ABSTRACT

This book, originally published in 1965, discusses the political implication of the spread of science in antiquity. It reveals how the real Greek spirit of scientific research was crushed by Plato and Aristotle, long thought-of as searchers for truth. Historian such as Polybius and Livey and the poets Pinder and Virgil are seen in a new light when set against this background of social struggle.

chapter |6 pages

Introductory

A Modern Illustration

chapter |7 pages

A First Glance at Our Problem

From Anaximander to Cosmas Indicopleustes

chapter |7 pages

A Second Glance at Our Problem

The Geometer-God

chapter |19 pages

A Third Glance at Our Problem

From Empedocles to Prudentius

chapter |20 pages

Prometheus Bound

The Clash between Science and the City-State

chapter |12 pages

What Epicurus Did

chapter |18 pages

Epicurus and Plato

chapter |12 pages

The Religion of Epicurus

chapter |12 pages

Epicureanism Reaches Rome

chapter |45 pages

Lucretius

chapter |17 pages

After Lucretius