22 HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SCIENCE 



the strongest suggestion of their mental limitations. We 

 cannot ascribe to them, as to certain of the Greeks, the intel- 

 lectual qualities of the modern scientific mind. Neverthe- 

 less, the classical tradition of the debt to Greco-Roman 

 culture should not conceal the fact that many of the mechan- 

 ical and artistic elements of western civilization originated hi 

 the valley of the Nile, and were merely passed over to 

 western Europe by the Greco-Roman world. 



DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE AMONG THE PEOPLES 

 OF MESOPOTAMIA 



The climatic and racial background of ancient Mesopo- 

 tamian culture is in marked contrast with that of Egypt. In 

 the Nile valley we see a homogeneous people, apparently of 

 a stock similar to the Mediterranean race of a later period, 

 living in a land well protected by natural barriers and with 

 agricultural conditions of great stability. The Mesopo- 

 tamian plain was, by contrast, the meeting place of con- 

 flicting races from the desert to the south and west and from 

 the mountains to the north. From the period of the Sume- 

 rian peoples, whose documentary record begins about 3000 

 B. c., we find a recurring struggle between established 

 civilizations and barbarian invaders. Moreover, agricul- 

 tural conditions were less stable than in Egypt. 



The absence of an abundant supply of stone led to the use 

 of brick for most building purposes. Hence the record is less 

 extensive in certain lines. The sun-dried bricks have crum- 

 bled to ruins, but the records upon the baked cylinders and 

 tablets have proved almost indestructible and whole li- 

 braries have been preserved. In the main, the civilization 

 thus depicted appears to have originated independently in 

 Mesopotamia, despite extensive trade, and consequently 

 exchange of ideas, with Egypt after 2500 B. c. That one 

 item, at least, was actually derived from Egypt is indicated 

 by the fact that split-wheat was called by its Egyptian name. 



