SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION 



to the current conceptions before him, were placed 

 over the disc of the earth like a section of a 

 hollow globe. The stars were fixed to this globe, 

 or were steered across it by heavenly pilots, as 

 were the sun and the moon. The origin of life 

 and of the universe was darkly hinted at in 

 mysterious legends or religious phantasies. The 

 Grecian legends of gods and demi-gods, as well 

 as the Buddhist legends, and later the German 

 and Norse legends, reflect this stage of human 

 philosophy. Man was dominated by mysterious 

 forces, and his fate after death was as mysterious 

 as the unknown forces themselves. Whatever 

 men could not explain in their environment, they 

 translated into objects of worship and awe. Ptol- 

 emy attempted a scientific solution of astronomical 

 problems in his " Syntaxis, A Treatise on the 

 Mathematical Construction of the Heavens." He 

 did remarkable work for his time, the period 

 following the death of Alexander the Great. But 

 historical conditions were against him, and he did 

 not emancipate himself from the idea that the 

 earth was the center of the universe and man the 

 central object of all creation. 



When familiarity with iron, bronze, and wood 

 work led to a perfection of tools and to a greater 

 division of labor, when the ancient gentile groups 



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