CHAPTEE II 

 HISTORY OF ZOOLOGY 



This brief chapter is organized to afford a slight preview of the 

 works and lives of a selected few of the historic pioneers of zoology. 

 This is not an attempt to give a complete history of the subject. 

 The works of numerous pioneers in special fields are being con- 

 sidered throughout the text rather than in a given chapter. 



There were individual persons interested in and studying natural 

 history long before there was any orgajiized field of study recog- 

 nized under the name of natural history or the more limited divi- 

 sions of it, including zoology. Some of the translations from the 

 early Egyptians and later from the Greeks indicate that there had 

 been some concern for the problems of life as well as medicine a 

 number of centuries before Christ. Some of the early Greek 

 scholars believed that the ocean supported all of the original life. 

 Hippocrates, a Greek living from 460 to 370 B.C., was the first to 

 think of medicine on a scientific basis. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was 

 an outstanding Greek philosopher and scholar. To him goes the 

 credit for establishing the scientific method of study which is based 

 on gathering facts from direct observations and drawing conclusions 

 from a study of these facts. His observations on the structure and 

 development of embryo sharks, chicks, and many other animals, as 

 well as his introduction of animal classification, are contributions 

 which caused him to be called a biologist. He had the assist- 

 ance of the armies of Alexander the Great in collecting materials. 

 Alexander had been one of Aristotle's pupils and had become inter- 

 ested in the development of scientific endeavor. He made a grant 

 of 800 talents ($200,000 or more) for use by Aristotle in his investi- 

 gations. Thus even in those times endowments were being set up 

 for the support of research. The other Greeks who followed Aris- 

 totle added very little of importance. 



Early Roman Scholars. — From shortly before the time of Christ 

 and extending for about sixteen centuries was a period of "dark 

 ages" in scholarly endeavor. However, a few contributions of note 

 were made. Pliny (a.d. 23-79), a Roman general, compiled a 37- 

 volume work in which much of the scientific knowledge of the time 



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