Science

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Definition

The term science comes from the Latin word scientia, meaning "knowledge". It can be defined as a systematic attempt to discover, by means of observation and reasoning, particular facts about the world, and to establish laws connecting facts with one another and, in some cases, to make it possible to predict future occurrences. There are other ways to define science, but all definitions refer in one way or another to this attempt to discover specific facts and the ability to figure out patterns in which these facts are connected.

More about: Science

Timeline

  • c. 1600 BCE
    Earliest Egyptian water clocks in use.
  • c. 647 BCE - c. 629 BCE
    Extensive collection of clay tablets acquired known as Ashurbanipal's Library at Nineveh.
  • 597 BCE
    Babylonian king Nebuchadnezar captures Jerusalem.
  • 28 May 585 BCE
    A battle between Media and Lydia broke off immediately as a result of a total eclipse of the sun and the two armies made peace. The eclipse was successfully predicted by Thales of Miletus.
  • c. 450 BCE
    Parapegma star calendar invented in Greece by Meton and Euctemon.
  • c. 450 BCE
    First klepsydra - water timekeeping device - used in Athens.
  • 420 BCE
    Democritos develops an atomic theory of matter.
  • c. 310 BCE - c. 230 BCE
    Life of Greek astronomer and mathematician Aristarchus of Samos.
  • 287 BCE - 212 BCE
    Life of Archimedes, physician, mathematician and engineer.
  • c. 275 BCE
    Ctesibius invents first sophisticated multi-cogged water-clock.
  • c. 270 BCE
    Aristarchus of Samos proposes a heliocentric world view.
  • c. 190 BCE - c. 120 BCE
    Life of Hipparchus of Nicea, the ancient Greek mathematician, astronomer and geographer considered the greatest astronomer of antiquity and among the most impressive in world history
  • c. 159 BCE
    First water-clock set up in Rome.
  • c. 110 BCE - c. 50 BCE
    Tower of The Winds by Andronicus constructed in Athens.
  • c. 50 BCE
    Antikythera instrument invented, an astronomical measuring device.
  • 100 CE
    The mathematician and astronomer Menelaus of Alexandria lived.
  • 1799 CE
    Alessandro Volta invents the first electric battery.
  • 1821 CE
    Michael Faraday discovers the principles of an electric motor.
  • 1859 CE
    Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, thereby introducing the Theory of Evolution.
  • 1869 CE
    The Periodic Table of Elements is proposed by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.
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