History and Civilization
BCB 703:
Scientific Methodology
Available at http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl
Faghrie Mitchell
What is History?
What is Science?
What is Philosophy?
What is History?
What is Science?
What is Philosophy?
What is Curiosity?
 Almost in the beginning was curiosity.
Asimov’s New Guide to Science (Asimov 1987)
Early Man: Curiosity  Science
www.fi.edu
CURIOSITY
H
I
S
EXPLORATION
T
O
DISCOVERY
R
Y
SCIENCE
Ancient Egypt: Curiosity  Science
Osprey
Ancient Egypt: Evolution of the Pyramids
www.touregypt.net
www.touregypt.net
Djoser
2630-2611 BC
Djoser
2630-2611 BC
Step Pyramid
Saqqara, Egypt
Snefru
2575-2551 BC
Cheops/Khufu
2551-2528 BC
Ancient Egypt: Evolution of the Pyramids
Djoser
2630-2611 BC
www.touregypt.net
www.touregypt.net
Snefru
2575-2551 BC
Intermediate Pyramid
Maidum, Egypt
Snefru
2575-2551 BC
Cheops/Khufu
2551-2528 BC
Ancient Egypt: Evolution of the Pyramids
www.touregypt.net
Cheops/Khufu
2551-2528 BC
Djoser
2630-2611 BC
Smooth Pyramids
Giza, Egypt
Snefru
2575-2551 BC
Cheops/Khufu
2551-2528 BC
Why show the Evolution of the Pyramids?
 Did the ancient Egyptians have science 
 To build a pyramid you need to have knowledge and skills about
stone and rock
 E.g. how much stone, how many men to cut and move the stone,
etc (quantity surveying)
 E.g. how do I find good quality stone, how do I move the stone
(geology and engineering (mathematics))
 Evolution of pyramids is an example of the evolution of ancient
Egyptian science
Djoser
Step
2630-2611 BC
Snefru
Intermediate
2575-2551 BC
Cheops/Khufu
Smooth
2551-2528 BC
Ref: Shaw (2003)
Why show the Evolution of the Pyramids?
 Did the ancient Egyptians have evolving science 
 Ancient Egyptians had to improve their building techniques going
from Step to Intermediate to Smooth pyramid (increasing difficulty
and challenge of building a smooth pyramid)
 The Intermediate pyramid at Maidum could be seen as a prototype
pyramid
 The Maidum pyramid is speculated to have been either abandoned,
or to have collapsed because of the slope of the pyramid
 The lessons learnt from this pyramid and previous pyramids were:
(1) to build on rock instead of sand and (2) to tilt the stone blocks
inward to stabilise the pyramid
(see next slide)
Djoser
Step
2630-2611 BC
Snefru
Intermediate
2575-2551 BC
Cheops/Khufu
Smooth
2551-2528 BC
Images: www.touregypt.net
Why show the Evolution of the Pyramids?
www.unmuseum.org
Snefru
Intermediate
2575-2551 BC
Cheops/Khufu
Smooth
2551-2528 BC
Why show the Evolution of the Pyramids?
 Did the ancient Egyptians have science 
 Did the ancient Egyptians have evolving science 
 Did the ancient Egyptians have philosophy of science ???
 So you do not need to have PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE to have
SCIENCE? YES and NO
Ref:
Why show the Evolution of the Pyramids?
 So you do not need to have PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE to have
SCIENCE? YES and NO
MYTHOLOGY
RELIGION
DOGMA
MYTHOLOGY
RELIGION
DOGMA
can
can
SCIENCE
PHILOSOPHY
can
SCIENCE
PHILOSOPHY
can
SCIENCE
Ref:
Why show the Evolution of the Pyramids?
 Conversely, you also have three similar paths, leading to
NONSCIENCE, instead of SCIENCE
MYTHOLOGY
RELIGION
DOGMA
MYTHOLOGY
RELIGION
DOGMA
can
can
NONSCIENCE
PHILOSOPHY
can
NONSCIENCE
PHILOSOPHY
can
NONSCIENCE
Ref:
Ancient Egyptian Medicine
 The Evolution of pyramids serve to show that the ancient
Egyptians had SCIENCE. I will now show a clearer example, to
show ancient Egyptian SCIENCE and NONSCIENCE
SCIENCE
MYTHOLOGY
RELIGION
DOGMA
NONSCIENCE
Example: Ancient Egyptian Medicine
Ref:
Ancient Egyptian Medicine
www.nyu.edu
 Example: Ancient Egyptian
Medicine
 Some of the oldest scientific
artifacts
 Edwin Smith papyrus (c 1600BC),
22 pages which deals mainly with
the treatment of wounds
Wikipedia
 Ebers papyrus (c1550BC), 110
pages which contains 700 magical
formulas and remedies
Ref: Wikipedia, www.nyu.edu, Crystalinks
Ancient Egyptian Medicine
 Out of the Edwin Smith and the Ebers Papyruses, one can draw
examples of SCIENCE and NONSCIENCE (of which I will list only a
few)
SCIENCE
 Use of ox liver, to treat night blindness
(www.es.flinders.edu.au)
 Use of honey as antibiotic on open wounds
(www.nature.com)
NONSCIENCE
 Half an onion and the froth of beer as a
remedy against death
 Use of lettuce or castor oil for alopecia
Ref:Wikipedia
Impression of Ancient Egyptians
 So, they got some right, some wrong. Pretty impressive though to
have a structure (Giza pyramid) still standing after more than 4,000
years (c2500BC-2000AD)
 Coming back to the earlier point:
There is no evidence available to say that the ancient Egyptians had a
philosophy of science.
 So how could they establish themselves one of the great ancient
civilisations?
 A civilisation, like the ancient Egytians, endures and maintains itself
because it:
(1) solves practical problems (feeding and defending its people) and
(2) puts in place a form of government able to preserve it.
 So, science and governance, not philosophy, are needed to have a
developed culture or civilisation.
Ref:Robinson
Impression of Ancient Egyptians
 A more important point relates to:
“So, they got some right, some wrong.”
 How do we maximize right and minimize wrong?
 Or rather, How do we maximize SCIENCE and minimize
NONSCIENCE?
Ref:epnet
Summary of section on ancient Egyptians
 The two points made in the preceding slides, effectively summarise
this section
 I have covered the first path so far (striked out). I will combine the
second and third paths, and discuss them as if they are one
MYTHOLOGY
RELIGION
DOGMA
MYTHOLOGY
RELIGION
DOGMA
can
can
SCIENCE
PHILOSOPHY
can
SCIENCE
PHILOSOPHY
can
SCIENCE
Ref:
Next
Chapter 1 Review of Human Evolution
Chapter 2 History and Civilization
Chapter 3 Philosophy of Science
Chapter 4 To be announced
Chapter 5 To be announced
Chapter 6 To be announced
Chapter 7 To be announced
Chapter 8 To be announced
Chapter 9 To be announced
I hope that you found chapter 2
informative, and that you enjoy chapter 3.
Next
Chapter 1 Review of Human Evolution
Chapter 2 History and Civilization
Chapter 3 Philosophy of Science
Chapter 4 To be announced
Chapter 5 To be announced
Chapter 6 To be announced
Chapter 7 To be announced
Chapter 8 To be announced
Chapter 9 To be announced
I hope that you found chapter 1
informative, and that you enjoy chapter 2.