorial tropical to subtropical region. Precipitation varies widely with location, from several metres of water per year to less than a millimetre,71 percent of the Earths surface is covered by salt-water oceans. The remainder consists of continents and islands, with most of the land in the Northern Hemisphere. Earth has evolved through geological and biological processes that have left traces of the original conditions, the outer surface is divided into several gradually migrating tectonic plates. The interior remains active, with a layer of plastic mantle. This iron core is composed of a solid phase. Convective motion in the core generates electric currents through dynamo action, the atmospheric conditions have been significantly altered from the original conditions by the presence of life-forms, which create an ecological balance that stabilizes the surface conditions. Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth, the geology of an area evolves through time as rock units are deposited and inserted and deformational processes change their shapes and locations
11.
Bird
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Birds, a subgroup of Reptiles, are the last living examples of Dinosaurs. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5 cm bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m ostrich. They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species, at ten thousand. Birds are the closest living relatives of crocodilians, the fossil record indicates that birds evolved from feathered ancestors within the theropod group of saurischian dinosaurs. True birds first appeared during the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago, Birds, especially those in the southern continents, survived this event and then migrated to other parts of the world while diversifying during periods of global cooling. Primitive bird-like dinosaurs that lie outside class Aves proper, in the broader group Avialae, have been found dating back to the mid-Jurassic period, around 170 million years ago. Birds have wings which are more or less developed depending on the species, the digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have evolved for swimming. Many species annually migrate great distances, Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and bird songs, and participating in such social behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of species are socially monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous or, rarely, Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents, most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Some birds, such as hens, lay eggs even when not fertilised, songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano is harvested for use as a fertiliser, Birds prominently figure throughout human culture. About 120–130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry, the first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae. Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use, Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the dinosaur clade Theropoda, Aves and a sister group, the clade Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria
12.
Feather
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Feathers are epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and they are among the characteristics that distinguish the extant birds from other living groups. Although feathers cover most parts of the body of birds, they arise only from certain well-defined tracts on the skin and they aid in flight, thermal insulation, and waterproofing. In addition, coloration helps in communication and protection, plumology is the name for the science that is associated with the study of feathers. Feathers are among the most complex integumentary appendages found in vertebrates and are formed in tiny follicles in the epidermis, or outer skin layer, that produce keratin proteins. There are two types of feather, vaned feathers which cover the exterior of the body. The pennaceous feathers are vaned feathers, also called contour feathers, pennaceous feathers arise from tracts and cover the entire body. In some passerines, filoplumes arise exposed beyond the contour feathers on the neck, the remiges, or flight feathers of the wing, and rectrices, the flight feathers of the tail are the most important feathers for flight. A typical vaned feather features a main shaft, called the rachis, fused to the rachis are a series of branches, or barbs, the barbs themselves are also branched and form the barbules. These barbules have minute hooks called barbicels for cross-attachment, down feathers are fluffy because they lack barbicels, so the barbules float free of each other, allowing the down to trap air and provide excellent thermal insulation. At the base of the feather, the rachis expands to form the hollow tubular calamus which inserts into a follicle in the skin, the basal part of the calamus is without vanes. This part is embedded within the follicle and has an opening at the base. Hatchling birds of species have a special kind of natal down feathers which are pushed out when the normal feathers emerge. Flight feathers are stiffened so as to work against the air in the downstroke, feathers insulate birds from water and cold temperatures. They may also be plucked to line the nest and provide insulation to the eggs, the individual feathers in the wings and tail play important roles in controlling flight. Some species have a crest of feathers on their heads, although feathers are light, a birds plumage weighs two or three times more than its skeleton, since many bones are hollow and contain air sacs. Color patterns serve as camouflage against predators for birds in their habitats, as with fish, the top and bottom colors may be different, in order to provide camouflage during flight. Striking differences in patterns and colors are part of the sexual dimorphism of many bird species and are particularly important in selection of mating pairs
13.
Marine biology
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Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the sea. Marine biology differs from marine ecology as marine ecology is focused on how organisms interact with each other, a large proportion of all life on Earth lives in the ocean. The exact size of this proportion is unknown, since many ocean species are still to be discovered. The ocean is a complex three-dimensional world covering approximately 71% of the Earths surface, the organisms studied range from microscopic phytoplankton and zooplankton to huge cetaceans 30 meters in length. Marine life is a vast resource, providing food, medicine, at a fundamental level, marine life helps determine the very nature of our planet. Marine organisms contribute significantly to the cycle, and are involved in the regulation of the Earths climate. Shorelines are in part shaped and protected by marine life, many species are economically important to humans, including both finfish and shellfish. It is also becoming understood that the well-being of marine organisms, the human body of knowledge regarding the relationship between life in the sea and important cycles is rapidly growing, with new discoveries being made nearly every day. These cycles include those of matter and of air, large areas beneath the ocean surface still remain effectively unexplored. The study of marine biology dates back to Aristotle, who made observations of life in the sea around Lesbos. In 1768, Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin published the Historia Fucorum, the first work dedicated to marine algae and it included elaborate illustrations of seaweed and marine algae on folded leaves. The British naturalist Edward Forbes is generally regarded as the founder of the science of marine biology, the pace of oceanographic and marine biology studies quickly accelerated during the course of the 19th century. The observations made in the first studies of marine biology fueled the age of discovery, during this time, a vast amount of knowledge was gained about the life that exists in the oceans of the world. Many voyages contributed significantly to this pool of knowledge, among the most significant were the voyages of the HMS Beagle where Charles Darwin came up with his theories of evolution and on the formation of coral reefs. The creation of laboratories was important because it allowed marine biologists to conduct research. The oldest marine laboratory in the world, Station biologique de Roscoff, was established in France in 1872, in the United States, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography dates back to 1903, while the prominent Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute was founded in 1930. As inhabitants of the largest environment on Earth, microbial marine systems drive changes in every global system, microbes are responsible for virtually all the photosynthesis that occurs in the ocean, as well as the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients and trace elements. Microscopic life undersea is incredibly diverse and still poorly understood, for example, the role of viruses in marine ecosystems is barely being explored even in the beginning of the 21st century
14.
