a history of science-2-第2章

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nd　literature　such　as　the　Ptolemies　of　that　elder　Alexandrian　day。　There　were　no　great　libraries；　no　colleges　to　supply　opportunities　and　afford　stimuli　to　the　rising　generation。　Worst　of　all；　it　became　increasingly　difficult　to　secure　books。　This　phase　of　the　subject　is　often　overlooked。　Yet　a　moment's　consideration　will　show　its　importance。　How　should　we　fare　to…day　if　no　new　scientific　books　were　being　produced；　and　if　the　records　of　former　generations　were　destroyed？　That　is　what　actually　happened　in　Europe　during　the　Middle　Ages。　At　an　earlier　day　books　were　made　and　distributed　much　more　abundantly　than　is　sometimes　supposed。　Bookmaking　had；　indeed；　been　an　important　profession　in　Rome；　the　actual　makers　of　books　being　slaves　who　worked　under　the　direction　of　a　publisher。　It　was　through　the　efforts　of　these　workers　that　the　classical　works　in　Greek　and　Latin　were　multiplied　and　disseminated。　Unfortunately　the　climate　of　Europe　does　not　conduce　to　the　indefinite　preservation　of　a　book；　hence　very　few　remnants　of　classical　works　have　come　down　to　us　in　the　original　from　a　remote　period。　The　rare　exceptions　are　certain　papyrus　fragments；　found　in　Egypt；　some　of　which　are　Greek　manuscripts　dating　from　the　third　century　B。C。　Even　from　these　sources　the　output　is　meagre；　and　the　only　other　repository　of　classical　books　is　a　single　room　in　the　buried　city　of　Herculaneum；　which　contained　several　hundred　manuscripts；　mostly　in　a　charred　condition；　a　considerable　number　of　which；　however；　have　been　unrolled　and　found　more　or　less　legible。　This　library　in　the　buried　city　was　chiefly　made　up　of　philosophical　works；　some　of　which　were　quite　unknown　to　the　modern　world　until　discovered　there。　But　this　find；　interesting　as　it　was　from　an　archaeological　stand…point；　had　no　very　important　bearing　on　our　knowledge　of　the　literature　of　antiquity。　Our　chief　dependence　for　our　knowledge　of　that　literature　must　still　be　placed　in　such　copies　of　books　as　were　made　in　the　successive　generations。　Comparatively　few　of　the　extant　manuscripts　are　older　than　the　tenth　century　of　our　era。　It　requires　but　a　momentary　consideration　of　the　conditions　under　which　ancient　books　were　produced　to　realize　how　slow　and　difficult　the　process　was　before　the　invention　of　printing。　The　taste　of　the　book…buying　public　demanded　a　clearly　written　text；　and　in　the　Middle　Ages　it　became　customary　to　produce　a　richly　ornamented　text　as　well。　The　script　employed　being　the　prototype　of　the　modern　printed　text；　it　will　be　obvious　that　a　scribe　could　produce　but　a　few　pages　at　best　in　a　day。　A　large　work　would　therefore　require　the　labor　of　a　scribe　for　many　months　or　even　for　several　years。　We　may　assume；　then；　that　it　would　be　a　very　flourishing　publisher　who　could　produce　a　hundred　volumes　all　told　per　annum；　and　probably　there　were　not　many　publishers　at　any　given　time；　even　in　the　period　of　Rome's　greatest　glory；　who　had　anything　like　this　output。　As　there　was　a　large　number　of　authors　in　every　generation　of　the　classical　period；　it　follows　that　most　of　these　authors　must　have　been　obliged　to　content　themselves　with　editions　numbering　very　few　copies；　and　it　goes　without　saying　that　the　greater　number　of　books　were　never　reproduced　in　what　might　be　called　a　second　edition。　Even　books　that　retained　their　popularity　for　several　generations　would　presently　fail　to　arouse　sufficient　interest　to　be　copied；　and　in　due　course　such　works　would　pass　out　of　existence　altogether。　Doubtless　many　hundreds　of　books　were　thus　lost　before　the　close　of　the　classical　period；　the　names　of　their　authors　being　quite　forgotten；　or　preserved　only　through　a　chance　reference；　and　of　course　the　work　of　elimination　went　on　much　more　rapidly　during　the　Middle　Ages；　when　the　interest　in　classical　literature　sank　to　so　low　an　ebb　in　the　West。　Such　collections　of　references　and　quotations　as　the　Greek　Anthology　and　the　famous　anthologies　of　Stobaeus　and　Athanasius　and　Eusebius　give　us　glimpses　of　a　host　of　writersmore　than　seven　hundred　are　quoted　by　Stobaeusa　very　large　proportion　of　whom　are　quite　unknown　except　through　these　brief　excerpts　from　their　lost　works。　Quite　naturally　the　scientific　works　suffered　at　least　as　largely　as　any　others　in　an　age　given　over　to　ecclesiastical　dreamings。　Yet　in　some　regards　there　is　matter　for　surprise　as　to　the　works　preserved。　Thus；　as　we　have　seen；　the　very　extensive　works　of　Aristotle　on　natural　history；　and　the　equally　extensive　natural　history　of　Pliny；　which　were　preserved　throughout　this　period；　and　are　still　extant；　make　up　relatively　bulky　volumes。　