Ancient science in social and cultural dimensions – Zhmud Leonid – New Literary Review – 2026 – ISBN 978-5-4448-2786-4
Ancient science in social and cultural dimensions
19.99 €
In stock
Ancient science in social and cultural dimensions
19.99 €
The rich international literature on ancient history still lacks a comprehensive study of the place and role of science in the culture and society of that era. Leonid Zhmud's book aims to fill this gap. According to Greek classifications, "mathematics" included arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, harmonics, mechanics, and optics, often supplemented by geography, while physics was relegated to philosophy. Building on these concepts, the author examines science as a cognitive activity and as a social institution, demonstrating its kinship with modern science and, at the same time, its differences. The focus is on the origins of science in the Greek polis of the archaic and classical periods, its flourishing during the Hellenistic period, its stagnation and decline under the Roman Empire, and the dynamics of the number of scientists and research centers. The relationship between science, philosophy, education, and the state is explored in detail, as well as the influence of science on technology, and through it, on the economy of the ancient world. Leonid Zhmud is a renowned historian of ancient science and philosophy, chief researcher at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of History, History, and Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the author of the books Pythagoras and the Early Pythagoreans (translated into German and English) and The Birth of the History of Science in Antiquity (translated into English and Greek).
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series History of science