Lesbos
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Lesbos, sometimes referred to as Mytilini after its capital, is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of 1,632.819 square kilometres with 320 kilometres of coastline and it is separated from Turkey by the narrow Mytilini Strait and in late Palaeolithic/Mesolithic times was joined to the Anatolian mainland before the end of the last glacial period. Lesbos is a regional unit of the North Aegean region. The others are Chios, Ikaria, Lemnos, and Samos, the total number of islands governed by the North Aegean are nine, Lesbos, Chios, Psara, Oinousses, Ikaria, Fournoi Korseon, Lemnos, Agios Efstratios and Samos. The capital of the North Aegean Region is Mytilene, the population of Lesbos is approximately 86,000, a third of whom live in its capital, Mytilene, in the southeastern part of the island. The remaining population is distributed in small towns and villages, the largest are Plomari, Kalloni, the Gera Villages, Agiassos, Eresos, and Molyvos. In fact the archaeological and linguistic record may indicate a late Iron Age arrival of Greek settlers although references in Late Bronze Age Hittite archives indicate a likely Greek presence then, the name Mytilene itself seems to be of Hittite origin. According to Homers Iliad, however, Lesbos was part of the kingdom of Priam in what is now Turkey, much work remains to be done to determine just what was happening and when. In the Middle Ages, it was under Byzantine and then Genoese rule, Lesbos was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1462. The Ottomans then ruled the island until the First Balkan War in 1912, according to Classical Greek mythology, Lesbos was the patron god of the island. Macar was reputedly the first king whose many daughters bequeathed their names to some of the present larger towns, in Classical myth his sister, Canace, was killed to have him made king. The place names with female origins are likely to be much earlier settlements named after local goddesses, homer refers to the island as Macaros edos, the seat of Macar. The abundant grey pottery ware found on the island and the worship of Cybele, the island was governed by an oligarchy in archaic times, followed by quasi-democracy in classical times. For a short period it was a member of the Athenian confederacy, its apostasy from which is recounted by Thucydides in the Mytilenian Debate, in Hellenistic times, the island belonged to various Successor kingdoms until 79 BC when it passed into Roman hands. During the Middle Ages it belonged to the Byzantine Empire, in 802, the Byzantine Empress Irene was exiled to Lesbos after her deposition, and died there. The island served as a base for the fleet of the rebel Thomas the Slav in the early 820s. In the 10th century, it was part of the theme of the Aegean Sea, in the 1090s, the island was briefly occupied by the Turkish emir Tzachas, but he was unable to capture Methymna, which resisted throughout. In the 12th century, the became a frequent target for plundering raids by the Republic of Venice
15.
Octopus
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The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. It has two eyes and four pairs of arms and, like other cephalopods, it is bilaterally symmetric and it has a beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms. It has no internal or external skeleton, allowing it to squeeze through tight places, octopuses are among the most intelligent and behaviorally diverse of all invertebrates. Octopuses inhabit diverse regions of the ocean, including reefs, pelagic waters. They trail their eight arms behind them as they swim, all octopuses are venomous, but only one group, the blue-ringed octopuses, is known to be deadly to humans. Around 300 species are recognized, which is over one-third of the number of known cephalopod species. The term octopus may also be used to specifically to the genus Octopus. Octopuses appear in mythology as sea monsters like the Kraken of Norway and the Akkorokamui of the Ainu, a battle with an octopus appears in Victor Hugos book Toilers of the Sea, inspiring other works such as Ian Flemings Octopussy. Octopuses appear in Japanese erotic art, shunga and they are eaten in many parts of the world, especially the Mediterranean and the Asian seas. The scientific Latin term octopus was derived from Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους, related to the word octopus are the terms Octopoda and the adjectival octopoid. The standard pluralized form of octopus in the English language is octopuses /ˈɒktəpʊsɪz/, the alternative plural octopi – which misguidedly assumes it is a Latin -us-word – is considered grammatically incorrect. It is nevertheless used frequently enough to make it notable, and was acknowledged by the descriptivist Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary lists octopuses, octopi, and octopodes, in order, labeling octopodes as rare. The underside of the arms are covered in circular, adhesive suckers, while often called tentacles, the arms of octopuses are often distinguished from the pair of feeding tentacles found in squid and cuttlefish. The bulbous and hollow mantle is fused to the back of the head, Most of the vital organs are contained in the mantle while the central brain is located in the head. The eyes of the octopus are located at the top of the head, anatomical and embryological evidence shows that the tentacles are part of the ventral side, while the abdomen is dorsal, the head forms forms the anterior and the mantle posterior. The mouth of an octopus, located underneath the tentacles, contains a hard beak on the outside and a radula. Both of these structures are made of chitin, Most of the octopus body is made of soft material allowing it to lengthen, contract, and contort itself
16.
