CONTENTS xi 



CHAPTER X 



ARCHIMEDES AND THE FIRST IDEAS OF GRAVITATION 



PAGE 



The ancients just failed of attaining to Newton's discovery The 



conditions which hindered them . . . .119 



CHAPTER XI 



DEMOCRITUS AND THE CONCEPT OF AN ATOMIC UNIVERSE 



His mode of reasoning The grandeur of his conceptions In their 



larger outlines they have been but little modified since . .129 



CHAPTER XII 



THE LEGACY OF THE GREEKS : THE REBIRTH OF TIME 



The ideas of Lucretius, Cicero, Cleomedes It was all a heritage 

 from Greek science The utter intellectual aridity of Roman 

 culture The submergence of Hellenic civilisation Greek tradi- 

 tions kept alive by the Arabs Their original contributions were 

 slight The cause of the Renaissance The discovery of America 143 



CHAPTER XIII 



COPPERNICUS; THE TRUE SYSTEM OF THE WORLD 



His work was thoroughly in the modern spirit ; it was inspired 

 undoubtedly by the discovery of America What there was in 

 it that was new Its confirmation due to chance . 161 



CHAPTER XIV 



BRUNO AND THE RECEPTION OF THE COPPERNICAN IDEAS 



Bruno was the first to spread the Coppernican doctrine over Europe 



His grandiose extensions of the doctrine His tragic death 173 



