Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Mechanics and the mechanical: some problems of terminology
- 2 ‘Mechanistic’ thought before mechanics?
- 3 Mechanics in the fourth century
- 4 The theory and practice of ancient Greek mechanics
- 5 Ancient Greek mechanics continued: the case of pneumatics
- 6 The philosophical reception of mechanics in antiquity
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Ancient mechanics and the mechanical in the seventeenth century
- Bibliography
- Index of passages
- General index
3 - Mechanics in the fourth century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Mechanics and the mechanical: some problems of terminology
- 2 ‘Mechanistic’ thought before mechanics?
- 3 Mechanics in the fourth century
- 4 The theory and practice of ancient Greek mechanics
- 5 Ancient Greek mechanics continued: the case of pneumatics
- 6 The philosophical reception of mechanics in antiquity
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Ancient mechanics and the mechanical in the seventeenth century
- Bibliography
- Index of passages
- General index
Summary
The origins of mechanics – both the practical development of devices and the creation of a body of theory about their operation – are obscure. Doubtless elements of the discipline, such as the use of lever and balance, axle-and-wheel, clepsydra and siphon, predated the fourth century bce. However, the creation of a discipline requires more than the use of certain kinds of technology: there needs to be some kind of unifying idea, some perception of commonality. Looking at the disparate elements that came to be included in the Greek discipline of mechanics, it is difficult to identify exactly what that perceived commonality was. It may be that the reason why mechanics came to be recognized as a discipline – a field of knowledge – was no more than a recognition that certain devices make possible results that would not have occurred without them, and that some of them worked in similar ways. The contribution of mechanics to the history of philosophy arose from its ensuing theories, as well as a more general commitment to the idea that the principles at work in mechanics can also be found in the natural world.
This chapter will examine the evidence concerning the creation of a discipline called ‘mechanics’ during the fourth century. Such a reconstructive project requires great caution against reading back assumptions about what ‘mechanics’ means, or about what is self-evident. In the end, I find the evidence from the fourth century to be inconclusive.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009