Dusky smooth-hound
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The dusky smooth-hound, also called the smooth dogfish or the dog shark is a species of houndshark, and part of the family Triakidae. This shark is a grey or brown in color. Females live to 16 years and males have a lifespan of 10 years, Mustelus canis was the first shark recognised to have viral infections. Mustelus canis can be known as smooth dogfish, Atlantic smooth dogfish, dusky smooth-hound, grayish, nurse shark, smooth dog, Mustelus canis were originally named Squalls canis, but was later changed. In Latin, mustelus translates to weasel-like and canis translates to dog, Mustelus canis has an allopatric relationship with Mustelus mustelus and a sympatric relationship with Mustelus norrisi. M. canis are found in marine and brackish waters and are demersal and they can be found between 42° N to 44°S and 100° W-46° W. M. canis in the North Atlantic migrate in response to changing temperature. In winter, they can be found in the Carolinas to the outlet of the Chesapeake Bay and they are most abundant on the east coast, from Massachusetts to Florida, Brazil to Argentina, and in the Gulf of Mexico. They are mostly found in waters shallower than 60 ft, but can be found up to 665 ft. Smooth dogfish are relatively small and they have elongated, oval shaped eyes with a spiracle located directly behind on each side. Their first and second dorsal fin are well-serrated and nearly equal in size, the second dorsal fin is slightly smaller than the first and twice as large as the anal fin. The caudal fin has two lobes, the lower is smaller and rounder and the upper has a deep notch. They do not have any fin spines, unlike the Spiny dogfish and they have a tapering, blunt snout. They can be gray to brown and their underside can be white to yellowish gray, Smooth dogfish have the ability to change colors using melanophores to help them camouflage. Newborns have lighter gray edges on their fins and have tail fins edged in white, on average, smooth dogfish are about 48 inches long, but can reach up to 5 feet. One main characteristic of elasmobranch fishes is their ability to replace the teeth in their upper and lower jaw. Smooth dogfish differ from sharks because of their 10 rows of flat. The teeth in the upper and lower jaw are similar in size and are asymmetrical with a rounded cusp and these teeth are used to crush and grind food, rather than bite it. Their unique dentition is important for their crustacean-based diet, in smooth dogfish, tooth replacement is related to body growth. Smooth dogfish grow about 10 cm per every six rows of teeth replaced and that is an increase of 0.03 nm per replaced tooth
17.
Conrad Gessner
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Conrad Gessner was a Swiss naturalist and bibliographer. He was well known as a botanist, physician and classical linguist and his five-volume Historia animalium is considered the beginning of modern zoology, and the flowering plant genus Gesneria and its family Gesneriaceae are named after him. A genus of moths is also named Gesneria after him and he is denoted by the author abbreviation Gesner when citing a botanical name. Gessner was born on March 26,1516 in Zürich, Switzerland, he was the son of Ursus Gessner, Gessners father realized he was clever, and sent him to live with a great uncle, who grew and collected medicinal herbs for a living. Here the boy became familiar with many plants and their medicinal purposes which led to a lifelong interest in natural history, Gessner first attended the Carolinum in Zürich, then he entered the Fraumünster seminary. In school, he impressed his teachers so much that a few of them helped him so he could further his education at universities such as Strassburg. One even acted as a father to him after the death of his father at the Battle of Kappel. After the death of his father he left Zürich and traveled to Strasbourg, here he broadened his knowledge of ancient languages by studying Hebrew at the Strasbourg Academy. In 1535, religious unrest drove him back to Zürich, where he made an imprudent marriage and his friends again came to his aid and enabled him to study at Basel. Throughout his life Gessner was interested in history, and collected specimens and descriptions of wildlife through travel and extensive correspondence with other friends. His approach to research consisted of four components, observation, dissection, travel to distant lands. This rising observational approach was new to Renaissance scholars because people usually relied completely upon Classical writers for their research and he died of the plague, the year after his ennoblement on December 13,1565. In 1537 his sponsors obtained for him the professorship of Greek at the newly founded academy of Lausanne, here he had leisure to devote himself to scientific studies, especially botany. After three years of teaching, Gessner was able to travel to the medical university of Montpellier. He then settled down to practice medicine in Zürich, where he obtained the post of lecturer of Aristotelean physics at the Carolinum, the precursor of the University of Zürich. After 1554 he became the city physician and it is there, apart from a few journeys to foreign countries and he devoted himself to preparing works on many subjects of different sorts. Gesners great zoological work, Historiae animalium, is a 4, a fifth folio on snakes was issued in 1587. A German translation of the first 4 volumes titled Thierbuch was published in Zürich in 1563 and this book was considered to be the first modern zoological work
18.
Mosaic
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A mosaic is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It is often used in art or as interior decoration. Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colors, some, especially floor mosaics, are made of small rounded pieces of stone, and called pebble mosaics. Others are made of other materials, mosaics have a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. Pebble mosaics were made in Tiryns in Mycenean Greece, mosaics with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, Early Christian basilicas from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. Mosaic fell out of fashion in the Renaissance, though artists like Raphael continued to practise the old technique, Roman and Byzantine influence led Jews to decorate 5th and 6th century synagogues in the Middle East with floor mosaics. Mosaic was widely used on buildings and palaces in early Islamic art, including Islams first great religious building, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Mosaic went out of fashion in the Islamic world after the 8th century, modern mosaics are made by professional artists, street artists, and as a popular craft. Many materials other than stone and ceramic tesserae may be employed, including shells, glass. The earliest known examples of made of different materials were found at a temple building in Abra, Mesopotamia. They consist of pieces of colored stones, shells and ivory, excavations at Susa and Chogha Zanbil show evidence of the first glazed tiles, dating from around 1500 BC. However, mosaic patterns were not used until the times of Sassanid Empire, mythological subjects, or scenes of hunting or other pursuits of the wealthy, were popular as the centrepieces of a larger geometric design, with strongly emphasized borders. Pliny the Elder mentions the artist Sosus of Pergamon by name, describing his mosaics of the left on a floor after a feast. Both of these themes were widely copied, most recorded names of Roman mosaic workers are Greek, suggesting they dominated high quality work across the empire, no doubt most ordinary craftsmen were slaves. Splendid mosaic floors are found in Roman villas across North Africa, in such as Carthage. The tiny tesserae allowed very fine detail, and an approach to the illusionism of painting, often small panels called emblemata were inserted into walls or as the highlights of larger floor-mosaics in coarser work. The normal technique was opus tessellatum, using larger tesserae, which was laid on site, there was a distinct native Italian style using black on a white background, which was no doubt cheaper than fully coloured work. In Rome, Nero and his architects used mosaics to cover surfaces of walls and ceilings in the Domus Aurea, built 64 AD
19.
