24 HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SCIENCE 



arithmetic, agriculture, and the calendar were recognized as 

 worthy the attention of priest and administrator. Thus the 

 first astronomers were probably the Chaldean astrologer- 

 priests, whose vigils in the clear atmosphere of an arid region 

 led them to watch the stars and to recognize order and law 

 in the heavens. Astrology was their dominant motive. But 

 astronomical events were carefully observed and are recorded 

 in the inscriptions as early as 2000 b. c. Subsequently, these 

 early astronomers were able to predict the eclipses of the 

 moon. Our present names for the signs of the zodiac the 

 Crab, the Scorpion, and the like are lineal descendants of 

 the Chaldean astronomy, in which the sky was mapped and 

 the names of animals, symbolic of gods, given to the several 

 divisions. Intermingled with religious beliefs, this modicum 

 of knowledge became a system by which it was claimed that 

 future events and the fates of men could be foretold. The 

 sorcery and magic of Chaldea, along with its astrology, 

 spread westward, exerting its influence, first upon Greek and 

 Roman thought, and later upon that of western Europe. 

 Thus, the idea of the virtues inherent in certain numbers, so 

 potent throughout the Middle Ages, appears to have orig- 

 inated in Mesopotamia and even to-day fortune tellers 

 claim for their art descent from the soothsayers of Chaldea 

 and Babylonia. 



Speculative science and rational philosophy might have 

 arisen from the practical scientific knowledge which thus 

 came into being. That such was not the case is perhaps ex- 

 plained by the fact that the gods of the Mesopotamian 

 peoples were regarded as hostile and ever in need of propitia- 

 tion. Fate hung heavy on the human mind and men's 

 thoughts were always seeking to avert its decrees. " Strange 

 mingled streams of foolishness and knowledge" arose in 

 Mesopotamia and flowed west, north, and perhaps east. 10 

 Religious beliefs were hopelessly intermingled with scientific 

 and philosophical thought. The Hebrew story of the 



10 Taylor, H. O., loc. tit., p. 13, Vol. I. 



