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Fritscher, Bernhard (Munich) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) The phenomena and questions with which geology and mineralogy deal today were the subject of two methodologically separate disciplines in Antiquity. Meteorologia inquired into the causes of terrestrial phenomena; the description and classification of rocks and minerals (and fossils) were the subject of historia naturalis (and, with regard to the medicinal benefits of minerals, of pharmacology and medicine). As the science of the Earth's history, geology is, to be sure, a creation …

Geography Fritscher, Bernhard (Munich) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) Geography belongs to those scientific disciplines in which the state of knowledge of Antiquity  in the modern era has proven to be in need of a great deal of correction and expansion. The discovery of the 'New World' (1492) and the sea route to India (1498) exemplarize the beginning of the modern era [13]. Nevertheless, ancient geographical thought has influenced the practice of scientific geography until today [1. 57-58]. In te…

Fritscher, Bernhard (Munich) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) Ancient meteorology has influenced the natural sciences until the modern period. Some of the explanations provided by Aristotle in his Μετεωρολογικά ( Meteorologiká ) (e.g., of fiery phenomena in the skies, earthquakes and volcanoes) were still current in the early 19th cent. The history of the reception and influence of ancient meteorology is divided into three phases. The first phase is the critical reception and continuation of the ancient conception in the…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Meteorology in the sense of a systematic study of the weather is found in Babylon in the form of omens, for instance in the omen collection Enūma Anu Enlil ( Astrology). Thunder (‘the call of the god Adad’) and lightning were particularly important; for instance, the date, time of day, direction, and number of their occurrence were observed. For rain, the time and the way it appeared were considered ominous, as were rainbows, the colour and position of the clouds in the sky, as well as twiligh…