Pompeii
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Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples, in the Campania region of Italy, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the area, was mostly destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m of volcanic ash. Researchers believe that the town was founded in the seventh or sixth century BC by the Osci or Oscans. It came under the domination of Rome in the 4th century BC, by the time of its destruction,160 years later, its population was estimated at 11,000 people, and the city had a complex water system, an amphitheatre, gymnasium, and a port. The eruption destroyed the city, killing its inhabitants and burying it under tons of ash, the site was lost for about 1,500 years until its initial rediscovery in 1599 and broader rediscovery almost 150 years later by Spanish engineer Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre in 1748. The objects that lay beneath the city have been preserved for centuries because of the lack of air and these artefacts provide an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city during the Pax Romana. During the excavation, plaster was used to fill in the voids in the ash layers that once held human bodies and this allowed archaeologists to see the exact position the person was in when he or she died. Pompeii has been a tourist destination for over 250 years, today it has UNESCO World Heritage Site status and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy, with approximately 2.5 million visitors every year. Pompeii in Latin is a second declension plural, the ruins of Pompeii are located near the modern suburban town of Pompei. It stands on a formed by a lava flow to the north of the mouth of the Sarno River. Today it is some distance inland, but in ancient times was nearer to the coast, Pompeii is about 8 km away from Mount Vesuvius. It covered a total of 64 to 67 hectares and was home to approximately 11,000 to 11,500 people on the basis of household counts and it was a major city in the region of Campania. Three sheets of sediment have been found on top of the lava that lies below the city and, mixed in with the sediment, archaeologists have found bits of bone, pottery shards. Carbon dating has placed the oldest of these layers from the 8th–6th centuries BC, the other two strata are separated either by well-developed soil layers or Roman pavement, and were laid in the 4th century BC and 2nd century BC. It is theorized that the layers of the sediment were created by large landslides. The town was founded around the 7th-6th century BC by the Osci or Oscans and it had already been used as a safe port by Greek and Phoenician sailors. According to Strabo, Pompeii was also captured by the Etruscans, and in recent excavations have shown the presence of Etruscan inscriptions. Pompeii was captured for the first time by the Greek colony of Cumae, allied with Syracuse, in the 5th century BC, the Samnites conquered it, the new rulers imposed their architecture and enlarged the town
20.
Plato
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Plato was a philosopher in Classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. He is widely considered the most pivotal figure in the development of philosophy, unlike nearly all of his philosophical contemporaries, Platos entire work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years. Along with his teacher, Socrates, and his most famous student, Aristotle, Plato laid the foundations of Western philosophy. Alfred North Whitehead once noted, the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. In addition to being a figure for Western science, philosophy. Friedrich Nietzsche, amongst other scholars, called Christianity, Platonism for the people, Plato was the innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms in philosophy, which originate with him. He was not the first thinker or writer to whom the word “philosopher” should be applied, few other authors in the history of Western philosophy approximate him in depth and range, perhaps only Aristotle, Aquinas and Kant would be generally agreed to be of the same rank. Due to a lack of surviving accounts, little is known about Platos early life, the philosopher came from one of the wealthiest and most politically active families in Athens. Ancient sources describe him as a bright though modest boy who excelled in his studies, the exact time and place of Platos birth are unknown, but it is certain that he belonged to an aristocratic and influential family. Based on ancient sources, most modern scholars believe that he was born in Athens or Aegina between 429 and 423 BCE. According to a tradition, reported by Diogenes Laertius, Ariston traced his descent from the king of Athens, Codrus. Platos mother was Perictione, whose family boasted of a relationship with the famous Athenian lawmaker, besides Plato himself, Ariston and Perictione had three other children, these were two sons, Adeimantus and Glaucon, and a daughter Potone, the mother of Speusippus. The brothers Adeimantus and Glaucon are mentioned in the Republic as sons of Ariston, and presumably brothers of Plato, but in a scenario in the Memorabilia, Xenophon confused the issue by presenting a Glaucon much younger than Plato. Then, at twenty-eight, Hermodorus says, went to Euclides in Megara, as Debra Nails argues, The text itself gives no reason to infer that Plato left immediately for Megara and implies the very opposite. Thus, Nails dates Platos birth to 424/423, another legend related that, when Plato was an infant, bees settled on his lips while he was sleeping, an augury of the sweetness of style in which he would discourse about philosophy. Ariston appears to have died in Platos childhood, although the dating of his death is difficult. Perictione then married Pyrilampes, her mothers brother, who had served many times as an ambassador to the Persian court and was a friend of Pericles, Pyrilampes had a son from a previous marriage, Demus, who was famous for his beauty. Perictione gave birth to Pyrilampes second son, Antiphon, the half-brother of Plato and these and other references suggest a considerable amount of family pride and enable us to reconstruct Platos family tree
21.
