The Quest To Find Out What Happened With Ancient Science/Knowledge! What Happened And Where Do I S

Hey Guys
I would appreciate some assistance here

I guess I should say that i'm not talking about Sumerians or Mayans as that may go into conspiracy theories.

So let's just say Ancient Greece regarding the greats like Archimedes, Euclid and other greats who contributed to the Library of Alexandria.

Then Ancient India to ancient whatever else.

People were so intelligent once upon a time, I guess after Archimedes we had Einstein and other physicists but still not the same.

Ok i'm rambling on

I want to know what happened to humanity, how did we get so damn stupid BUT WAITTTT....
Before me or you answering that question

I want to start to know more about the greats like Euclid, Archimedes, physicists and mathematicians in ancient India and ancient whatever else.
Before I find out what happened, which is my end goal, I want to know more about these greats.

But when I find books it's usually about Greece but not India or vice versa.

Anyone know of a very good book for me to buy coverage all locations on the ancient map?
So I can learn more about these people and only thne venture into what happened with perhaps a second book.

Anyone?

As far as history books on the known world I can't really point you to one book that will give you lots of information. Unfortunatly the more wide covering the book, the less detail, I`ve found anyways.

You said that you would lke to know more about archemides. I would sugest his codex if you haven`t already read that. Here`s a review for it...

Codex review

And here is a link to an online version of the 13 elements of eulicd. The first 20 pages or so are blank for some reason so you might have to scroll down a little.

13 elements

Enjoy!

People are as intelligent now as they were then, of course those guys made more of an impact as they were the 'firsts'. Later genius was aided by by the availablity of written sources, the ability to translate other languages and the chance to continue the work of those before them.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


What does Archimedes have to do with the general intelligence level of his era?

That's like saying everyone in Einstein's generation was more intelligent than now. It's completely silly and unfounded, hell it's not even a semi-concrete correlation.

Originally posted by optimus primal
What does Archimedes have to do with the general intelligence level of his era?

That's like saying everyone in Einstein's generation was more intelligent than now. It's completely silly and unfounded, hell it's not even a semi-concrete correlation.

I am talking about Archimedes as an individual not everyone of his era

So it's not anything like the analogy you gave

reply to post by ModernAcademia


I always lived with the assumption that much of the knowledge of the ancients was lost when the library of Alexandria was destroyed.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


This is something i have also thought about, at length over the years. My thoughts are on the following lines....

In AD 440 (maybe 441) Attila and the Huns invaded the Eastern Roman Empire as revenge for a punitive campaign against his forces (actually ordered by the Western Roman Empire but carried out by forces based in the Eastern Roman Empire, separate entities by that time). After destroying the Eastern Empire Field Army, they destroyed town after town, village after village and church / monastery after church / monastery. However, they never took Constantinople and left to attack the Western Roman Empire.

Whilst this was going on, Attila was allied to Genseric of the Vandals. They attacked North Africa and took it (Carthage, etc). This area was just about the greatest source of wealth anywhere in the combined Emnpires at the time. The loss of that wealth, as well as the food supplies, made an extremely serious impression on the Western Roman Empire. Indeed, at the time Attila began his invasions in the Eastern Empire, the Western Empire Field Army was in Massilia (Sicily) preparing to depart for North Africa to take back the provinces lost to Genseric. Attila's invasions in the East meant this was put off (and never restarted).

Attila then turned on the Western Empire, culminating at the Battle of the Catevaullanian Fields in Gaul in AD 451.The Western Empire, allied to the Visigoths (based at Tolosa, present day Toulouse, following Alaric's sack of Rome a hundred years before) defeated Attila's army but the cost was the destruction of the Western Army.

This left Rome with no money to raise new armies, no law in the provinces (and no means of enforcing any law). The lack of order resulted in the collapse of a stable society, degenerating to war bands and war everywhere for the following few hundred years. No stable society equals no advances in learning (actually equals a loss of technology). In the old Western Roman Empire, society stagnated and degraded.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Empire just about held on, leading to the eventual creation of the Byzantine Empire. Knowledge was treasured here and indeed continued to prosper for another 1'000 years (until falling to the Ottoman's). The provinces of the old Eastern Empire also became hubs of learning, as did traditional old Roman enemies such as Persia, etc. Big advances were made in these regions in the fields of mathematics, medicine, etc.