These　works　seem　to　have　interested　the　monks　of　the　Middle　Ages；　while　many　much　more　important　scientific　books　were　allowed　to　perish。　A　considerable　bulk　of　scientific　literature　was　also　preserved　through　the　curious　channels　of　Arabic　and　Armenian　translations。　Reference　has　already　been　made　to　the　Almagest　of　Ptolemy；　which；　as　we　have　seen；　was　translated　into　Arabic；　and　which　was　at　a　later　day　brought　by　the　Arabs　into　western　Europe　and　（at　the　instance　of　Frederick　II　of　Sicily）　translated　out　of　their　language　into　mediaeval　Latin。　It　remains　to　inquire；　however；　through　what　channels　the　Greek　works　reached　the　Arabs　themselves。　To　gain　an　answer　to　this　question　we　must　follow　the　stream　of　history　from　its　Roman　course　eastward　to　the　new　seat　of　the　Roman　empire　in　Byzantium。　Here　civilization　centred　from　about　the　fifth　century　A。D。；　and　here　the　European　came　in　contact　with　the　civilization　of　the　Syrians；　the　Persians；　the　Armenians；　and　finally　of　the　Arabs。　The　Byzantines　themselves；　unlike　the　inhabitants　of　western　Europe；　did　not　ignore　the　literature　of　old　Greece；　the　Greek　language　became　the　regular　speech　of　the　Byzantine　people；　and　their　writers　made　a　strenuous　effort　to　perpetuate　the　idiom　and　style　of　the　classical　period。　Naturally　they　also　made　transcriptions　of　the　classical　authors；　and　thus　a　great　mass　of　literature　was　preserved；　while　the　corresponding　works　were　quite　forgotten　in　western　Europe。　Meantime　many　of　these　works　were　translated　into　Syriac；　Armenian；　and　Persian；　and　when　later　on　the　Byzantine　civilization　degenerated；　many　works　that　were　no　longer　to　be　had　in　the　Greek　originals　continued　to　be　widely　circulated　in　Syriac；　Persian；　Armenian；　and；　ultimately；　in　Arabic　translations。　When　the　Arabs　started　out　in　their　conquests；　which　carried　them　through　Egypt　and　along　the　southern　coast　of　the　Mediterranean；　until　they　finally　invaded　Europe　from　the　west　by　way　of　Gibraltar；　they　carried　with　them　their　translations　of　many　a　Greek　classical　author；　who　was　introduced　anew　to　the　western　world　through　this　strange　channel。　We　are　told；　for　example；　that　Averrhoes；　the　famous　commentator　of　Aristotle；　who　lived　in　Spain　in　the　twelfth　century；　did　not　know　a　word　of　Greek　and　was　obliged　to　gain　his　knowledge　of　the　master　through　a　Syriac　translation；　or；　as　others　alleged　（denying　that　he　knew　even　Syriac）；　through　an　Arabic　version　translated　from　the　Syriac。　We　know；　too；　that　the　famous　chronology　of　Eusebius　was　preserved　through　an　Armenian　translation；　and　reference　has　more　than　once　been　made　to　the　Arabic　translation　of　Ptolemy's　great　work；　to　which　we　still　apply　its　Arabic　title　of　Almagest。　The　familiar　story　that　when　the　Arabs　invaded　Egypt　they　burned　the　Alexandrian　library　is　now　regarded　as　an　invention　of　later　times。　It　seems　much　more　probable　that　the　library　bad　been　largely　scattered　before　the　coming　of　the　Moslems。　Indeed；　it　has　even　been　suggested　that　the　Christians　of　an　earlier　day　removed　the　records　of　pagan　thought。　Be　that　as　it　may；　the　famous　Alexandrian　library　had　disappeared　long　before　the　revival　of　interest　in　classical　learning。　Meanwhile；　as　we　have　said；　the　Arabs；　far　from　destroying　the　western　literature；　were　its　chief　preservers。　Partly　at　least　because　of　their　regard　for　the　records　of　the　creative　work　of　earlier　generations　of　alien　peoples；　the　Arabs　were　enabled　to　outstrip　their　contemporaries。　For　it　cannot　be　in　doubt　that；　during　that　long　stretch　of　time　when　the　western　world　was　ignoring　science　altogether　or　at　most　contenting　itself　with　the　casual　reading　of　Aristotle　and　Pliny；　the　Arabs　had　the　unique　distinction　of　attempting　original　investigations　in　science。　To　them　were　due　all　important　progressive　steps　which　were　made　in　any　scientific　field　whatever　for　about　a　thousand　years　after　the　time　of　Ptolemy　and　Galen。　The　progress　made　even　by　the　Arabs　during　this　long　period　seems　meagre　enough；　yet　it　has　some　significant　features。　These　will　now　demand　our　attention。

II。　MEDIAEVAL　SCIENCE　AMONG　THE　ARABIANS　The　successors　of　Mohammed　showed　themselves　curiously　receptive　of　the　ideas　of　the　western　people　whom　they　conquered。　They　came　in　contact　with　the　Greeks　in　western　Asia　and　in　Egypt；　and；　as　has　been　said；　became　their　virtual　successors　in　carrying　forward　the　torch　of　learning。　It　must　not　be　inferred；　however；　that　the　Arabian　scholars；　as　a　class；　were　comparable　to　their　predecessors　in　creative　genius。　On　the　contrary；　they　retained　much　of　the　conservative　oriental　spirit。　They　were　under　the　spell　of　tradition；　and；　in　the　main；　what　they　accepted　from　t