The timeline book of science george ochoa

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TheTimeline Boohof the Arts
TheTimelineB@k of Greatldeas '
TheTimelineQoohof History


The flmellne Book of Sclence
.George
Ochoaand MelindaCorey

A Stonesong
PressBook
. New York
Ballantine,Books


Saleof this book without a front cover may be unauthorized.If this
book is coverless,it may havebeen reportedto the publisheras
"unsoldor destroyed"and neither the author nor the publisher
may have receivedpayment for it.

Copyright@1995by The StonesongPress,Inc.
All rights reservedunder Internationaland Pan-AmericanCopyright
Conventions.Publishedin the United Sares by BallantineBooks,a
divisionof RandomHouse,lnc., New York, and simultaneouslyin
Canadaby RandomHouseof CanadaLimited,Toronto.
Libraryof CongressCataloging-in-Publication
Data
Ochoa,George.
The timeline book of science/ GeorgeOchoaand MelindaCorey.
p.
cm.
"A StonesongPressbook."
Includesbibliographicalreferencesand index.
rsBN0-345-38265-X
I . Science-History-Chronology. I. Corey, Melinda, Il. Title.
'-1995
Qt25.O24
509-dc2O
94-tt865
clP
Coverdesignby RichardHasselberger
Typographyby NobleDesktopPublishers
A Stonesong Pre$ Eook
Manufacturedin the United Statesof America
First Edition:March | 995
l0

9 I7

6 5 4 3 2 1

Photoresearchby Photosearch,Inc., New York City


In memory of
JoseVerdiCevallos,physicianand poet,
and
HarrietGri$$sGuild,physicianand pathftnder

.:. )#


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tAB-IE

Of

CO,ilfE.t'13

Acknowledgments

xiii

Introduction

,ix

A Note to the Reader

xi

Timeline

1

Appendix:Birth and DearhDates

393

Bibltography
Index i

403
407

vIi


IGKilOWl

T DOttilr

I

We are indebted to Kerry Benson and Nsa Schneider,
diligent researchersand contributors. We also thank
Tom Brown for heyboardingmuch of the manuscript

and Mudit Tyagi for his edltorial assistance.Finally, we
thank PaulFargisand ShereeBykofskyof The Stonesonlf
Pressand Ginny Faber,our editor at Ballantine.

viit


l1'lt

noD

UCT roll

A timeline is a recordof change;TheTimelineBookoJScienceis a record
of stunningchange.In ho field of human endeavorhave rhings been
alteredmore quickly,dramatically,and irreversiblythan in our knowl'
edgeof the physicaluniverseand our ability to manipulateit. The most
rapid and visiblechangeshavetakenplacein just the lasttwo centuries,
originatingmostly in Europe and America,but many of the deepest
changestook place much earlier in distant places.It is obvious that
microwaveovens,television,computers,the theory of relativity,and
the model of rhe atom are productsof scientificknowledge;it may be
tessobvious that so are bread, the do$, the pipeline, the concept of
angles,and the year.
The TimelineBoohoJ Sciencecharts chronologically,from prehistory
to the present,how we came to know what we know about naure and
have what we made. It is a story with many twists and turns, frequent
shifts of locale,and a decidedlyuneven pace. For millions of years the
tale hardly movesat all; after the developmentof agricultureit moves
graduallybut slowly; then in the last few hundred years it moves at a

blindingpace.A physicianfrom ancientRomewould havehad much in
ltaly,
with a physicianin seventeenth-century
common,technologically,
but both would have great difficulty figuring out what to do with a CAT
hospiml, much less how to drive
scannerin a late'twentieth-century
home on the expresswayafter work.
It is no accident,then, that most of this book dealswith the few hundred yearssincethe sixteenthand seventeenthcenturies,when people
like Copernicus,Galileo,and FrancisBaconbroughtabout a fundamen'
tal shift in humanity'sapproachto studyingnature,a chan$eknown as
the scientific revolution.Yet The TimelineBookof Sciencealso outlines
other importantstorlesof scientificprogress:how early humansspread
out of Africa acrossthe world and invented such technologiesas frsh
hooks, sewing needles,and the use of fire; how farmers and herders
domesticatedwild plants and animals;how Chineseexperimenters
invented silk, paper, and gunpowderwhile Chineseastronomersfirst
recordedwhat became known as Halley'sComet; how the Hindus
developeda systemof numeralsthat was passedto the Arabsand from
and how Mayansin CentralAmericaindependently
them to Europeans;
developedtheir own systemof numerals.
tx


IttnoDUCtlOl|

The TimelineBookof sciencerangesover as many different ropics as
it doesperiodsand locales.It chartsthe growth of the disciplinesusually
taught in school-biology, chemistry,physics,and the earth sciences.

