THE GREEK ATTITUDE 



physical sciences languished until they were awak- 

 ened by the return of Copernicus and Galileo to the 

 sounder method. 



When we return to Aristotle, the biologist, we 

 meet an entirely different person. As he himself says, 

 he had to start from the beginning; and, after a long 

 life of indefatigable labour, he left a great collection 

 of facts regarding the animal world in which several 

 hundred animal forms were described and classified. 

 He points out that classification must be based on 

 many parts and that internal similarities of struc- 

 ture were generally more important in determining 

 species than outward resemblance of form. His great 

 works on biology are, however, much more than a 

 mere catalogue of the kinds and habits of animals. His 

 De Partibus Animalium is really a treatise on com- 

 parative anatomy and comparative physiology, un- 

 dertaken to establish how "far the existence and 

 structure of each part are due to necessity and how 

 far to design." He thus tries to show that throughout 

 the whole animal kingdom the various parts have 

 been constructed in order to fulfil a definite design; 

 because of this purpose, similarities of structure must 

 exist in different species and genera since they have 

 many functions, such as digestion, locomotion, and 

 propagation, in common. 



Aristotle was keenly interested in problems of 

 heredity and makes many acute observations in re- 

 gard to the transmission of traits. He was acquainted 



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