Classics by Credo Reference: Philosophy and Science

287–212 B.C., Greek mathematician, physicist, and inventor. He is famous for his work in geometry (on the circle, sphere, cylinder, and parabola), physics, mechanics, and hydrostatics.

Greek mathematician whose works, and the style in which they were presented, formed the basis for all mathematical thought and expression for the following 2,000 years (although they were not entirely without fault).

Geometry based on the definitions and axioms set out in Euclid's Elements. Book I starts out with 23 ‘definitions’ of the type ‘a point is that which has no part’ and ‘a line is a length without breadth’.

Greek physician, recognized as the father of medicine.

In mathematics, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.

(Claudius Ptolemaeus) celebrated Greco-Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. He made his observations in Alexandria and was the last great astronomer of ancient times.

Greek philosopher, b. Stagira. He is sometimes called the Stagirite.

Ancient writers believed that Democritus was the student of Leucippus. They are associated together as the first philosophers to hypothesize that invisible material objects—atoms—make up the universe.

Greek philosopher, b. Samos; son of an Athenian colonist. He claimed to be self-taught, although tradition states that he was schooled in the systems of Plato and Democritus by his father and various philosophers.

Greek philosopher. Plato's teachings have been among the most influential in the history of Western civilization.

Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, founder of the Pythagorean school.

Greek philosopher of Athens. Famous for his view of philosophy as a pursuit proper and necessary to all intelligent men, he is one of the great examples of a man who lived by his principles even though they ultimately cost him his life.