But it also maps the rise of rechnology,engineering,archaeology,
paleontolo$y,mathematics,medicine,psychology,computerscience,and
the explorationof earth and space.It concentrateson the physicalsciencesbut nevertheless
includesentrieson linguisticsand the socialsci,
ences-anthropology,sociology,economics,potiticalscience.
Throughout,the timelinereportsaction.It tellswhat was discovered,
invented,suggested,
argued,and disproved-by whom, when, where,
and why. It noteswrong stepsas well as right ones,established
ideasas
well as controversial
ones.Thereare explodedtheoriessuchas the four
humors and phlogiston(materialsupposedlylosr in combusrion);outmoded proceduressuch as medicalbleeding;and obsoleteinventions,

a n d t h e c o n t r o v e r s i e so f t h e p r e s e n td a y - w h o f i r s t s e t t l e d t h e
Americas;where is the massthat astronomerscall ,.missing"?
Lestthe accumulationof eventsbecomeoverwhelming,TheTimeline
Bookof scienceincludessidebarsthat spotlightmomenrsin rhe story.
Some of theseare serious(how the bubonic plaguewas blamed on
EuropeanJews),othershumorous(how an Englishtown incorporateda
dinosaurinto its coatof arms).Someoffer more detailon how a discovery was made and why it was significanr,while others bring out the
human side of scientistsand inventors(suchas charlesGoodyear,who
never made a penny from his inventionof vulcanizedrubber).other
sidebarsquote the reflecrions,observations,
and quipsof scientistsand
eyewitnesses
from Aristotleon natureto Einsteinon the atomicbomb.
In rhe stanley Kubrick frlm 2001:ASpaceodyssey(196g)there is a
sequencein which a hairy ancestorof humans,havinglearnedhow to
use a bone as a weapon,hurls it into the air; the next thing we know, a

h u m an- m ades pac e c ra fti s o rb i ti n g th e e a rth . If rhe devi l i s i n the
d e t ails ,t hen t his a c c o u n to f o u r d i v e l o p me n r,how everevocati ve,
leavesmuch to be explained.How do we know what we know about
the universeand ourselves?
what are we still trying to discover?How
did we come to own the technologies
we possess;why is it they sometimes seemto own us?with the year 2001 now much closerthan it was,
TheTimelineBoohoJscienceis wrinen to help answerthesequestions.


A

NOTE

TO

THE

READER,

TheTimelineBookoJScimceis arrangedby year and within a year by cate.
gory.The categoriesare as follows:
ARCH
ASTRO
BIO
CHEM
EARTH
MATH
MED
MISC

PALEO
PHYS
PSYCH
SOC
TECH

Archaeology
Asronomy, spacescience,spaceexploration
Biology,biochemistry,agriculture,ecology
Chemistry
Earth sciences(geology,oceanography,meteorolo.
9y), earth exploration
Mathematics
Medicine
Miscellaneous
Paleontology
Physics
Psychology,neuroscience,artificialintelligence
Socialsciences(anthropology,socioloSy,economics,politicalscience),linguistics
Technology,engineering

In the timeline,s.c. datesare indicatedby negativenumbers,a.o. dates
by positivenumbers.
Throughoutprehistory,antiquity, and the early Middle Ages, it is
often difficult to place exact dates.Therefore,most of the dates in this
book up to the year e.o. 1000 shouldbe consideredapproximate(with
certainexceptions,suchas May 28,585 9.c.,the precisedate of a solar
eclipsepredictedby the GreekphilosopherThales).After a.o. 1000,
dates can generally be consideredexact unless marked with a c. for
ctca.

, This timeline is primarily a recordof action-experiments,achievements,discoveries,
assertions.
To avoidclutter,birth and deathdatesof
those performingthe actionshave mostly been left out. However,the
birth and deathdatesof many of the scientistsand inventorsnamed in
the timelineare includedin the Appendix.

xt



E.C.
-2,500,000 In EastAfricathe hominid (humanlike)speciesHomohabilismakes
rtctl
the frrst stonetools.
-1,800,000 Homo erectusevolves.This hominid species
eventuallybe the
first to leaveAfrica and learn the use of fire.
-1,000,000 Homoerectuspopulationsbegin to move out of Africainto Asiaand
reltll
from there ultimatelyto Europe.
-500,000 Homoerectusdiscoversthe use of hre. The earliestfirm evidenceis
found at Zhoukoudian,near Beijing,China.Seealso 13,000B.c.r&rl
-400,000
Homoerectusinventsthe spear.
- 100 ,0 0 0

The earliestanatomicallymodern Homosapienspopulationsevolve
in Africa. There is still debate about whether Homo sapiensmoved
out of Africa to spread acrossAsia and Europe,or simply evolved

independen tl y i n d i ffe re n t re g i o n s fro m l ocal H omo erectus
nuo
populations.

