EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHERS IN ITALY 



the earth's shadow when the moon is eclipsed is always 

 convex, may have been known to Pythagoras we can- 

 not say. There is no proof that any of the Italic phi- 

 losophers made extensive records of astronomical ob- 

 servations as did the Egyptians and Babylonians ; but 

 we must constantly recall that the writings of class- 

 ical antiquity have been almost altogether destroyed. 

 The absence of astronomical records is, therefore, no 

 proof that such records never existed. Pythagoras, it 

 should be said, is reported to have travelled in Egypt, 

 and he must there have gained an inkling of astronom- 

 ical methods. Indeed, he speaks of himself specifically, 

 in a letter quoted by Diogenes, as one who is accus- 

 tomed to study astronomy. Yet a later sentence of 

 the letter, which asserts that the philosopher is not al- 

 ways occupied about speculations of his own fancy, 

 suggesting, as it does, the dreamer rather than the ob- 

 server, gives us probably a truer glimpse into the phi- 

 losopher's mind. There is, indeed, reason to suppose 

 that the doctrine of the sphericity of the earth appealed 

 to Pythagoras chiefly because it accorded with his 

 conception that the sphere is the most perfect solid, 

 just as the circle is the most perfect plane surface. Be 

 that as it may, the fact remains that we have here, as 

 far as we can trace its origin, the first expression of the 

 scientific theory that the earth is round. Had the 

 Italic philosophers accomplished nothing more than 

 this, their accomplishment would none the less mark 

 an epoch in the progress of thought. 



That Pythagoras was an observer of the heavens is 

 further evidenced by the statement made by Diogenes, 

 on the authority of Parmenides, that Pythagoras was 



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