Now, i am sure there is more to it than that but that is certainly the beginning of what you are speaking of (i think). A truly fascinating (and terrifying) period of time that is well worth further research.

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
I want to know what happened to humanity, how did we get so damn stupid

I would venture to add that it's all about perspective. Do you judge a society by its high points or by its lows? Do you factor in its potential?

There's always been a lot of stupid co-existing with a lot of stoopid.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


so then what are you talking about? There are plenty of people in the world as intelligent as archimedes or einstein.

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck
There's always been a lot of stupid co-existing with a lot of stoopid.

Did I really say that? Must be true, cuz what I meant to say was: There's always been a lot of knowledge co-existing with a lot of stoopid. Duh!

reply to post by ModernAcademia


Here is some history of the World.. Hidden stuff they do not want you to know.... enjoy

www.bibliotecapleyades.net...

reply to post by ModernAcademia


www.bibliotecapleyades.net...

Hidden History of Planet Earth....

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck
There's always been a lot of stupid co-existing with a lot of stoopid.

Did I really say that? Must be true, cuz what I meant to say was: There's always been a lot of knowledge co-existing with a lot of stoopid. Duh!

I've alway held to the belief that mankinds history is 1% genius, 4% dumb stuff that turns out okay because of blind luck and 95% really dumb stuff that doesn't

Originally posted by Hanslune
People are as intelligent now as they were then, of course those guys made more of an impact as they were the 'firsts'. Later genius was aided by by the availablity of written sources, the ability to translate other languages and the chance to continue the work of those before them.

I think you are partially correct. The capacity, or ability, is likely similar. But then again...who knows.

Regardless, a key difference would be nature. Or, more accurately, our lack of connection to it. What we call science has moved increasingly into the theoretical realm. So while our capacities may be the same, the actualization is quite different. And since the brain, as powerful as it is, does have bandwidth issues, it isn't like people today will end up at the age of 25 knowing what a hectare is, despite it being common knowledge to 7 year olds just 120 years ago.

Absolutely agreed on the importance of written language. It is what allowed us to place concepts into the future.

OP: my advice would be to determine where Pythagoras got his famous theorum from. That is the first step "back" from the Greeks, IMO.

I would also advise to study the aboriginal cultures that are left in the world, particularly their mystic and shamanistic members. There are loads of Indian groups with their own mystical beliefs. Maybe look up "curandero" or "brujo"/"bruja". Since humans are all basically the same, we manifest ourselves similarly across time and geographical region. I would suspect that the foundations of the answer would lie in those types of people. For what my two cents are worth.

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck
There's always been a lot of stupid co-existing with a lot of stoopid.

Did I really say that? Must be true, cuz what I meant to say was: There's always been a lot of knowledge co-existing with a lot of stoopid. Duh!

The first version was better. Like Yogi Berra.

Originally posted by lcbjr1979
reply to post by ModernAcademia

 

I always lived with the assumption that much of the knowledge of the ancients was lost when the library of Alexandria was destroyed.

Except there are records of scholars studying in the Library, and nothing Earthshattering is described as being there. Also since scholars had access they would have had the knowledge and it would never have been lost.

Originally posted by hollwd
reply to post by ModernAcademia

 

www.bibliotecapleyades.net...

Hidden History of Planet Earth....

Can we let that garbage stay hidden? How does anyone believe that stuff?
Andromeda Council Sonic Beam Destroys Reptilian Base
Enough said.

Back to topic the achievements of the first 'great' thinkers is made greater by the fact they had no prior knowledge.
"If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." - Isaac Newton

Although he stole the quote I believe.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


capitalism is what happened.

those guys made more of an impact as they were the 'firsts'.

Exactly. Plus we have TV and other media dumbing people down, and most people don't have to think much for themselves to survive.

reply to post by OccamsRazor04



No, there were not reports of something earth shattering being found there. Problem is, earth shattering things WERE found there, only we didn't know until after the fact. LIkely many will never be known.

But one example is that at Alexandria, Hero discovered the locomotive power of steam.