-48,000

Homo sapiensreachesthe continent of Australiafrom southeast
Asia.

lllrtl

-58,000

The Cro-Magnonpeople Homo sapiens sapiensappear in Europe,
rhe Middle East,and North Africa.Theseanatomicallymodern humans will replacethe existingNeanderthalpopulations.Alongwith
other modern human populationsin placesas far apart as Australia
and southernAfrica they will invent art, developspecializedtools,
and exhibit culturaldifferencesover placeand time,

-33,000
-28,000

EarlyEuropeansmake body ornamentationsuchas beadsand penrrol
dants,the frrst known form of art.
Europeansmark notcheson bonesand stonesto tally numbers. rnn

-28,000

Flutes,the earliestmusicalinstruments,appearin Europe.

-28,000

Europeansmake the first known sculpturesfrom stone, bone,
antlec and horn. Someare of animals,some of exaggeratedfemale
trc|l
shapescalledVenuses.

-24,OOO

Europeansinventsewingneedlesmadeof bone.

rrsl

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-21,OOO

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looK

ol

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-24,000

The hsh hook and fishinSline are in use in Europe.

-20,000

The bow and arrow havebeen inventedand are in use in Spainand
ttol
North Africa.

-20,000

Primitive oil lamps are invented.They are probably fueled by anirrctl
mal fat in hollowed-outstones,with wicks of plant fiber.

-20,000

Humansin Europemake paintingson cavewalls.

tlcll

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EN YIR O N M EN TAL DISASTER
remod,ernpeoplesare commonlyviewedas having lived in harmony with nature, white modern civilization is sem as degradingthe
environment
and erterminatingspecies.Thisidealizedview mashs
L
whether
a darkerJact:
their economyis hunter-gathereror industrial-capihumans
long

talist,
have a
history of taking what thsy can until the supply
point
runs ouL A casein
is that oJ thefirst hnottn peoplein the Americasthe ancestorsoJtoday'sNativeAmericans,the Clovisculture.
The Clwis culture is namedJorstone toolsfirst discoveredin 1952 at a
sitenear Clovis,Nal Merico, that datesJrom about 95A0n.c. Similar tools
dating from about the same time have since beenfound auoss North
America. The Clovispeople are widely beliarcd to have been the original
placethe datefor the
discoverersof America,althoughsomearchaeologists
earliest human migration into the Americasas early as 35,000years ago.
The Ctwis peoplemigratedfrom Siberiainto Alasha.acrossthe land bridge
that then existedacrossthe Bering Strait.By about 10,500years ago their
reachedthe southerntip of SouthAmerica.
descendants
The anival oJ the Clovispeople coincideswith a remarkablewave of
speciesextinctions./usr beJorethe Clovispeople arrived, the American
wildernesswas abundantwith big mammals:mammoths,mastodons,giant
ground sloths,giant beavers,saber-toothedcats, camels,horses.By about
90008.c.,shortly after the Clwis people'sarrtval, all thesespeciesbecame
extinct. Within the span oJ a few centuries,NorthAmerica lost 73 percent
oJ its generaof largemammals,SouthAmericaabout80 percent.
What happenedto all theseanimals?Beginningwith the worhs of
American geoscientistPaul Martin in 1975, many scientistshave argued
that the Clovispeoplehuntedthesespeciesto extinction.Narcr havingseen
humans,the animals would not havefeared them, and the humanswould
have had no reasonto hold bach..The arrival of the first Americansmay
well havebeenmarkcd Q an environmentaldisasteras great as any other

in humanhistory.
n
f


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o!

ECtrilCE

-l3,ooo

-15,000

The spearthrowerand harpoonare invented.

-15,000

Huts built from mammoth bonesand maps drawn on bone appear
in Mezhirichin easternEurope.
rlctr

-15,000

Humansbegin making their own fires. Previouslythey had relied
on "found" fires, which they carefullycarried and maintained.See
also500,000s.c.
rrol

-12,000

Dogs,descendants
of the Asianwolf, are domesticated
in lraq. lto

-10,000

Herdingbeginswith the domesticationof goatsin lran.

-10,000

By this time the ancestorsof NativeAmericanshave crossedthe
l a n d b r i d g e f r o m S i b e r i at o A l a s k a ,e n t e r i n g t h e W e s t e r n
Hemisphere,thoughsome archaeologists
placethe first crossingas
earlyas 53,000s.c.
rlrfll

-9000

Massextinctionsof largeanimalsin North and SouthAmericamay
be causedby the intrusion of human hunters,the ancestorsof
NativeAmericans.

llo

-8000

Agricultureis inventedin northernIraq with the farming of wheat
and barley.
rlo

-8000

Potatoes
and beansare cultivatedin Peru,rice in Indochina.