Natural history
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Natural history is the research and study of organisms including animals, fungi and plants in their environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. It encompasses scientific research but is not limited to it, with articles nowadays more often published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the sciences, natural history is the systematic study of any category of natural objects or organisms. That is a broad designation in a world filled with many narrowly focused disciplines. For example, geobiology has a strong multi-disciplinary nature combining scientists, a person who studies natural history is known as a naturalist or natural historian. The English term natural history is a translation of the Latin historia naturalis and its meaning has narrowed progressively with time, while the meaning of the related term nature has widened. In antiquity, it covered essentially anything connected with nature or which used materials drawn from nature. For example, Pliny the Elders encyclopedia of this title, published circa 77 to 79 AD, covers astronomy, geography, man and his technology, medicine and superstition as well as animals and plants. Medieval European academics considered knowledge to have two divisions, the humanities and divinity, with science studied largely through texts rather than observation or experiment. In modern terms, natural philosophy roughly corresponded to modern physics and chemistry, natural history had been encouraged by practical motives, such as Linnaeus aspiration to improve the economic condition of Sweden. Similarly, the Industrial Revolution prompted the development of geology to help find useful mineral deposits, the astronomer, William Herschel was also a natural historian. Instead of working with plants or minerals he worked with the stars and he spent his time building telescopes to see the stars and the rest of the time watching the stars. In the beginning, he believed there to be a known as a nebulae. Herschel can be considered a natural historian because he observed the natural world, in the process he made charts of all the stars and kept records of all that he saw. S. Wilcove and T. Eisner, The close observation of organisms—their origins, their evolution, their behavior and it encompasses changes in internal states insofar as they pertain to what organisms do. Some definitions go further, focusing on observation of organisms in their environment. Bartholomew, A student of history, or a naturalist, studies the world by observing plants. A common thread in many definitions of natural history is the inclusion of a component, as seen in a recent definition by H. W. Greene
22.
Theophrastus
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Theophrastus, a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at an age and initially studied in Platos school. After Platos death, he attached himself to Aristotle who took to Theophrastus his writings, when Aristotle fled Athens, Theophrastus took over as at the Lyceum. Theophrastus presided over the Peripatetic school for years, during which time the school flourished greatly. He is often considered the father of botany for his works on plants, after his death, the Athenians honoured him with a public funeral. His successor as head of the school was Strato of Lampsacus, the interests of Theophrastus were wide ranging, extending from biology and physics to ethics and metaphysics. His two surviving works, Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants, were an important influence on Renaissance science. There are also surviving works On Moral Characters, On Sensation, On Stones, in philosophy, he studied grammar and language and continued Aristotles work on logic. He also regarded space as the arrangement and position of bodies, time as an accident of motion. In ethics, he regarded happiness as depending on external influences as well as on virtue and he was a native of Eresos in Lesbos. His given name was Tyrtamus, but he became known by the nickname Theophrastus, given to him, it is said. After receiving instruction in philosophy in Lesbos from one Alcippus, he moved to Athens and he became friends with Aristotle, and when Plato died Theophrastus may have joined Aristotle in his self-imposed exile from Athens. When Aristotle moved to Mytilene on Lesbos in 345/4, it is likely that he did so at the urging of Theophrastus. It seems that it was on Lesbos that Aristotle and Theophrastus began their research into science, with Aristotle studying animals. Theophrastus probably accompanied Aristotle to Macedonia when Aristotle was appointed tutor to Alexander the Great in 343/2, around 335 BC, Theophrastus moved with Aristotle to Athens where Aristotle began teaching in the Lyceum. Aristotle in his will made him guardian of his children, including Nicomachus with whom he was close, Aristotle likewise bequeathed to him his library and the originals of his works, and designated him as his successor at the Lyceum. Eudemus of Rhodes also had claims to this position. Theophrastus presided over the Peripatetic school for years, and died at the age of eighty-five according to Diogenes
23.
Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus)
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Theophrastus looks at plant structure, reproduction and growth, the varieties of plant around the world, wood, wild and cultivated plants, and their uses. Book 9 in particular, on the uses of plants, is one of the first herbals, describing juices, gums and resins extracted from plants. Historia Plantarum was written some time between c.350 BC and c.287 BC in ten volumes, of which nine survive. In the book, Theophrastus described plants by their uses, and attempted a biological classification based on how plants reproduced and he continually revised the manuscript, and it remained in an unfinished state on his death. Historia Plantarum was first translated into Latin by Theodore Gaza, the translation was published in 1483, Johannes Bodaeus published a frequently cited folio edition in Amsterdam in 1644, complete with commentaries and woodcut illustrations. The first English translation was made by Sir Arthur Hort and published in 1916, the Enquiry into Plants is in Horts parallel text a book of some 400 pages of original Greek, consisting of about 100,000 words. It was originally organised into ten books, of which nine survive, though it is possible the text represents all the material. Along with his other surviving work, On the Causes of Plants. On the strength of these books, the first scientific inquiries into plants and one of the first systems of plant classification, Linnaeus called Theophrastus the father of botany. However, he went beyond Aristotle in describing seeds as parts of the plant, Aristotle, French argues, Theophrastus made use of a variety of sources for the book, including Diocles on drugs and medicinal plants. Theophrastus claims to have gathered information from drug-sellers and root-cutters, Plants described include poppy, hemlock, wild lettuce, and mandrake. The surviving texts are the notes that Theophrastus used in teaching and he referred to earlier books in the Lyceum library including Democritus, sometimes preserving fragments of books otherwise lost. He mentions about 500 species of plant, the Enquiry into Plants was first translated into Latin by Theodore Gaza by 1454, circulated in manuscript, and then published at Treviso in 1483. In its original Greek it first appeared from the press of Aldus Manutius at Venice, 1495–98, wimmer identified two manuscripts of first quality, the Codex Urbinas in the Vatican Library, which was not made known to Johann Gottlob Schneider, who with H. F. Link made the first modern edition, Leipzig 1818–1821. A good and often-cited edition is that of Johannes Bodaeus, published in Amsterdam in 1644 and this folio edition has the Greek and Latin texts printed in parallel, along with commentaries on the text by Julius Caesar Scaliger and Robert Constantine, and woodcut illustrations of plants. Sir William Thiselton-Dyer described the commentary as botanically monumental and fundamental, the first translation into English, with an introduction and parallel Greek and English texts, was made by Sir Arthur Hort. Enquiry into Plants classifies plants according to how they reproduce, their localities, their sizes, and their practical uses including as foods, juices, and herbs
24.
