IV 



By around 1000 A.D. it appeared that, although con- 

 siderable progress had been made since the time of the 

 early Egyptians in developing new methods of using natural 

 materials, including several metals extracted from their 

 ores, and glass had been made, a number of major problems 

 seemed unanswerable with the techniques then available. 

 Such problems were: the actual structure of the astronomi- 

 cal universe, including an explanation of the planetary mo- 

 tions ,and the nature of the stars and planets; the manner 

 in which the surface features of the Earth and the seas were 

 formed, and how old they were; the way in which animals 

 and plants originated on the Earth, and the fish in the seas; 

 how each species was able to reproduce itself; how the 

 human body functioned internally, including what com- 

 prised thought; what was the process of combustion; what 

 caused the winds and what caused the tides; what was the 

 structure of matter itself, and why did it appear in the forms 

 of solid and liquid (gases were not recognized as material) ; 

 and especially, what caused disease, and how could diseases 

 be treated successfully. 



Although speculations, in many cases little more than 

 unfounded beUefs, were available concerning these matters, 

 these did not satisfy the more curious men of intelligence, 

 who although generally accepting the religious dogmas of 

 their day, were desirous to discover logical solutions to these 

 important problems. These early thinkers did not particu- 



43 