-8000

Polynesiansin the East Indies and Australiabegin to spreadout
over the islandsof the SouthPacific.
rrril

-8000

The first cities appearin lraq and other siies in the Near East,includingJerichoin Palestine.
ilol

-8000

In Mesopotamia(modern lraq), clay tokensare used to nlly shipments of grain and animals.This sysremwill be the basisfor the
first systemof numerationand writing. See35OOs.c.
rlql

tl(Nl

ilo

to

-7700

Sheepare domesticated
in lran.

-7000

From 7000 to 6000 B.c.the pig and rhe warer buffaloare domesticatedin Chinaand EastAsia,the chickenin SouthAsia.
uo

-7000

New forms of wheat are cultivatedin Syriaand Turkey.Sugarcaneis
c ult iv at edin N e w Gu i n e a .F l a x i s g ro w n i n S outhw estA si a. In
Mexico,maize,squash,peppers,and beansare grown.
ro

lo

Mortar is usedwith sun-driedbrick in Jericho.
ilcrl
Claypotteryis made in Turkeyand the NearEast.Seealso6000 s.c.
tt.|l

-7000

Wovencloth is inventedin Anatolia,now Turkey.

-6500

Trepanning,the drilling of a hole in the skull as a trearmentfor
head injuries,is practicedin Europeand Asia. In some regionsit
will continuethroughrhe,MiddleAgesand even inro the beginning
of the twentiethcentury.

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-6aoo

rrrr

trnlfllrr

lool(

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tclttct

A BORING PROCEDURE
ong befare modern brain surgery there was trepanation, the re'
f
mwal

of boneby boring a smallhole in the human shull.In Russia,
I
Europe,and the Near East,trepanation waspracticedas long ago
I-J
as the Neolithicperiod, or Nav StoneAge (9000-6000B.c.).In someplaces
it was commonas recantlyas the MiddteAges.Trepannedshulls havearcn
beenJoundassociatedwith the Inca civilimtion (thirteenthto sixteenthcenturiesA.D.)of Peru.
Trepanationmay havebem donesometimesas a religiousritual, but in
many casesit appearsto have beena medicaltreatmentfor a blow to the
cranium and the resultinghematoma,or swellingfilled wtth blood. Cranial
drilling was intendedto cure head injuries by allowing ail spirits to escape
As late as the nineteenthcentun),trepanIrom the headsoJ the possessed.
and epilepsy.
ning was usedto treat migraineheadaches
procedure
varied
place
and
The
by
time, with more than a dozenpossigrooving
methods
oJ
and
ble
scraping
the shull to renlovebone without
the
afibrous
membranethat protectsthe brain.

damaging underlyingdura,
The Incas were trairted to anadsthetizethe pattent with herbs and nerve
pressure,and there is aildencethat somecultutressuccessfullyusedprimitive antibioticsto staveofJ infection.

Cattleare domesticatedin furkey, probablyfrom the long-hornedwild
ox calledthe auroch,or uru. Aurochswill becomeextinct in 1627. lto
Modern-stylewheat for bread is grown in SouthwestAsia. Citrus
rlo
fruit is domesticatedin Indochina.
-6000

The first pottery is used for food preparationand consumption.See
tnl
also7000 s.c.

-5000

The llama and alpacaare domesticatedin Peru.

-5000

flol
Irrigationis inventedin lraq.
Nuggetsof metal, includinggold, silver,and copper,are used as orrrql
namentsand for trade.

-5000
-4200

-4000

llo

Egyptiansinvent the frrst known calendarwith a 365-dayyear broken into twelve thirty-daymonths plus five days of festivals.lt will
be the basis for the Roman and modern Gregoriancalendars.The
date of inventionis uncertainand may be as late as 2700 e.c. rr, ro
The horse is domesticatedin Ukraine.The first known horse riders
rlo
are the UkrainianSrednyStogculture.
rr€l
The first sail-propelledboats appear.


rHr

ttnrltill

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or

tcll1|cl

-aooo

-4000

The Esyptiansmine and smelt copperores.

-4000

Bricksare fired in kilns in Iraq.

-3600

Bronze,an alloyof 90 percentcopperand l0 percenttin, is invented in the Middle East.Harderand more versatilethan copper,this
new metal ushers in the Bronze Age, the age of the Trojan War,
ildl
and the Exodus.Seealso 1400n.c.,Iron Age.
Gilgamesh,

-3500

Wine and beer are developedby Sumeriansin westernIran.

rlol

-5500

The Egyptiansuse papyrusboats to rravelon the Nile.

tlc|l

-3500

The plow is introducedin Sumeria.

rlcNl

-5500

The Sumeriansdevelopcuneiform,the earliestknown form of writing. This system,based on pictogramswedged into clay tablets,
growsout of the earlieruse of clay tokens.Seealso8000 s.c. tlcll

-3300

beBetweennow and 2500 n.c., speakersof proto-lndo-European
gin to spreadacrossa vast region from western Europeto cenral
Asia.The homelandof this nomadichorseculure may have been
the steppesof Ukraine and Russia.Their languagewill give rise to
t he I ndo- E u ro p e a nl a n g u a g e s i, n c l u d i n g t he branchescal l ed
Germanic(English,German),Italic (Latin,French),Slavic(Russian),
Indo-lranian(Sanskrit),Baltic (Lithuanian),Celtic (Gaelic),and

Itql

Greek, Albanian, Armenian, and Anatolian (Hittite).

