it would be appreciated if you stop making or implying false claims.
Since I provide documentation for each point, I submit that the claims are made by scholars who have studied these matters to a greater depth than either of us. Instead of making claims, I said: "look what this guy said."
The ruins of the Temple at Sais are still there. The "evidence" they discuss are inscriptions and artifacts found at the sight. You say "prove it, prove it". Take it up with the MANY references published by people who have studied the House of Life within the temple system, I merely pointed you in their direction. The best article is probably the JSTOR one I cited. Note my word "system". The temples were tied together in a network ... not isolated establishments. I don't have to prove anything. There are an overwhelming amount of published papers on this topic ... because it's
interesting: centers of knowledge in the pre-Christian world that were organized and formed the basis for *ALL* the modern sciences ... some organized in the university structure, with formal teachers and multiple subjects. You don't believe it, no matter what citations are presented to you. You, of course, are free to do this. We're at an impasse: I present citations, you throw them out. Take it up with the archaeologists that did the research. I tend to believe people who make a career of such things. You, apparently, have inside knowledge to summarily dismiss their decades of scholarship.
We see a tremosous advament in knowledge in all kinds of fields from the 13th to 19th century, while we see little overall advancement in knolwdge from the 2000 BC to 1000 BC in Egypt
I can't provide evidence of scientific advancement during that period. However, your contention is that the entire bulk of pre-Christianity contributed nothing in comparison to Christianity. This, of course, is untrue (it's kind of funny how the scientific advancements of the Islamic Empire are being ignored, but that's not
my period).
Euclid - Father of Geometry - 3rd century BCE
Hipparchus - Father of Trigonmetry and creator of first accurate star map - 2nd century BCE
------ all the rotating mechanical devices like astrolabes and calendars would be impossible without both of these elements.
Erastosthenes - Father of Geography - 3rd centurey BCE - Calculated circumference of Earth, distance of Earth to Sun, created first world map with parallels and meridians, founder of scientific chronology, creator of "Sieve of Erastosthenes" method for finding prime numbers still in use, first to calculate our current calendar including a leap day every four years, Caesar converted Rome's horrible awkward lunar calendar to the Egyptian model when he met Cleopatra.
Alcmaeon of Croton - 5th century BCE - first to identify brain as seat of understanding, first to distinguish understanding from perception, theorized connection of sensory organs to brain
Praxagoras of Kos - 4th century BCE - suggested the existence of neurons, contributed to understanding of circulatory system
Herophilus of Chalcedon - 3rd century BCE - distinguished between sensory and motor nerves and proved the existence of the nervous system by dissection, established the foundation principles of neuroscience, first to distinguish between cerebrum and cerebellum, first introduction of anatomical terms still in use
----- As in my previous post, the achievements of these men formed a starting point for medical science in the 1500's ACE
Archimedes of Syracuse - 3rd century BCE - anticipated Newton's calculus by inventing "infinitesimals" and "method of exhaustion" which are still taught, accurate approximation of pi, founded the sciences of hydrostatics and statics, invented the screw pump, compound pulleys, and war machines. "The relatively few copies of Archimedes' written work that survived through the Middle Ages were an influential source of ideas for scientists during the Renaissance." ... all over Egypt and remote parts of the Middle East, Archimedes screw pumps are still in use for irrigation.
Hero of Alexandria - 1st century BCE - "greatest experimenter of antiquity", constructed a working steam engine (the first Christian engine is 1698), a similar engine was used to "magically" open & close temple doors, invented first coin operated vending machine, first wind-powered machine (musical organ), invented automated theater productions, invented automatons like a statue that poured wine (Da Vinci did the last two, but Hero did them first 1500 yrs earlier).
Not Alexandria, but an obvious ommission:
Aristotle - 4th century BCE - "Aristotle's views on
physical science profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. Their influence extended from
Late Antiquity and the
Early Middle Ages into the
Renaissance, and were not replaced systematically until
the Enlightenment and theories such as
classical mechanics. Some of Aristotle's
zoological observations, such as on the
hectocotyl (reproductive) arm of the
octopus, were disbelieved until the 19th century. His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, studied by medieval scholars such as
Peter Abelard and
John Buridan.
Aristotelianism profoundly influenced
Islamic thought during the
Middle Ages, as well as
Christian theology, especially the
Neoplatonism of the
Early Church and the
scholastic tradition of the
Catholic Church. "
I obviously didn't have all this in my head. Why was it so easy for me to look them up? I can read. These pre-Christian men, and many more, are seen as making scientific and technological advances that formed the foundation of the modern world. For some reason, you totally ignore their contributions "no advances were made" ... despite the fact that your Christians studied their works as a starting point. Those early Christians felt that these men had made astounding advancements.
This was not the same systematic experimentation as we find modern times.
WHAT?!!
"Aristotle pioneered scientific method in ancient Greece alongside his empirical biology and his work on logic, rejecting a purely deductive framework in favour of generalisations made from observations of nature. "
You can read Dioscorides Phakas (1st century BCE) for his systematic approach to experimentation in medicine (pretty much, what I was taught in college chemistry).