Corpus Aristotelicum
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The Corpus Aristotelicum is the collection of Aristotles works that have survived from antiquity through Medieval manuscript transmission. These texts, as opposed to Aristotles lost works, are technical philosophical treatises from within Aristotles school, reference to them is made according to the organization of Immanuel Bekkers nineteenth-century edition, which in turn is based on ancient classifications of these works. The extant works of Aristotle are broken down according to the five categories in the Corpus Aristotelicum, not all of these works are considered genuine, but differ with respect to their connection to Aristotle, his associates and his views. Some are regarded by most scholars as products of Aristotles school, other works, such as On Colors, may have been products of Aristotles successors at the Lyceum, e. g. Theophrastus and Strato of Lampsacus. Still others acquired Aristotles name through similarities in doctrine or content, such as the De Plantis, a final category, omitted here, includes medieval palmistries, astrological and magical texts whose connection to Aristotle is purely fanciful and self-promotional. In several of the treatises, there are references to works in the corpus. Based on such references, some scholars have suggested a possible order for a number of Aristotles writings. W. D. Ross, for instance, suggested the following chronology, Categories, Topics, Sophistici Elenchi, Analytics, Metaphysics Δ, the physical works, the Ethics. Many modern scholars, however, based simply on lack of evidence, are skeptical of such attempts to determine the order of Aristotles writings. According to a distinction that originates with Aristotle himself, his writings are divisible into two groups, the exoteric and the esoteric. Most scholars have understood this as a distinction between works Aristotle intended for the public, and the technical works intended for use within the Lyceum course / school. Modern scholars commonly assume these latter to be Aristotles own lecture notes, however, one classic scholar offers an alternative interpretation. Bekker numbers, the form of reference to works in the Corpus Aristotelicum, are based on the page numbers used in the Prussian Academy of Sciences edition of the complete works of Aristotle. They take their name from the editor of edition, the classical philologist August Immanuel Bekker. The titles are given in accordance with the set by the Revised Oxford Translation. Latin titles, still used by scholars, are also given. The Constitution of the Athenians was not included in Bekkers edition because it was first edited in 1891 from papyrus rolls acquired in 1890 by the British Museum, the standard reference to it is by section numbers. Surviving fragments of the many lost works of Aristotle were included in the volume of Bekkers edition
25.
Organon
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The Organon is the standard collection of Aristotles six works on logic. The name Organon was given by Aristotles followers, the Peripatetics and they are as follows, The order of the works is not chronological but was deliberately chosen by Theophrastus to constitute a well-structured system. Indeed, parts of them seem to be a scheme of a lecture on logic, the arrangement of the works was made by Andronicus of Rhodes around 40 BC. The Categories introduces Aristotles 10-fold classification of that exists, substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, situation, condition, action. On Interpretation introduces Aristotles conception of proposition and judgment, and the relations between affirmative, negative, universal, and particular propositions. Aristotle discusses the square of opposition or square of Apuleius in Chapter 7, Chapter 9 deals with the problem of future contingents. The Prior Analytics introduces his syllogistic method, argues for its correctness, the Posterior Analytics deals with demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge. The Topics treats issues in constructing valid arguments, and inference that is probable and it is in this treatise that Aristotle mentions the Predicables, later discussed by Porphyry and the scholastic logicians. The Sophistical Refutations gives a treatment of logical fallacies, and provides a key link to Aristotles work on rhetoric, the Organon was used in the school founded by Aristotle at the Lyceum, and some parts of the works seem to be a scheme of a lecture on logic. So much so that after Aristotles death, his publishers collected these works, following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century, much of Aristotles work was lost in the Latin West. The Categories and On Interpretation are the only significant logical works that were available in the early Middle Ages and these had been translated into Latin by Boethius. The other logical works were not available in Western Christendom until translated to Latin in the 12th century, however, the original Greek texts had been preserved in the Greek-speaking lands of the Eastern Roman Empire. In the mid-twelfth century, James of Venice translated into Latin the Posterior Analytics from Greek manuscripts found in Constantinople. The books of Aristotle were available in the early Arab Empire, all the major scholastic philosophers wrote commentaries on the Organon. Aquinas, Ockham and Scotus wrote commentaries on On Interpretation, Ockham and Scotus wrote commentaries on the Categories and Sophistical Refutations. Grosseteste wrote a commentary on the Posterior Analytics. During this period, while the logic certainly was based on that of Aristotle, there was a tendency in this period to regard the logical systems of the day to be complete, which in turn no doubt stifled innovation in this area. However Francis Bacon published his Novum Organum as an attack in 1620
26.