TIIE LAST OF THE WINE
he earliestinventions-fire, bawsand arrovts,wheeledcarts-are
and methods
the mostdfficult to placein time. Nantexcavations
of analysis can overthrow the hoariest of receivedopinions on
who inventedwhatwhen.A casein point is thefirst manufacfitreoJwine.
For a long time, the earliest aidence of wine manufacturecameIrom
Egyptfrom about 3000 a.c. Then,in 1991,Canadiangraduatestudent
Virginia Badlermadea nov claim about a dirty fragment of potteryfrom a
Sumeriansite in westernlran dating"from about 3500n.c. The interior oJ
the pottery, housedat the Royal Ontario Museum,was stained red. Some
archaeologiststhoughtit waspaint; Badlerthoughtit was wine.

Chemistsat the Universityof Pennsylvaniaput the issueto the test b)r
analyzingthe reddishresiduewith infrared spectroscorya methodthat distinguisheschemicalsby the wavelengthsof light thq absorb. fhey found
that the residuewas rich in tannic acid, an organicsubstance
found almost
without exceptionin grapes.Badler was proven right and the datefor the
inventionoJwine waspushedbackfive hundredyears.


-3300

TIII

TTME]TNI

BOOK

OF

SGTETC:

METHUEELAH'SBIRTHDAY
n NorthAmerica,about2700n.c.,a bristlecone
pine begangrowingin
the White MountainsoJwhat is now California.That tree,now hnown
as Methuselah,is still alive,making it the oldest-hnownliving tree,at
about 4,700years of age.Bristleconepines are belia)edto havea potential
lifespan of 5,500years and are ritaled in longaity only by the giant sequoias,which may live to 6,000.If no one cutsit down, Methuselahmay
still be alive in the twenty-eighthcenturyA.D.

-3500

The wheel is inventedin sumeria(southernlraq).It is put to use in
haulingcartsand making pottery.
rtcll

-5 r 0 0

The Egyptiansinventan early form of hieroglyphics.

rrql

-5000

Hieroglyphicnumeralsare usedin Egypt.

n nl

-5000

The candleis introducedin Egyptand Crete.

ilctl

-5000

Cottonfabricis wovenin India.

rlctl

-5000

Dyesfor clothare in usein Chinaand Egypt.

rtctl

-2980

Imhotep,an Egyptianphysician,architect,and counselorro King
Z os er ,f lo u ri s h e sb e tw e e nn o w a n d 2 9 SOn.c. Often cal l edthe
world'sfrrstscientist,he writes the first known medicalmanuscript
and designsthe steppyramid,or Pyramidof Zoser,the world'sfirst
largestonestructure.
nrc

-2900

The Sumeriansdevelopsymbolsfor syllables,a key step in the evolution of writing.
ilcrl

-2900

EgyptianpharaohCheopsor Khufu supervisesthe building of the
GreatPyramidof Giza.
rrctl

-2850

EgyptianpharaohChefrenor Khafra orders the building of the
GreatSphinxat Giza.
rlctl

-2700

Accordingto legend,ChineseemperorShenNung investigares
and
experimentswith herbsand acupuncrure.The PenIBao(TheHerbal)
is later attributedto him; he will be consideredthe founder of
Chinesemedicine.
rlD

-2600

In the first recordedseagoingvoyage,Egyptianssearchingfor
cedarwoodsail to Bvblosin Phoenicia.
rrlrtr

-2600

Accordingto legend,silk manufacturebeginsin China.


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toor

oF tclllrcl

-2r9,

-2595

LegendaryChineseemperor Huang-ti lives. The medical text Nei
Ching,later attributed to him, claims there are four steps to developing a medical diagnosis:observation,auscultation(listeningto
sounds that arise within organs),interrogation,and palpation
f,rD
(touching)-i.e., look, listen,ask, and feel.

-2500

The constructionof Stonehengebegins in southwesternEn$land,
near Salisbury,and is completedabout 1700 n.c. The monument,
with its concentriccirclesof stones,ditches,and holes,servesboth
religiousand astronomicalpurposes.Some stonesare alignedwith
the rising and settingof the sun and moon at the summer and winlftp
ter solstices.

-2500

Itgl
Glassornamentsappearin Egypt.
of
a
system
develop
Sumerians
the
During the next few centuries
standardweightsand measures,includingsuch uni$ aSthe shekel,

tlcrl
the mina, the log, the homer;the cubit, and the foot.

-2500

-2540
-2400

-2300
-2296

The oldest written story, the SumerianEpic oJ Gilgamesh,may have
ttol
first appearedin written form aroundthis time.
Divination,the interpretationof omens perceivedin naUral phenom'
ena, is used for medicalpurposesin Mesopotamia.The body organs
nD
of sacrificedanimals are thought to reveala patient'sfate.
Mapsof landsand citiesappearin Mesopotamia.
The Chineserecordthe ftrst known sightingof a comet.

Stonehenge,England.(GreatBritain Ministry oJWorks)

tlc|l
r|tlo


-2000
-2000
-2000

tlll

rtnltlill

EooK

-2000
-2000
-1 9 0 0
-1800
-1800
-1800
-r775
-1700
-1700

-r700
-1700
-1 6 0 0
-1 600

-1 600

JCltilcl

ro
The Parkof Intelligenceis foundedas China'sfirst zoo.
number
the

on
The Babyloniansdevelopposirionalnoation based
60'

-2000

oF

nfill

Horsedrawnbattle chariotsand metal riding bits are inventedin the
rlqr
Near East.
and
interior
shafts
and
air
li$ht
The palace of Minos in Crete has
tlcNl
bathroomswith their own water supply.
Usingwoodenships,the Minoansof Cretebecomethe world's first
tlcr|
sea power.
theoremmore than one
The Babyloniansdiscoverthe Pythagorean
(c. 530 B'c.).
t lll
thousandyearsbeforePythagoras

Babylonianastronomersbeginto compilerecordsof celestialobserrtno
vations,includingstarcatalogs.
r nt
developmultiplicationtables.
The Babylonians
ilcrl
Leavenedbread is inventedin Egypt.
Mesopotamianphysiciansare ruled by the Code of Hammurabi,
f,lD
which includesthe earliestknown systemof medicalethics.
Rye is cultivatedby easternEuropeans,whose growing seasonis
ro
not long enoughto generatewheat.
The Sumeriansdevelopsquaresand Squareroots,cubesand cube
roots,and quadraticequations.They alsocalculatean approximate
n rl
valuefor pi.
developa systemof geometry,a ciphered
Egyptianmathematicians
nsrr
numeralsystem,and tablesof valuesfor fractions.
usewindmillsfor irrigation.
The Babylonians
oil as a laxative.
use
castor
Egyptians

rrcfl
nlD

Egyptianmedical remediesand proceduresare documentedin papyrus manuscrip6, especiallythose discoveredin modern times by
Edwin Smith and GeorgeEbers(see 1872).Topicsinclude arthritis,
f,rD
hookworm infection,and surgeryfor head injuries'
The Phoenicians,or Canaanites,invent the world's first purely
phonetic alphabet,based on symbols for sounds,not things or
syllables.This alphabetis the ancestorof all modern Westernal'
tlctl
phabets.

-1 5001000e.c.

The ancient Hindus derive reserpine,the first modern sedative-antihypertensive,from the root of the Rauwolfiaserpentinaplant.
Hindus also become the first to perform successfulskin grafting
ruD
and plasticsurgeryof the nose.

-1 500

The Egyptiansuse the shadowcastby a gnomon, a verticalstick, to
rell time.


trrr

rrmEltlrt

BooK or

tGlElrc:

-r500

-r 500

The Chinese under the Shang dynasty (c. 1523-c. 1027 s.c.) develtlcll
op a system of writing.

-1470

The Aegean volcanic island of Thera (Santorini) explodes. The ashes
and tidal wave bring an end to the powerful Minoan civilization of
Crete, permitting the rise of the Mycenaean Greeks and the

Phoenicians.
-l 400s

The shadowof the Needleof Cleopatrain Heliopolis,Egypt,
seasons,
and time of day.
to estimatethe solstices,

-1 400

Using oared ships and guided by the stars, the Phoenicians learn to
rrclr
navi$ate in the open sea.

-1 400

The Hittites of Asia Minor (now Turkey) develop a practical method
for smelting iron, ushering in the lron Age. Bronze (see36O0 s.c.) is
gradually replaced as the dominant metal. The revolution reaches
rtcl
Europe by 1000 n.c.

-1550

The Chinese develop decimal numerals.

-1 3 0 0

The Chinesedevise a working calendar by this time, if not earlier. Ittlo

-1 2 0 0

The dye known as Tlrian purple is invented by the Phoenicians.
Obtained from a Mediterranean snail, it will be a favorite of the rich
ilctl
and powerful throughout antiquity.

-1200

The Egyptians dig the first of several canals from the Nile River to
tlctl
the Red Sea.

-1 2 0 0

Linen is woven from flax stalks in Egypt.

-1200

The Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central
trctr
America) raises pyramids and massive stone monuments.