Prior Analytics
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The Prior Analytics is Aristotles work on deductive reasoning, which is known as his syllogistic. Being one of the six extant Aristotelian writings on logic and scientific method, modern work on Aristotles logic builds on the tradition started in 1951 with the establishment by Jan Lukasiewicz of a revolutionary paradigm. The term analytics comes from the Greek words ἀναλυτός and ἀναλύω, however, in Aristotles corpus, there are distinguishable differences in the meaning of ἀναλύω and its cognates. There is also the possibility that Aristotle may have borrowed his use of the analysis from his teacher Plato. Therefore, Analysis is the process of finding the reasoned facts, Aristotles Prior Analytics represents the first time in history when Logic is scientifically investigated. On those grounds alone, Aristotle could be considered the Father of Logic for as he says in Sophistical Refutations. When it comes to this subject, it is not the case that part had been worked out before in advance and part had not, instead, some scholars prefer to use the word deduction instead as the meaning given by Aristotle to the Greek word συλλογισμός syllogismos. In the Analytics then, Prior Analytics is the first theoretical part dealing with the science of deduction, Prior Analytics gives an account of deductions in general narrowed down to three basic syllogisms while Posterior Analytics deals with demonstration. In the Prior Analytics, Aristotle defines syllogism as, a deduction in a discourse in which, certain things being supposed, something different from the things supposed results of necessity because these things are so. In modern times, this definition has led to a debate as to how the word syllogism should be interpreted, scholars Jan Lukasiewicz, Józef Maria Bocheński and Günther Patzig have sided with the Protasis-Apodosis dichotomy while John Corcoran prefers to consider a syllogism as simply a deduction. In the third century AD, Alexander of Aphrodisiass commentary on the Prior Analytics is the oldest extant, in the sixth century, Boethius composed the first known Latin translation of the Prior Analytics. No Westerner between Boethius and Bernard of Utrecht is known to have read the Prior Analytics, the so-called Anonymus Aurelianensis III from the second half of the twelfth century is the first extant Latin commentary, or rather fragment of a commentary. The Prior Analytics represents the first formal study of logic, where logic is understood as the study of arguments, an argument is a series of true or false statements which lead to a true or false conclusion. In the Prior Analytics, Aristotle identifies valid and invalid forms of arguments called syllogisms, a syllogism is an argument that consists of at least three sentences, at least two premises and a conclusion. Although Aristotles does not call them categorical sentences, tradition does, he deals with them briefly in the Analytics, each proposition of a syllogism is a categorical sentence which has a subject and a predicate connected by a verb. In his formulation of syllogistic propositions, instead of the copula, belongs to/does not belong to all/some. Is said/is not said of all/some, there are four different types of categorical sentences, universal affirmative, particular affirmative, universal negative and particular negative. Depending on the position of the term, Aristotle divides the syllogism into three kinds, Syllogism in the first, second and third figure
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Physics (Aristotle)
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The Physics of Aristotle is one of the foundational books of Western science and philosophy. As Martin Heidegger once wrote, The Physics is a lecture in which he seeks to determine beings that arise on their own, τὰ φύσει ὄντα, with regard to their being. This book determines the warp and woof of the whole of Western thinking, even at that place where it, as modern thinking, but opposition is invariably comprised of a decisive, and often even perilous, dependence. Without Aristotles Physics there would have been no Galileo, bertrand Russell, however, says of Physics and On the Heavens that they were. extremely influential, and dominated science until the time of Galileo. The historian of philosophy, accordingly, must study them, in spite of the fact that hardly a sentence in either can be accepted in the light of modern science. The chief purpose of the work is to discover the principles and causes of change, or movement, or motion, the Physics is composed of eight books, which are further divided into chapters. In this article, books are referenced with Roman numerals, chapters with Arabic numerals, additionally, the Bekker numbers give the page and line numbers used in the Prussian Academy of Sciences edition of Aristotles works. Book I discusses the scientists approach to nature and the world of changing things, Topics include, remarks on method, a discussion of how some ancestors viewed nature, and the basic elements of change. Change elements include, a lack, which is overcome by its opposite, the 1966 monograph by Connell is a particularly good expansion and defense of the contents of this book. Aristotles approach to the world as summarized in chapter 1 is to start with the most general albeit vague aspects of the world before proceeding to specifics. This approach contrasts sharply with that of science, which starts with particulars before advancing to generalities. Chapter 2 begins his consideration of the first principles of motion by initiating a review of the opinions of previous thinkers, chapters 3 and 4 are among the most difficult in all of Aristotles works and involve subtle refutations of the thought of Parmenides, Melissus and Anaxagoras. In chapter 5, he continues his review of his predecessors, chapter 6 narrows down the number of principles to two or three. He presents his own account of the subject in chapter 7, Aristotles concept of matter is rather different from what we moderns might expect from the use of the word in modern mathematical science. Descartes axiomatically redefined the concept of matter in the Enlightenment to exclude any characteristics that would make it unsuitable for abstract, mathematical treatment, the matter is not specifically described, but consists of whatever remains in the change of substance from grass to horse. Matter in this understanding does not exist independently, but exists interdependently with form, Matter and form are analogical terms. It is helpful to conceive of the relationship of matter and form as very similar to that between parts and whole, parts existing separately do not remain parts, but become new wholes. Book II introduces the term nature as a source or cause of being moved, thus, those entities are natural which are capable of starting to move, e. g. growing, acquiring qualities, displacing themselves, and finally being born and dying
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On the Heavens