-100 0

The Chinese develop the counting board, the forerunner of the
nlil
abacus.

-1000

Between now and c. 900 e.c., Aesculapius,the Greek (later Roman)
god of medicine, becomes known as a deity. Aesculapiancults build

naill

?tctl

to be healed.
templeswherethe sickcongregate

nlD

-1 0 0 0

The Chineseburn coalfor fuel.

trctl

-1000

The Chinesestoreice to use for refrigeration.

rlCH

-800

Egyptianphysiciansgive drugs,alongwith magicspells,to heal the
sick.The associationbetweencauseand effectis noticed.the basis
of empirical medicine.

By now, Egyptiansare using sundialswith six time divisionsto tell
time.Thesundialis introducedin Greecebv the sixthcenturyB.c. ttcrr
-763

The Babylonians
are the first to recorda solareclipse.

-750

The arch is in useamongthe Etruscansin ltaly.

ltTlo
rlc||

-7l'l'

tHt

tlmtllilt

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oF

SGtrilct

-700

The Chinesebegin keepingrecordsof comets,meteors,and meteorites.
rrrro

-700

Dur ingt h e C h o u d y n a s ty(c . l O2 7 s .c .- 256B .c.),tw o doctri nes
evolveto form the basisof Chinesemedicine.One is the doctrineof
yin and yang, the two principlesof masculinity,light, and heaven
(yang)and femininity,darkness,and earth (yin). The other is that of
the five elementsor phases:metal,wood, water,fire, and earth.It
is believedthat humansrequireequilibriumamong the two principlesand five elementsto remainin good health.
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-700

The Assyriansintroducethe aqueduct.

-668

The reign of Ashurbanipal,
king of Assyria,begins(ends627 y.c).
He establishes
a libraryin his capitalat Nineveh,which is destroyed
c. 612s.c.
rlrc

-650

The Lydiansof Asia Minor introducethe first standardcoinage. rtcn

-625

Thalesof Miletus,a Greekphilosopher,astronomef,and mathematician, is born in present-dayTurkey(d. 547 s.c.).Among other things,
he will theorizecorrectlythat solar eclipsesare the result of the
moon'spassingin front of the sun.SeealsoMay28, 585 s.c.
nrc

-600

The Japanesepracticemassageand acupuncture,adoptedfrom the
Chineseas healingtherapies.
nlD

-600

The Zapotecsof Mesoamerica
invent a systemof hieroglyphics,
the
earliestknown writing in the Americas.
?rGrr

May 28,
5 8 5 e .c .

A s olar e c l i p s e ,p re d i c te db y Gre e k mathemati ci anThal esof
Miletus,occursduringa battlebetweenthe Lydiansand Medes.The
warringpartiestakeit as an omen and makepeace.

-585

Thalesdevelopsdeductivegeometry.The Theoremof Thales,that
an angle inscribedin a semicircleis a right angle,is attributedto
him, though he may have learnedit from the Babylonians. rrff

-585

Thalesstudiesmagnetism.

-580

Thales theorizes that water is the fundamental element of which all

ttGtl

other substancesare made.

-570

The diluvial doctrine,a theory proposingthat the earth's surface
was transformedby great floods,beginsto developand spread.The
conceptcan be traced to the early GreekthinkersXenophanesand
Anaximander.Diluvialismwill flourishin the seventeenthand eighteenthcenturiesa.n.

-547

Greekphilosopherand astronomerAnaximanderdies. During his
career,he introducedthe ideaof evolution,claimingthat life begins
in marshyslimeconditionsand slowlyevolvesonto drier areas. lro
IO


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tlrEltil:

BooK

oF

sclElrcE

-530

-547

Greekphilosopherand astronomerAnaximanderdies. During his

career,he introducedthe ideaof evolution,claimingthat life begins
in marshyslimeconditionsand slowlyevolvesonto drier areas. lfo

-530

Greekphilosopherand mathematicianPythagorasarguesthat the
earth is a sphereand that the sun, moon, stars,and five visible
planets(Mercury,Venus,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn)revolvearound the
The fricearth in eight concentricspheres,rotatingindependently.
tion betweenthe spheresgeneratesharmonious,virtuallyinaudible
soundscalledthe musicof the spheres.
rr1ro

-530

Pythagorasis the first Greekto learn that the morning star and
eveningstar are the same object.He namesthis planetAphrodite,
after the goddessof love known by the Romansas Venus,hence
the planet'smodernname.
arilro

-530

Pythagorasprovesihe so-calledPythagoreanTheorem,that the
squareof the hypotenuseof a right triangleis equalto the sum of the
squaresof the other two sides.See19008.c.,the Babylonians. ratrl

-530

The ideathat the brain is the centerof higheractivitywill be credited to Pythagoras.

ruD

-510

GreektravelerHecataeusdraws the frrst recognizablemap of the
Mediterranean
world.
r ltrr

-500

Hanno of Carthagenavigatesdown the west Africancoastand describes,amongotherthings,the gorilla.
ro

-500

Phoeniciannavigatorsare believedto have reachedthe Atlantic
Ocean,sailingas far as Cornwall,England,to the north, where they
established
tin mines,and circumnavigaring
Africato the south. rrlil

-500

By now the abacus,the first significantcalculatingdevice,is known
in Egypt.
nril

-500

("Rules'ofthe Cord") summaThe work known as the Sulyasutras
rizesIndian geometry.
nlil

-500

Chinese philosopher Confucius is one of the first to discuss human
nature and how it can be modified.
rtvrrl

-500s

The sundial is in use in Greece.See800 8.c., Egypr.

-470

The GreekAlcmaeonbecomesthe first known physicianto dissect
human bodies.Becauseof objectionsto human dissection,anatomy studieswill declineuntil the works of Mondino De'Luzziin
1316.
11

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-a60

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ot

tcrrilcr

Hippocrates.(NationalLibraryof Medicine)
-460

GreekphysicianHippocratesis born on Cos (an island off Turkey,
known lateras Kos).He will set medicinefree of the shacklesof
philosophyand religionby being the first to recordcasehisrories,
practicebedsideobservations,and provide physicianswith moral
inspirationand ethicalstandards.The Hippocraticoath, adminis, i l l b e c o me the best know n of the
t er ed t o n e w p h y s i c i a n s w
Hippocraticwritings,but its originalauthorshipwill remain uncertain.
rtD

-450

The Greekphilosopherleucippusepitomizesthe study of rationalism by stating that every event has a natural cause,ruling out supernaturalinterventionas an explanation,
ruc

-440

GreekphilosopherDemocritustheorizesthat the Milky Way is
made up of many stars,that matter is composedof invisibleparticlescalledatoms,and that the moon is similarto the earth.
rtrc

-430

GreekphilosopherEmpedoclesof Acragas(Agrigenrum)speculates
that the world is made up of four elements:earth, air, water,and
frre.Seealso350 s.c., Aristotle.
crrn

-428

Greeknaturalphilosopherand mathematicianAnaxagoras
dies.The
author of On Nature,he is imprisonedfor suggestingthat the sun is
a big, hot stoneratherthan a deity and that the moon is an inhabited body that borrowslight from the sun.
rrrro
12


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-aro

-42.O

GreekmathematicianHippiasintroducesthe first curve beyond the
r5r
circleand the straightline, the trisectrixor quadratrix.

-420

Greekmathematiciansdiscoverincommensurableline segments.rut

-420

GreekphysicianHippocratesbelieves,incorrectly,that only women
suffer hysteria, claiming it is causedby a "wandering uterus." He
does presentaccuratedescriptionsof mania, phobias,paranoia,
r.rcl
and melancholia.

-414

is born (d.369 e.c.).He will study
GreekmathematicianTheaetetus
the five regularsolidsand developthe theorem that there are fiverflll
and only five-regular polyhedra.

-408

GreekphilosopherEudoxusof Cnidusis born \d. 355 s.c.).He will
developa model of celestialmotion involvinga complexcombination of rotatingspheres.He will also establishthe geometrictheory
rutl
of irrationalnumbers.

rtc

dc nclhlng

e go:cd tosodyt--lllppcctrlle4
b tcmcflm.t
Atcck phytlclent c. lOO t.c.

-400

By now the Babylonianshave establishedthe zodiaccircle,the
band in the sky that includesthe apparentpaths of the sun, moon,
becomeavailabledescribingthe presumed
and planets.Horoscopes
influenceof the sun, moon, and planetsgiven their positionin the
zodiacat the time of one'sbirth.

-400

Philolaus,a member of the Pythagoreanschool,arguesthat the
earth,sun, moon, planets,and starsare all in motion arounda "central fire." This is the earliestknown theory of a moving earth. r.nc

-400

In Chaldea,horoscopesbecome availablebasedon the planets' positions in the constellationsof the zodiacat the time of one'sbirth. rtrc

-400

By now the Greekshave formulatedthree famousproblemsthat will
puzzlemathematiciansfor centuries:squaringthe circle,duplicating

the cube (see360 B.c.,Menaechmus)and trisectingthe angle.By the
nineteenthcentury it will be shown that the three problemsare unsolvableusingthe straightedgeand compassalone.

-400

GreekphilosopherDemocritusarguesthat objectsin the externalworld
rrr.
radiatebeamsthat induceperceptionsin the human mind.

-400

Greeksworking for Dionysiusof Syracuse,Sicily,invent the catapult, the first artillery weapon.
rxrl

-390

GreekastronomerHeracleidesis born in Pontus,now part of furltey
(d. c. 320 e.c.).He will be the first [o arguethat Venusand Mercury
orbit the sun.
13