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On the Heavens is Aristotles chief cosmological treatise, written in 350 BC it contains his astronomical theory and his ideas on the concrete workings of the terrestrial world. It should not be confused with the spurious work On the Universe, according to Aristotle in On the Heavens, the heavenly bodies are the most perfect realities, whose motions are ruled by principles other than those of bodies in the sublunary sphere. Hence their motions are eternal and perfect, and the motion is the circular one. As substances, celestial bodies have matter and form, sometimes Aristotle seems to regard them as living beings with a rational soul as their form. This work is significant as one of the pillars of the Aristotelian worldview. Similarly, this work and others by Aristotle were important seminal works by which much of scholasticism was derived. Aristotelian philosophy and cosmology was influential in the Islamic world, where his ideas were taken up by the Falsafa school of philosophy throughout the half of the first millennia AD. Of these, philosophers Averroes and Avicenna are especially notable, european philosophers had a similarly complex relationship with De Caelo, attempting to reconcile church doctrine with the mathematics of Ptolemy and the structure of Aristotle. A particularly cogent example of this is in the work of Thomas Aquinas, theologian, known today as St. Otherwise, Aquinas accepted Aristotles explanation of the physical world, including his cosmology and physics. Livre du ciel et du monde was written at the command of King Charles V, stuart Leggatt, On the Heavens I and II. ISBN 0-85668-663-8 William Keith Chambers Guthrie, Aristotle On the Heavens, john Leofric Stocks, On the Heavens. Adelaide Etexts Sacred Texts InfoMotions MIT Internet Archive Free Audiobook Thomas Taylor, The treatises of Aristotle, on the heavens, on generation & corruption, ISBN 1-898910-24-3 Dalimier, C. and Pellegrin, P. Aristote. Gigon, O. Vom Himmel, Von der Seele, Von der Dichtkunst, aristoteles’ Vier Bücher über das Himmelsgebäude und Zwei Bücher über Entstehen und Vergehen. Prantl, C. De coelo, et de generatione et corruptione, physics Aristotelian physics Dynamics of the celestial spheres Celestial spheres Elders, L. Aristotle’s Cosmology, A Commentary on the De Caelo. Free audiobook version of On the Heavens
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Meteorology (Aristotle)
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Meteorology is a treatise by Aristotle. The text discusses what Aristotle believed to have all the affections common to air and water, and the kinds and parts of the earth. It includes early accounts of water evaporation, earthquakes, and other weather phenomena and this is a reference to the unmoved movers, a teleological explanation. four bodies are fire, air, water, earth. Fire occupies the highest place among all, earth the lowest. Fire, air, water, earth, we assert, originate from one another, all terrestrial matter consists of these four elements. Various ratios of the combine to create the diverse materials found in nature. Some of the vapour that is formed by day does not rise high because the ratio of the fire that is raising it to the water that is being raised is small, both dew and hoar-frost are found when the sky is clear and there is no wind. When there is a quantity of exhalation and it is rare and is squeezed out in the cloud itself we get a thunderbolt. It moves things by its wind in the direction in which it is blowing in a straight line, Aristotle describes the properties of tornadoes and lightning. And this will be true of all other rivers. But if rivers come into existence and perish and the parts of the earth were not always moist. The whole of the Mediterranean does actually flow, the direction of this flow is determined by the depth of the basins and by the number of rivers. Maeotis flows into Pontus and Pontus into the Aegean, after that the flow of the remaining seas is not so easy to observe. The earth is surrounded by water, just as that is by the sphere of air, Aristotle is describing a spherical lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere
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On the Soul
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On the Soul is a major treatise written by Aristotle c.350 B. C. E on the nature of living things. His discussion centres on the kinds of souls possessed by different kinds of living things, thus plants have the capacity for nourishment and reproduction, the minimum that must be possessed by any kind of living organism. Lower animals have, in addition, the powers of sense-perception and self-motion Humans have all these as well as intellect. Aristotle holds that the soul is the form, or essence of any living thing, that it is not a distinct substance from the body that it is in. That it is the possession of soul that makes an organism an organism at all and it is difficult to reconcile these points with the popular picture of a soul as a sort of spiritual substance inhabiting a body. Some commentators have suggested that Aristotles term soul is better translated as lifeforce, in 1855, Charles Collier published a translation titled On the Vital Principle, George Henry Lewes, however, found this description also wanting. The treatise is divided into three books, and each of the books is divided into chapters, the treatise is near-universally abbreviated “DA, ” for “De anima, ” and books and chapters generally referred to by Roman and Arabic numerals, respectively, along with corresponding Bekker numbers. Book I contains a summary of Aristotles method of investigation and a determination of the nature of the soul. He begins by conceding that attempting to define the soul is one of the most difficult questions in the world. But he proposes a method to tackle the question, just as we can come to know the properties and operations of something through scientific demonstration. It is like finding the term to a syllogism with a known conclusion. Therefore, we must seek out such operations of the soul to determine what kind of nature it has, from a consideration of the opinions of his predecessors, a soul, he concludes, will be that in virtue of which living things have life. Book II contains his scientific determination of the nature of the soul, by dividing substance into its three meanings, he shows that the soul must be the first actuality of a naturally organised body. This is its form or essence and it cannot be matter because the soul is that in virtue of which things have life, and matter is only being in potency. The rest of the book is divided into a determination of the nature of the nutritive and sensitive souls, all species of living things, plant or animal, must be able to nourish themselves and reproduce others of the same kind. If they can feel pleasure and pain they also have desire, some animals in addition have other senses, and some have more subtle versions of each He discusses how these function. Some animals have in addition the powers of memory, imagination, book III discusses the mind or rational soul, which belongs to humans alone. e. to be actually thinking about them. These are called the possible and agent intellect, the possible intellect is an unscribed tablet and the store-house of all concepts, i. e. universal ideas like triangle, tree, man, red, etc
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